As we approach a third year of the coronavirus, it’s clear the pandemic that changed the world also has changed how we live — and work — in our homes.

People have had to adapt their living space into classroom space for kids, workspace for themselves and maybe a spouse and leisure and recreation space when everything else is closed. Entertaining that once took place inside or at restaurants has increasingly moved to the backyard.

With no immediate end in sight, the pandemic already has had an effect on architecture and interior design. So what is in the design forecast for 2022? We talked to several Bay Area and Sonoma architects and designers who highlighted some common themes: people increasingly want their homes to be flexible, with functional spaces for work, learning and recreation, while also offering a calm sanctuary.

Melanie Turner, director of residential design for the residential studio of Perkins & Will with Pfau Long Architecture of San Francisco

The home micro office: With more employers transitioning to a work-from-home model, homeowners are looking for a more permanent office space.

At the beginning of the pandemic, people suddenly sent home to telecommute annexed space wherever they could find it, whether it was a guest room or the kitchen table, thinking it was only temporary. But Turner said many people now want a more defined and permanent workspace, away from the typical open floor plan that offers no privacy.

She foresees more demand for home micro offices, small private workspaces hidden within a large room like a den or library. Think pivoting book cases, hidden doors and sliding wall partitions.

“Separating work from home doesn’t have to be about physical distance,” she said. It’s more about creating “a mental commute.” Turner, who works from home in the small San Francisco apartment she shares with her husband and son, created her own work nook in a walk-in closet that has a window for natural light.

Smart storage solutions: People living in small- to moderate-size homes are looking to maximize their space for all the purposes a house needs to serve.

One way to find extra room is to condense your storage, freeing up space for a micro work area in a closet (or mudroom or laundry room), Turner said. This may involve installing new shelves or cabinets. Use your wall for shelves and go high, even floor to ceiling, and/or go deep. Put things you use only infrequently in the back or up at the top.

Clean materials: The pandemic has put more focus on indoor air quality, health and well-being, Turner said. People are paying more attention to what they bring into their homes and to the safety or potential toxicity of paint finishes and cleaning products.

Turner said she is working with a client who is building a home near Occidental and is committed to using as much wood as possible culled from their own land for projects such as a dining room table and outdoor furniture.

Indoor/outdoor living: The pandemic has made many people more interested than ever in creating incredible outdoor spaces for relaxing, playing and socializing safely and bridging the gap between indoors and outdoors.

The hidden TV: For decades, the TV has been the centerpiece of family and entertainment rooms. No more, Turner said. In 2022, we’ll see a shift away from this, with TV screens hidden or camouflaged.

Samuel Lowe, principal with SDL Residential Designs, Sonoma

ADUs: There has been a big uptick in demand for so-called accessory dwelling units, partly enabled by a relaxation in the requirements for building them in Sonoma County, said Lowe, who has offices in Sonoma and other parts of the Bay Area.

Also, the need for a place to self-isolate if exposed to the coronavirus or to work from home during the pandemic has boosted interest in creating separate, freestanding studios and cottages.

“Just having another space on your property where you can isolate has been so fun for me personally,” said Lowe, who does both architectural and interior design work.

“We designed an ADU for friends in Sonoma County and then right at Christmas, when omicron was kicking off, we stayed there in the ADU because we were spending Christmas with them and it allowed us to quarantine until we got our test results.”

Outdoor rooms: The trend is toward landscaping for outdoor living. People want outdoor rooms with some cover, such as a gazebo or pergola, where they can cook, dine and talk with friends yet easily access the house. These open-air rooms are equipped with permanent under-eave heaters. Fire pits, outdoor kitchens and comfortable lounge furniture remain hugely popular for those long hours and days confined to home.

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Even if the weather outside isn’t frightful, you might still be dealing with winter’s dry and dirty indoor air. Adding humidifiers and air purifiers can help, but they require some TLC. The experts at Consumer Reports reveal the secrets to keep them clean and running at peak performance.

A humidifier can help keep the air inside of your home at a comfortable level. But one that isn’t cleaned properly can produce mold spores. To keep it fresh, always follow the manufacturer’s instructions, which typically include daily and weekly maintenance.

Here are some other general guidelines from Consumer Reports:

Every day, rinse, then towel-dry the humidifier’s tank and fill it with clean water. 

