Self-cleaning fixtures, electrostatic foggers, air ionizers, even antimicrobial hand towels — in 2020, janitorial offerings began to sound like science fiction movie props.
Native Management co-owner and Chief Operating Officer Carlos Saez, who manages 10 properties in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, area, was inundated by options for new pandemic-appropriate sterilization services.
"Oh, geez, I think there is a new option every single day," Saez told Bisnow. "I’ve got somebody calling me from a blocked number, telling me they want to sell us services. Some of these machines don't even exist yet," he said of options that vendors are claiming they can sell before they are widely available on the market.
"At the beginning [of the pandemic], everybody rushed and bought toilet paper. We’re still not sure why that happened," he said. "In a way it's kind of like that with some of these new cleaning technologies: everybody panic-buying without doing the research."
Ron Weiner, CEO of office furniture company iMovr, agrees. He has expressed skepticism about the ability for most office furniture finishes to stand up to the abrasive cleaning products that are often used in increasingly prevalent electrostatic misting and fogging services. For Weiner, the flood of new office-friendly applications for UV-C light sterilization also raises questions.
"I’m staring at a $60 device on Amazon that was $40 two months ago," Weiner said "It’s just big enough for your phone or mask, and these things are selling like crazy."
The subject of years of research, recently UV-C technology has been increasingly widely used in hospital settings, disarming pathogens (like viruses and bacteria) by zapping and frying their DNA. One benefit of UV-C devices is that they are inexpensive, he said, but the drawbacks are worth noting, too: "They are, however, carcinogenic and can cause eye damage" by burning the eyes’ corneas.
"We have one [sample] unit we received from a manufacturer in China, a monitor stand with a drawer, with three solid-state UV light emitters," Weiner said. "You move the keyboard and mouse under the monitor stand then close the drawer to block the light from hitting your eyes, then hit a button. The thing is, this thing has open sides," which the light shows through, he said.
Read more at: https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/employer/uv-c-light-and-other-big-questions-for-2020-104976?utm_source=CopyShare&utm_medium=Browser