Table 1.

Summary of Worldwide and US institutions on COVID-19 mitigation guidelines.

Fields	Measures and recommendations	References
Remote work policies (teleworking and social distance)	-Decrease building occupancy on working hours; -Request social distance;	[27], [30], [31], [33], [34], [35], [19], [38]
	-Remote work policies (telework or absenteeism);	[33]
	-Keep people 3.28 ft (1 m) apart;	[27], [38]
	-Occupation rate of 107.64 ft2 (10 m2) per person;	[28]
	-Request a social distance of 6 ft (1.83 m);	[31], [33], [35]
	-Limit meetings to 10 people;	[35]
Natural ventilation and outdoor air flow	-Increase the percentual rate of outdoor air; -Increase the airflow rate in indoor occupied spaces; -Higher ventilation rates;	[26], [28], [30], [31], [32], [33], [35], [19], [20], [36], [37], [38]
	-Set a two-hours outdoor air flush at maximum rate pre-and-post occupancy schedule (3 air changes of space volume);	[26], [30], [32], [19], [20]
	-Increase of ventilation, at maximization outdoor air rate, from 20% to 90% under BACS allowance, or even 100%, if under higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 dissemination;	[19], [20]
	-Set the outdoor air rate per person to 10 l/s;	[30]
	-Open doors and windows to promote natural ventilation;	[27], [30], [32], [36], [37]
	-Decrease indoor air recirculation to bare minimum;	[28], [30], [31], [19]
	-Control cross air movements to avoid airflows between workers and visitors;	[26], [35], [36]
	-Adjust airflow and space pressure to avoid aerosols transport;	[32]
	-Preset the air flush in restroom facilities at full capacity during occupancy periods;	[26]
Indoor comfort (temperature and humidity)	-Keep a working temperature set between 23.8 °C and 26.9 °C for cooling during the warmer weather; (a) -Keep the indoor relative humidity value set between 50% and 60%;	[29]
	-Keep the indoor relative humidity value set between 40% and 60%; -In buildings without BACS, keep heating at 65°F under a relative humidity at 40%, and cooling at 80 °F with a relative humidity at 60%;	[19], [20], [36]
	-Relax temperature and humidity set points to reduce energy consumption and cost during vacancy periods; -In non-working hours keep the BACS system running under the minimum adjustments to improve the energy efficiency, lower heating (<5°F) and increase cooling (greater than5°F), maintaining the relative humidity in the first and slightly rise it in the second (greater than5%);	[19]
Controls and systems upgrade	-Building Automation and Control System (BACS) upgrade and optimization;	[35], [19], [20]
	-Set BACS to operate through remote and security control, hiring diagrams, services contracts and maintenance logs, BACS trend reports, alerts, and notifications;	[19], [20]
	-Disable demand-controlled ventilation (DCV) based on temperature;	[31], [26], [37], [38]
HVAC and SHW systems	-Push for 24/7 air changes to for assure the best indoor air quality (if possible);	[31], [19], [38]
	-Push for the ventilation system readiness and reconfiguration: consult HVAC professionals to perform analysis, testing, design, construction, control programming, balancing, commissioning, maintenance and cleaning, and operation services to comply with the published ASHRAE’s recommendations;	[29], [30], [35], [19], [20], [37]
	-Reevaluate the position of supply and exhaust air diffusers and/or dampers; -Use restroom fans at maximum capacity in full-time during buildings occupation;	[32]
	-Shutdown or redirect of desk, pedestal, or hard-mounted fans capable of blowing air droplets;	[35]
	-Avoid air re-entrainment of contaminants exhaust of indoors; -Evaluate the HVAC and Plumbing Water systems to reduce the potential bioburden of infectious particles;	[19], [20]
	-Signal the energy recovery ventilation systems, installed in-ducts and equipment casings, due to its danger of mixing indoor and outside airstreams; -Consider HVAC designs approved to work up to 5% or 10% of Exhaust Air Transfer Rate (EATR), although indicating the possiblility to reduce to 1% or 0% by resorting to purge section under lower pressure 0.5 in·H2O;	[19]
	-Keep proper maintenance on Plumbing Water systems and the water temperature above 140 °F to avoid microbial manifestation;	[20]
Filtration and Air cleaning	-Improve filtration, air cleaning and proper maintenance;	[26], [30], [29], [31], [34], [35], [19], [20], [36], [37]
	-Use highly efficient filters in buildings with central ventilation and/or climate control systems, as MERV13 to 16;	[29], [31], [19], [20], [38]
	-Install highly efficient particle air filtration (HEPA) or higher allowed MERV filters to clean the recirculated air in closed ventilation circuits;	[29], [32]
	-Install portable HEPA filters in lobbies and entrances;	[19], [38]
	-Control other standard Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) issues, i.e., odor-control;	[35]
Ultraviolet germicidal devices (UVGI)	-Install UVGI devices to inactivate airborne virus on the upper-room air of common occupied spaces following industry guidelines;	[32], [19], [20], [36], [37], [38]
Other measures	-Eliminate reception seating areas and promote workplace layout reconfiguration;	[35], [19]
	-Request negative pressure ventilation in risk places, i.e., isolation rooms;	[33], [35]
	-Promote individual hygiene and the use of personal protection equipment (PPE);	[33], [34], [36]
	-Train workers about SARS-CoV-2 symptoms and risks;	[33]
	-Clean and desinfect surfaces and objects;	[27], [38]

(a) According with the CDC (2015) document “Indoor Environmental Quality”.

Note: The research team highlight that some measures are cross referenced between institutions which indicates a positive articulation in dealing with the pandemic issue.