Every week, give your humidifier a deep cleaning. Remove the tank and add one cup of vinegar to the well in the base. Use a cleaning tool or toothbrush to get into the crevices and scrub off any built-up scale. Then rinse well.

To clean the tank, fill it with one cup of vinegar and one cup of water and let it soak for about 20 minutes. Also give it a few good shakes along the way. Then rinse well and towel-dry. And be sure to replace the filter or wick according to your owner’s manual.

If your current humidifier is tough to clean, maybe it’s time for a change. Consumer Reports recommends the Honeywell HUL430 for $76; it’s easy to clean and use. The bonus is there’s no wick, cartridge, or filter that needs to be replaced.

In addition to humidifiers, people use air purifiers to reduce allergens and indoor air pollutants, so it’s a good idea to keep them well maintained. Replace the filters regularly, according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If you have an air purifier with a permanent filter, vacuum it gently with the brush attachment about once a month. Some permanent filters can also be washed but again, check your manual.

The Honeywell InSight HPA5300B for $ 290 is very easy to use and costs hundreds less than many of the recommended air purifiers in Consumer Reports’ tests.

If you don’t have an air purifier, Consumer Reports says you can improve indoor air quality by vacuuming regularly and limiting indoor smoke from wood fires, candles, and incense.

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BOULDER COUNTY, Colo.— The level of chemicals measured in spared homes near the Marshall Fire burn area do not pose an immediate health risk, but residents should still use protective measures, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Fires leave chemicals behind in ash, soot and smoke, and the CDPHE said that could impact homes’ furniture, walls, floors and other surfaces.

Kristy Richardson, state toxicologist at the CDPHE, said she understands residents in the area may be worried about those chemicals in their home.

“We want to reassure you that so far the levels of chemicals seen in these measurements do not reflect an immediate health risk,” she said. “We do need more information about how long benzene and other chemicals might stay at these levels to evaluate the potential for long-term health impacts.”

Jordon Ward

These findings come from a University of Colorado Boulder research team that started conducting indoor air sampling for volatile organic compounds in a home that was severely impacted by the Marshall Fire’s smoke. The testing occurred about a week after the blaze.

“Preliminary results show that the level of benzene in that home is higher than outdoors, but the indoor measurements have consistently been below the short-term or acute health guideline value of 9 parts per billion for benzene,” the CDPHE reported. “When windows were opened to improve ventilation, the levels of chemicals went down significantly, but rose again when windows were closed.”

READ MORE: All Denver7 coverage of the Marshall Fire

The team said it will continue to monitor the air in that home, and will then analyze the data from this home, plus a limited number of other homes that were impacted on a smaller scale. CU said this sampling will help them understand how long the levels of chemicals last and what can help reduce exposure.

Chemicals will continue to release into the affected home in the upcoming days and weeks, but will decrease over time, the CDPHE said.

Residents can speed the process up by cleaning their homes and using precautions to reduce their exposure. The CDPHE said that can include the following:

• Wear a well-fitted NIOSH-certified mask or respirator (such as an N95 mask or more protective respirator)
• Wear gloves, long-sleeved shirts, long pants, shoes and socks to avoid skin contact with ash or debris. If you get ash on your skin, in your eyes, or in your mouth, wash it off as soon as you can
• Avoid cleanup activities if you have heart or lung disease (including asthma), are an older adult, or are pregnant
• Keep children and pets away from ash and cleanup activities
• Air out your indoor spaces by opening windows and doors when possible and after cleaning out any ash and debris
• Use air cleaners with HEPA filters for particles and activated carbon filters for volatile organic compounds such as benzene
• Deep clean the surfaces of your home
• Keep air cleaners on until the smells go away
• Do not use ozone generators in homes if anybody is staying in the home. Ozone is toxic to breathe, and using one of these devices in the home can create a potential health risk. High ozone levels also can damage plants and materials such as paints, rubber, other natural materials, electrical wire coatings, fabrics, and artwork
• If you do use an ozone generator in an empty residence, thoroughly air out the space for at least four hours before re-entering
• Vacuum floors/carpet/rugs, drapes, and furniture using HEPA-type vacuum cleaner, or steam clean these surfaces
• Avoid doing anything that can stir up particles, such as dry sweeping and dusting. Before sweeping hard surfaces, mist them with water to keep dust down
• Do not use harsh chemical cleaners or vinegar as they can react with chemicals in the ash. Soap and water are adequate to clean ash from hard surfaces

If you start cleaning your home but notice concerning symptoms — such as repeated coughing, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, wheezing, chest tightness or pain, palpitations, headaches, and nausea or unusual fatigue or lightheadedness — leave the home and contact your healthcare provider. Those symptoms may be related to exposure to ash or soot. The symptoms could also indicate an infection of COVID-19, the CPDHE said.

