Is the Air in Your Office Fit to Breathe?

您办公室的空气适合呼吸吗？

Covid19 has taught the world quite a few things. Not least, the value of fresh air. Indoors — in restaurants, church halls, nursing homes — the disease spread easily, as ①virus particles ②exhaled by the ③infected hung in the air to be ④inhaled by new ⑤victims. Schools, offices and other indoor spaces need better ⑥ventilation in order to ⑦minimize the harm from new coronaviruses, cold and flu viruses.

新冠疫情教会了世界很多东西，特别是新鲜空气的价值。在室内—餐馆、教堂大厅、疗养院、肉类加工厂—疾病很容易传播，因为③感染者②呼出的①病毒颗粒悬浮在空气中，被新的⑤受害者④吸入。学校、办公室和其他室内空间也需要更好的⑥通风，以尽量⑦减少新冠病毒、感冒和流感病毒带来的危害。

This calls for ①rethinking the way indoor air is controlled. New guidance on safer ventilation in schools is ②urgent, and currently under discussion. State and local building codes should also be ③revised. ④Economizing on buildings’ use of energy is ⑤vital in the fight against climate change — but the need for ⑥effective ventilation, which often requires more energy, can no longer be ⑦ignored.

这就需要我们①重新思考对室内空气的控制方式。为学校制定安全通风的新指南②迫在眉睫，目前正在讨论中。州一级和地方的建筑规范也应进行③修订。④节约建筑物的能源使用对应对气候变化⑤至关重要—⑥有效通风的需求虽然往往需要更多能源，但也不能再⑦忽视。

What’s needed is “①displacement ventilation,” which sends cool air through vents low in the room and draws out warmer air through the ceiling. Some hospitals and other buildings (especially in Scandinavia) have these systems. They should be ②preferred in new ③construction — but what about existing offices, schools and other buildings that aren’t already ④equipped?

因此，我们需要的是“①置换通风”，通过房间低处的通风口发送冷空气，并通过天花板抽出暖空气。一些医院和其他建筑物（特别是在斯堪的纳维亚半岛国家）也有这种系统。在新③建筑中这种系统应当作为②首选—但是现有的办公室、学校和其他尚未④配备这种系统的建筑物怎么办呢？

Two years ago, not many policy makers had “quality of building ventilation” on their list of priorities. Score it as one more thing that, thanks to the pandemic, needs to change.

两年前，没有多少决策者将“建筑物通风质量”列入优先考虑的事项清单。但是由于疫情，这成了需要进行改变的又一件事。

来源：彭博社

备注：

1、 蓝色标识出来的词汇为基础词汇；

2、 红色标识出来的词汇为核心词汇。