With flu season and open/flex office designs both at the height of popular Google searches, worlds are bound to collide. It has been proven that open office and shared workspaces contribute to more days of sickness-related absence. The flu is even starting to impact the health of companies. Chicago REIT Ventas closed last week at a two-year low and attributed it partially to the flu, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. Irvine, California-based HCP said its senior housing portfolio was compromised by the flu season as well, according to Senior Housing News. The flu is accelerating the timeline of senior housing residents moving out and also keeping them from moving in, investors said.

With flu-related deaths in 46 states and a vaccine said to be only 36% effective this season, things are not much better in the office sector. Yet, Jacob White Development President Jeff Mickler said there are ways to keep offices healthier.

Jacob White Development has led projects in the medical field in Houston, and after the success of strategies and materials to keep air clean in medical facilities, the team adopted measures to spread that cleanliness to office spaces.

Methods include installation of ultraviolet lights and increasing the amount of fresh air exchange over and beyond what is required by code.

“If you have a sneeze or an event that causes nasty-grams to be in the air, it grabs them and it filters them at a higher rate than you normally would,” Mickler said. Keeping the space clean from the beginning at a construction site makes a difference, Mickler said. One process involves sealing and isolating a new building’s ductwork until it is installed and ready to use. The result is elimination of 95% of the dust that would typically come with new construction.