To learn more about air quality after a fire in an indoor space, click here.

Earlier this month, the Boulder County Public Health released guidance on what people should consider when spending time outside near where the fire burned.

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Nine-year-old school pupil Jakub Kozlowski campaigns for cleaner air. 

Jakub has been campaigning to reduce the level of air pollution around his school after learning that it was located in one of the most polluted locations in Bristol. 

Parson Street Primary School sits on the corner of one of Bristol’s busiest junctions and the location of nearby traffic lights means there is a constant queue of cars waiting for extended periods outside the school gates. 

Jakub began his campaign in early 2021 by running 2km to school every day for two weeks in order to raise enough money to purchase banners for his school’s fence that ask drivers to turn off their engines whilst idling. 

After meeting his initial goal, Jakub also became aware of the many benefits that clean indoor air has for learning and concentration. He contacted Blueair who donated air purifiers for the whole school.

Jakub comments, ‘We have had our purifiers working for the last few weeks, it’s made a massive impact for our classroom. I used to be able to taste the pollution sometimes but now that the air purifier is on, we have none of that.

‘Also, both my friends, who have asthma, have been doing alright as well. The next thing we are planning to do is to use the money I raised to pay for green screens around the school. Hopefully, that will help with air pollution in the playground. Thank you very much Blueair for helping all of us but mostly our Lungs.’

Fiona Price, Business Manager for Parson Street School added: ‘We are so grateful to have received the donation for the new term – not only to protect staff and pupils from air pollution but also to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 at a time when the government and scientists are putting emphasis on the effectiveness of air purifiers.

‘We are an inner-city school with an extremely busy road outside of our boundary, many cars idle at the traffic lights causing lots of emissions from their exhausts. One of our pupils started to raise awareness of the pollution in our area and more specifically around the school. Since the units were installed, our staff and pupils have already noticed the impact on their health and wellbeing with some saying they can feel the difference when they breathe. We cannot thank Blueair enough.’

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Houseplants have been keeping a lot of us company during the pandemic, and the good news is there’s a plant for any home, big or small, well-lit or not.

There’s also a virtual jungle of stylish containers in which to show them off.

“I love incorporating plants into our interior spaces,” says designer Mel Bean of Tulsa, Okla., “both for the sense of life that they contribute, and for their help in improving indoor air quality. I prefer significantly sized plants in large containers rather than many small pots. It creates a dramatic impact while feeling sculptural rather than cluttered.”

Bean’s go-to shop is Bloomscape, which offers a range of simple pots, in muted hues, made of 80 percent recycled ocean plastic. There are handy wheeled saucers for larger plants, and bamboo stands that adjust to fit the pot.

Other great options in planters and stands:

Ideas for small spaces

Clever shapes, such as a smooth-sided planter that can serve as a bookend on a shelf, can solve limited-space issues.

“It’s unique, interesting, and an especially innovative idea for anyone who lives in an apartment or smaller space,” Better Homes & Gardens lifestyle editor Jennifer Aldrich wrote recently in the magazine.

A sea-green, hand-glazed finish on Holistic Habitat’s Pita bookend planters gives them an artisanal look. And Urban Outfitters’ pair of bookend vessels also serves a dual purpose; the terracotta glaze gives them a nice look on a shelf.

Miijmoj Design turns a cantilevered oak board into a bookend, and adds a cylinder vase, which can be filled with an air plant or single stem.

Pedestal planters literally and figuratively elevate your greenery.

Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Tortuga Living has collaborated with Farrah Sit, founder of Light + Ladder studio, on the Platform Vessel collection. The concrete and stone terrazzo bowls and planters in various sizes were inspired by Bauhaus architecture’s geometric forms, and can be used indoors or out.

Chen-Yen Wei and Hung-Ming Chen’s Story Planter, a series of rising containers, can be paired with their Story Bookshelf so plants and books are showcased together in a vertical stack with a compact footprint.

“It was not an easy task, though it appears really simple,” Hung-Ming says in a studio mission statement. “We hope people see it as a quiet, functional sculpture.”

Or simply use a small tray table, like Smith & Hawken’s black steel-framed one with a removable wooden tray top.

Conversation starters

Many planters are art pieces themselves. Jonathan Adler’s Muse Dora Maar planter was inspired by the French poet, painter and muse to Picasso. A modernist carved face encircles the cement vessel; filling it with a tumble of feathery ferns, or a tall slim tree, would add another dimension to the profile.

Midcentury-modern designer Arthur Umanoff’s 1961 rattan and steel planter might be a chic addition to a room with a similar aesthetic. And the warm, wavy texture would look wonderful in a contemporary boho-inspired or maximalist-themed space as well.

Textured or fluted ceramics, especially in a matte finish, can elevate even the most basic houseplant. You’ll find affordable options in Target’s Opalhouse and Project 62 collections.

At Lightology, Kenneth Cobonpue’s faceted, oxidized metal Boulders planters bring a masculine, midcentury vibe to the table.

Brittany Farinas, principal at Miami’s House of One design firm, has been exploring “botanical art,” like a preserved-moss wall in one recent project.

“There are endless possibilities when designing with preserved moss,” she says.

“Not only does it bring life and vibrancy to the home, but it acts as a conversational piece.”

Farinas worked on the moss feature wall with the team at Miami’s Plant the Future. The design studio also runs a shop offering wood forms like burled balls or driftwood troughs that can be filled with moss. The gnarled, weathered specimens with tufts of green peeking out of the crannies are natural objets d’art.

Wall planters are a fun way to play with houseplants. If you have a motley collection, popping them onto a wall can evoke an indoor jungle or conservatory vibe. If you go with a more curated assemblage –- say, cacti, succulents or one type of trailing vine — you’ll create an artsy, architectural look.

Holistic Habitat’s Romy wall planter collection features curvy cylinders of white ceramic, melding sculptural art with the greenery you place in them. Then there’s the Geo, with a slim circle of copper cradling the clay pot; it’s a living sconce.

Self-waters

Swedish company Wetpot offers a self-watering pot that makes sure you don’t over- or underwater. A terracotta planter, available in two sizes for either a couple of smaller plants or, perhaps, a potted fern, sits inside a reservoir of hand-blown glass; fill the reservoir, and plants will take in what they need.

Eli Manekin of Loop Living has designed a thoughtful collection of self-watering planters that hang elegantly from the wall or ceiling on wooden rods, knobs or loops.

Flexibility

Arhaus’ Miramar pots conjoin a roomy bowl and a tall cylinder, so plants can be transferred from small first home to roomier digs as they grow.

A bar cart makes a clever plant table that can be moved around to catch the sun. Ferm Living’s slim, powder-coated steel planter box, a bestseller on 2Modern’s site, comes in hues like rose, gray and olive; filled with greenery, it could serve as a pretty room divider.

Hanging macrame planters have a ’70s vibe. Options available online include Hay’s cool Phanta hanger, in black, green or blue, and made of recycled material.

Or make your own. At www.kenarry.com you’ll find instructions for a simple structure that can be adapted to any size pot. At www.hellonest.co there’s a slightly fancier one, but it still uses just three knots.

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A warming climate means millions of Americans are exposed to wildfire smoke every summer. Seattle, Wash., and the Pacific Northwest experienced some of the worst air quality in the world in 2020.

When wildfire smoke descends over a city or town, as it does increasingly often for tens of millions of people in the American West, public health officials have a simple message: Go inside, shut doors and windows. Limit outdoor activities.

New research shows that may not be enough to protect a person’s health.

A series of studies looking at crowdsourced indoor air quality during wildfire smoke events has found that the most insidious part of wildfire smoke — microscopic particles so small they can infiltrate a person’s bloodstream, exacerbating respiratory and cardiac problems — can seep through closed doors and shuttered windows, making air hazardous in homes and businesses.

The research shows, in detail for the first time, the depth of the public health risk millions of Americans are being exposed to every climate-fueled fire season. But the findings are also encouraging in that they show there are steps people can take to protect their health.

Homes that used air filters, in addition to closing windows and doors, were able to cut the amount of those tiny PM2.5 particles floating inside them by half, according to research from the University of California, Berkeley.

“While the particulate matter indoors was still three times higher on wildfire days than on non-wildfire days, it was much lower than it would be if people hadn’t closed up their buildings and added filtration,” said the study’s senior author Allen Goldstein.

Brown smoke from wildfires blows westward in the atmosphere from California and Oregon on Sept. 9, 2020. Smoke from Western fires has triggered air quality alerts 3,000 miles away.

Brown smoke from wildfires blows westward in the atmosphere from California and Oregon on Sept. 9, 2020. Smoke from Western fires has triggered air quality alerts 3,000 miles away.

But the results, like many of climate change’s impacts, were not equal.

Newer homes, better insulated and equipped with air filters, did better than old ones, highlighting the need for air filtration for people who live in drafty homes.

That includes Marshall Burke, an earth system scientist at Stanford University and the author of a similar study scheduled to publish later this fall. During last year’s unprecedented fire season, his home was enveloped in smoke for weeks like many others in the Bay Area.

“And I have two kids, one who’s asthmatic, so I’m really worried and interested in what those [indoor] exposures look like,” he said.

He bought a low-budget PurpleAir monitor that reads indoor air quality and publishes it online.

“And our indoor pollution was sky high during these wildfire events,” he said.

He looked at other people’s data shared by PurpleAir monitors and found that was the case across California. In fact, oftentimes, the air inside was just as bad as it was out. The findings startled Burke and worried him.

“Fortunately, I have the means to go buy an air filter,” he said. “That’s not the case for everyone.”

The Staten Island Ferry departs from the Manhattan terminal through a haze of smoke from Western wildfires, with the Statue of Liberty barely visible on July 20.

Julie Jacobson/AP

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Julie Jacobson/AP

 

The Staten Island Ferry departs from the Manhattan terminal through a haze of smoke from Western wildfires, with the Statue of Liberty barely visible on July 20.

 

Julie Jacobson/AP

 

The number of people exposed to wildfire smoke is growing

At least 1-in-7 Americans experienced dangerous air quality from wildfire smoke last year, an analysis by NPR found. Tens of millions of more have been directly exposed this year, as massive wildfires have torn across Canada and the West’s drought-wracked, heat-baked landscapes.

The smoke triggered air quality alerts 3,000 miles away, enveloping the Statue of Liberty in a grey haze.

Scientists are just starting to get a better understanding of smoke’s effects on human health. What they know so far isn’t good.

A warming climate means higher intensity wildfires, more frequently. And where there’s fire, there’s harmful smoke.

A study by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, published earlier this year, found that tiny particles released in wildfire smoke are up to 10 times more harmful to humans than particles released from other sources, such as car exhaust.

Wildfire smoke blankets Missoula, Mont., at the end of a hot summer day. The mountain town has been inundated with smoke for weeks this summer.

Nathan Rott/NPR

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Nathan Rott/NPR

 

Wildfire smoke blankets Missoula, Mont., at the end of a hot summer day. The mountain town has been inundated with smoke for weeks this summer.

 

Nathan Rott/NPR

 

Those tiny particles have been shown to increase hospitalizations, cause shortness of breath and headaches, and can trigger bigger respiratory or cardiac events.

Because of those known threats, public health officials have long been warning people — particularly at-risk populations — to seek shelter when smoke is thick.

But the new research suggests that there needs to be an additional step.

The public messaging during a smoke event needs to change, says Sarah Coefield, an air quality specialist in Western Montana, “from ‘Go inside,’ to ‘Go inside and clean your air.’ ”

Coefield helped author a study with the Environmental Protection Agency that looked at air quality inside public buildings and businesses during wildfire smoke events in Missoula, Mont. They placed air monitors in daycares, schools, libraries, businesses and other publicly accessible buildings — the types of places that health officials like Coefield generally recommend people go to during smoke or heat events.

“We did not have a single building with air that was, like, significantly better than outside,” Coefield said. “Some of the buildings, you might as well have been outside.”

There’s a push to help provide clean indoor air for everyone

Mason Dow, a member of Climate Smart Missoula, gives a free air filter to a new mother at a local food bank, explaining the impacts of wildfire smoke on human health.

Nathan Rott/NPR

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Nathan Rott/NPR

 

Coefield agrees that air filters are the logical answer. But they cost money. A fancy HVAC system for a school can cost thousands of dollars. An air filter for a home can cost hundreds.

Knowing that some people don’t have the financial means to afford that kind of protection, there’s a growing push in the environmental justice and climate change movements to make sure everyone has access to air filtration.

On a smoke-filled, hot day in Missoula, Mason Dow and a group of volunteers duct tape square air filters, bought at Home Depot, to a stack of box fans. The materials for each cost about $40.

Dow works for a local nonprofit called Climate Smart Missoula that usually focuses on legislation and policies to reduce people’s contribution to climate change. With the effects of a warming world already being felt though, Dow said, it was important to step in and help people adapt to its effects.

“That’s just the reality of where we are,” he said.

The DIY air filters are given to volunteers working for Meals on Wheels and are distributed at the Missoula Food Bank, targeting the booming mountain town’s lower-income residents, who often don’t have air conditioning either.

Sixty-seven-year-old Janet Friede is one of those people. She’d been keeping her doors and windows closed during heatwave after heatwave this summer, but the smoke keeps getting through.

“It makes me have a headache,” she said, loading a box fan filter into her car. “And tired. Real tired.”

The free air filter, she said, should hopefully help.

Amy Cilimburg, the executive director of Climate Smart Missoula, says nonprofits like hers need to help people adapt to a warming climate — not just to limit their greenhouse gas emissions.

Nathan Rott/NPR

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Nathan Rott/NPR

 

Amy Cilimburg, the executive director of Climate Smart Missoula, says nonprofits like hers need to help people adapt to a warming climate — not just to limit their greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Nathan Rott/NPR

 

“It feels maybe a little bit like a band-aid,” said Amy Cilimburg, Climate Smart Missoula’s executive director. She’s put expenses for the DIY air filters on her credit card the last two summers because climate adaptation is not what they typically do.

And she doesn’t want the group’s focus to drift too much from its main goal of getting people to reduce their climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Globally, they are still on track to produce even more catastrophic impacts later this century.

“We’re trying to manage the unavoidable,” she said. “But then, how do we avoid the unmanageable?”

Daniel Lam contributed to this story.

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Originally Appeared Here

Houseplants have been keeping a lot of us company during the pandemic, and the good news is there’s a plant for any home, big or small, well-lit or not.

There’s also a virtual jungle of stylish containers in which to show them off.

“I love incorporating plants into our interior spaces,” says designer Mel Bean of Tulsa, Oklahoma, ”both for the sense of life that they contribute, and for their help in improving indoor air quality. I prefer significantly sized plants in large containers rather than many small pots. It creates a dramatic impact while feeling sculptural rather than cluttered.”

Bean’s go-to shop is Bloomscape, which offers a range of simple pots, in muted hues, made of 80% recycled ocean plastic. There are handy wheeled saucers for larger plants, and bamboo stands that adjust to fit the pot.

Other great options in planters and stands:

IDEAS FOR SMALL SPACES

Clever shapes, like a smooth-sided planter that can serve as a bookend on a shelf, can solve limited-space issues.

“It’s unique, interesting, and an especially innovative idea for anyone who lives in an apartment or smaller space,” Better Homes & Gardens lifestyle editor Jennifer Aldrich wrote recently in the magazine.

A sea-green, hand-glazed finish on Holistic Habitat’s Pita bookend planters gives them an artisanal look. And Urban Outfitters’ pair of bookend vessels also serves a dual purpose; the terracotta glaze gives them a nice look on a shelf.

Miijmoj Design turns a cantilevered oak board into a bookend, and adds a cylinder vase, which can be filled with an air plant or single stem.

Pedestal planters literally and figuratively elevate your greenery.

Brooklyn, New York-based Tortuga Living has collaborated with Farrah Sit, founder of Light + Ladder studio, on the Platform Vessel collection. The concrete and stone terrazzo bowls and planters in various sizes were inspired by Bauhaus architecture’s geometric forms, and can be used indoors or out.

Chen-Yen Wei and Hung-Ming Chen’s Story Planter, a series of rising containers, can be paired with their Story Bookshelf so plants and books are showcased together in a vertical stack with a compact footprint.

“It was not an easy task, though it appears really simple,” Hung-Ming says in a studio mission statement. “We hope people see it as a quiet, functional sculpture.”

Or simply use a small tray table, like Smith & Hawken’s black steel-framed one with a removable wooden tray top.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Many planters are art pieces themselves. Jonathan Adler’s Muse Dora Maar planter was inspired by the French poet, painter and muse to Picasso. A modernist carved face encircles the cement vessel; filling it with a tumble of feathery ferns, or a tall slim tree, would add another dimension to the profile.

Midcentury-modern designer Arthur Umanoff’s 1961 r attan and steel planter might be a chic addition to a room with a similar aesthetic. And the warm, wavy texture would look wonderful in a contemporary boho-inspired or maximalist-themed space as well.

Textured or fluted ceramics, especially in a matte finish, can elevate even the most basic houseplant. You’ll find affordable options in Target’s Opalhouse and Project 62 collections.

At Lightology, Kenneth Cobonpue’s faceted, oxidized metal Boulders planters bring a masculine, midcentury vibe to the table.

Brittany Farinas, principal at Miami’s House of One design firm, has been exploring “botanical art,” like a preserved-moss wall in one recent project.

“There are endless possibilities when designing with preserved moss,” she says.

“Not only does it bring life and vibrancy to the home, but it acts as a conversational piece.”

Farinas worked on the moss feature wall with the team at Miami’s Plant the Future. The design studio also runs a shop offering wood forms like burled balls or driftwood troughs that can be filled with moss. The gnarled, weathered specimens with tufts of green peeking out of the crannies are natural objets d’art.

Wall planters are a fun way to play with houseplants. If you have a motley collection, popping them onto a wall can evoke an indoor jungle or conservatory vibe. If you go with a more curated assemblage –- say, cacti, succulents or one type of trailing vine — you’ll create an artsy, architectural look.

Holistic Habitat’s Romy wall planter collection features curvy cylinders of white ceramic, melding sculptural art with the greenery you place in them. Then there’s the Geo, with a slim circle of copper cradling the clay pot; it’s a living sconce.

SELF-WATERERS

Swedish company Wetpot offers a self-watering pot that makes sure you don’t over- or underwater. A terracotta planter, available in two sizes for either a couple of smaller plants or, perhaps, a potted fern, sits inside a reservoir of hand-blown glass; fill the reservoir, and plants will take in what they need.

Eli Manekin of Loop Living has designed a thoughtful collection of self-watering planters that hang elegantly from the wall or ceiling on wooden rods, knobs or loops.

FLEXIBILITY

Arhaus’ Miramar pots conjoin a roomy bowl and a tall cylinder, so plants can be transferred from small first home to roomier digs as they grow.

A bar cart makes a clever plant table that can be moved around to catch the sun. Ferm Living’s slim, powder-coated steel planter box, a bestseller on 2Modern’s site, comes in hues like rose, gray and olive; filled with greenery, it could serve as a pretty room divider.

Hanging macrame planters have a ’70s vibe. Options available online include Hay’s cool Phanta hanger, in black, green or blue, and made of recycled material.

Or make your own. At www.kenarry.com you’ll find instructions for a simple structure that can be adapted to any size pot. At www.hellonest.co there’s a slightly fancier one, but it still uses just three knots. A video walks you through the process.

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Originally Appeared Here

Eighty air filter machines to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection for patients and staff have been installed across Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) following pioneering research by Addenbrooke’s.

An air filter machine and Dr Vilas Navapurkar, who conceived and led the study. Picture: CUH

A study at the hospital in January 2021, at the height of the second wave, found the filters remove almost all traces of airborne Covid virus and other viruses, bacteria and fungi that are also known to cause infection.

CUH engineer Andrew Turner, who was part of the research team, said: “For the initial study we used two air filter machines, but the results were so dramatic it made sense to get many more and use them across the trust to help reduce outbreaks of infection. Now we have a total of 80 machines, most of them bought by the trust but many also donated by manufacturers.”

A number of units are now in place in clinics where airborne infection is a particular risk, including endoscopy, maxillofacial and lung function. But the majority are designated to areas by the infection control team and moved as needed, including to general wards converted to treat patients with Covid and the emergency department.

Each machine has cost the trust around £5,000 alongside maintenance costs.

Dr Vilas Navapurkar, consultant in intensive care medicine at CUH, who led the study, said: “Effective PPE has made a huge difference, but anything we can do that could reduce the risk further is important.

“Because of the numbers of patients being admitted with Covid, hospitals have had to use wards not designed for managing respiratory infections. Our study showed that portable air filtration devices, which are relatively inexpensive, remove airborne SARS-CoV-2 and other micro organisms that cause infection which may make these wards safer.”

An intensive care Covid ward at CUH during the height of the pandemic second wave, January 2021. Picture: CUH

The research was supported by Wellcome, the Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre.

A further study – the Addenbrooke’s Air Disinfection Study (AAirDS) – is under way to assess how effective air cleaning is at reducing infection risk and will be co-led by Dr Matthew Butler and Dr Victoria Keevil.

CUH consultant Dr Butler said: “This next study is the first of its kind in the world to combine genomics, electronic health data, patient outcomes, microbiological air sampling and indoor air quality.

“We know now that air filter machines can reduce the amount of infectious particles in the air. What we don’t know is how much that reduction translates into our risk of getting sick. For instance how much of any pathogen needs to be inhaled or be exposed to in order to infect us?

“AAirDS aims to begin to answer these questions and is the first study of its kind in the world to combine genomics, electronic health data, patient outcomes, microbiological air sampling and indoor air quality sensing to quantify the effect of air filters in a hospital setting.”

The study will deploy air filter machines for a year on two wards caring for older people at Addenbrooke’s.

This will provide data on how effective air cleaning might be at preventing outbreaks with SARS-CoV2, the virus causing Covid, but also other respiratory viruses, MRSA, clostridioides difficile (C diff) and norovirus.

AAirDS is funded by the UK Health Security Agency.

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Air filters on Addenbrooke’s wards removed nearly all traces of airborne Covid-19 virus, Cambridge University Hospitals study shows

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GATLINBURG, Tenn. (WATE) — Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies has installed an air disinfectant system throughout the Aquarium’s heating and cooling units.

In a release, the aquarium said that the system purifies indoor air, killing bacteria, fungi, and viruses like COVID-19 with UV technology prior to the air being redistributed throughout the facility.

Popular Gatlinburg restaurant Loco Burro opens in Knoxville

• RAS Germicidal UV System installed at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies
• (Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies)

“This was a very exciting project. Ripley Entertainment is constantly exploring and implementing different technologies to improve our operations and guest experience,” said Jay Bryan, Director of Maintenance and Engineering for Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies.

In July 2020, the Tennessee Valley Authority provided incentives to businesses and schools to install the UV-C germicidal lights. This caused the aquarium to begin researching the technology. The system was bought in October 2020, but a high demand for the parts delayed the project until May 2021. The installation was finished on January 19, 2021.

READ: More top stories on WATE.com

“We care about the health and safety of our guests, our team, and our animals. We are extremely happy that installation is now complete,” added Bryan.

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Data ‘shows us that there is no risk to the current users or the general public … (and) that we’re being a responsible owner of a brownfield property,’ says city official

The city and its hired consultants have been monitoring groundwater and air quality at the 70 Front St. N. property, and so far it’s been “good news.”

The city-owned site, which includes the Metro plaza and a portion of a former railway, is a brownfield and requires regular monitoring — something the city is responsible for until the property is handed over to a private developer.

The city expects its sale with FRAM Building Group to close in the spring.

Monitoring has taken place there since about 2018, said Renee Recoskie, the city’s manager of property and environmental sustainability.

“The condition remains consistent” with previous monitoring activities, she said.

A recent memo to council noted, “Volatile organic compounds (VOC) impacts to groundwater continue to be identified on the southern and central portions of the site. The results were generally consistent with the previous sampling events completed at the site.

“All analyzed indoor air samples were measured below the applicable Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks Health-Based Indoor Air Criteria.”

“That shows us that there is no risk to the current users or the general public. It’s good news,” Recoskie said. “This data is important. It’s showing that we’re being a responsible owner of a brownfield property.”

GHD Group provided an update to city staff and noted “concentrations of trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and their degradation byproducts have been detected at concentrations above the applicable 2011 Ministry of the Environment … Conservation and Parks Table 2 and Table 6 (potable) standards for coarse textured soils.

“The source(s) of the VOC impacts to groundwater on site are not fully known but may be attributed to historical on-site and/or off-site operations.”

That doesn’t mean there is a risk to human health, Recoskie pointed out.

When it comes time for the property to be developed, FRAM Building Group will work with the ministry, which governs brownfield redevelopment in Ontario, to secure approvals to build.

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