WEBVTT - Bringing Light to Education

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Tim

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<v Speaker 1>Steneveek on Bloomberg Radio.

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<v Speaker 2>I gotta say there's a story that I'm obsessed about.

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<v Speaker 2>We've been talking about in the newsroom. Three years ago,

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<v Speaker 2>a group of sixteen youth climate activists decided to take

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<v Speaker 2>the state of Montana to court, challenging a provision in

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<v Speaker 2>a law that limits climate change considerations during environmental reviews

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<v Speaker 2>of proposed fossil fuel projects. This week, Tim, they won

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<v Speaker 2>that's right.

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<v Speaker 3>On August fourteenth, a judge there ruled that the current

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<v Speaker 3>state law violates the youth plaintifts right to a clean

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<v Speaker 3>and healthful environment I write spelled out explicitly in the

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<v Speaker 3>state's constitution, Carol, was a sweeping, one hundred and three

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<v Speaker 3>page decision. The judge also in that decision determined that

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<v Speaker 3>climate change is hurting the young Montanas and that their

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<v Speaker 3>injuries will grow with increasingly severe climate impacts.

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<v Speaker 2>It's a big deal. Climate change, we know, impacting everything

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<v Speaker 2>increasingly well, stressing our infrastructure. We see that impacting investing,

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<v Speaker 2>taking a lead on decision making and strategy. So with

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<v Speaker 2>that in mind, it's kind of where we wanted to

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<v Speaker 2>start with our next guest, Kim ver Hiling, is with us.

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<v Speaker 2>She is president of National Buildings Practice at STV and

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<v Speaker 2>Engineering and Infrastructure firm. We talked last October from a

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<v Speaker 2>broadcast at NJIT and so we are delighted to have

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<v Speaker 2>Kim back with us. Kim, how are you.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm good. Thanks so much. It's great to hear from

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<v Speaker 1>both of you again.

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<v Speaker 2>And thank you for giving a bit a leeway because

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<v Speaker 2>we did kind of want to start with you that.

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<v Speaker 2>I am curious the conversations Tim and I both are

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<v Speaker 2>about what you are having within your firm about climate change,

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<v Speaker 2>the impact and how that might be in terms of

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<v Speaker 2>future building, future construction, infrastructure build out, how we maybe

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<v Speaker 2>have to be dealing with it and thinking about.

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<v Speaker 1>It absolutely well. Climate change is integral and we're thinking

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<v Speaker 1>about it on every single project. Obviously STV does a

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<v Speaker 1>lot on the transportation side, but we also do a

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<v Speaker 1>lot and the building side, and so we're all always

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<v Speaker 1>thinking about while we're designing or renovating, how are we

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<v Speaker 1>going to be making sure our buildings are energy efficient?

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<v Speaker 1>How are we thinking about and impact to the climate

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<v Speaker 1>as well as resilience, And we see that a lot

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<v Speaker 1>with some of the storm conditions that have been happening

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<v Speaker 1>across the country, especially the Sulmar we've sainted, right, and

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<v Speaker 1>all of that is really incumbent on us as professionals

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<v Speaker 1>to take the lead in thinking about better solutions for

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<v Speaker 1>how we construct our facilities in the future.

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<v Speaker 3>Kim I was talking to a colleague of mine and Carol,

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<v Speaker 3>I don't think I told you the story, but we

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<v Speaker 3>were talking about he's looking for a new place in

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<v Speaker 3>Brooklyn and he was on the first floor and he

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<v Speaker 3>asked about flooding and you know when the sewer's back up,

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<v Speaker 3>because it's a normal thing when it rains now and

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<v Speaker 3>the super told him, Oh, don't worry. We'll give you

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<v Speaker 3>these special doors that you put on the bathroom when

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<v Speaker 3>the suit when it rains, so the overflow stays in

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<v Speaker 3>the bathroom and doesn't come out of the bathroom.

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<v Speaker 2>See the sand bag.

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<v Speaker 3>How wonderful, Yeah, how wonderful. Right, not a solution.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, that's right. Well, and obviously those structures that are

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<v Speaker 1>already in place. It's about prevention, but we want a

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<v Speaker 1>design so you don't have to do those sorts of

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<v Speaker 1>things right, that we have the right infrastructure in place

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<v Speaker 1>so it never comes to the point where you have

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<v Speaker 1>to put in those those flood barriers.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's kind of crazy. Having said that, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>one of the other things that you guys think about

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<v Speaker 2>a lot is bringing the world into buildings and making

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<v Speaker 2>kind of you know, bringing nature into environments. We work

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<v Speaker 2>in an incredible office where there is tons of light,

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<v Speaker 2>tons of glass. People walk in and they're like, this

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<v Speaker 2>is where you work, and I'm like, yeah, it's pretty

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<v Speaker 2>amazing because I've worked in a basement studio in a

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<v Speaker 2>New York building where there were no windows and I

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<v Speaker 2>had no idea what was going on outside. That is

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<v Speaker 2>also a big part of what you guys do and thinking,

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<v Speaker 2>whether it's schools, whether it's correctional facilities. Talk to us

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<v Speaker 2>a little bit about daylighting.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so in daylighting is really the idea that you're

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<v Speaker 1>letting natural sunlight either directly or indirectly into a building,

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<v Speaker 1>but you are correct daylight and is one of our

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<v Speaker 1>top design philosophies, irrespective of what building type we're looking at,

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<v Speaker 1>and I think for those of us during COVID when

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<v Speaker 1>we were scrambling to create offices in our homes, we

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<v Speaker 1>realized if you were in a space where you weren't

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<v Speaker 1>getting daylight, and you weren't also having that connection to nature.

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<v Speaker 1>It really did impact your mood. And so when we

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<v Speaker 1>think about daylighting, especially on the educational side, it does

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<v Speaker 1>help improve both student health and we've seen that it

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<v Speaker 1>impacts student achievements, so math and reading scores directly. And conversely,

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<v Speaker 1>if you don't have that amazing daylight come in, we

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<v Speaker 1>have discomfort, which can reduce learning, and it's also detrimental

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<v Speaker 1>to mental health. And that's kind of how it ties

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<v Speaker 1>over into as we think of justice and correctional facilities.

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<v Speaker 1>It's on that side, it's about providing a normative environments

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<v Speaker 1>so that occupants can thrive and not have unsafe conditions,

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<v Speaker 1>both for staff and persons in custody.

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<v Speaker 2>TIMV, I don't know about you. Oh you were working here.

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<v Speaker 2>You didn't really work from home, right, But when I

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<v Speaker 2>were here, when I worked from home for six or

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<v Speaker 2>seven months, I actually mind we were doing our live broadcast,

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<v Speaker 2>but I set up right next to my window and

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<v Speaker 2>it was just really kind of nice. But I wanted

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<v Speaker 2>to be by daylight. So I totally get that, Like

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<v Speaker 2>that makes a lot of sense, and I think it

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<v Speaker 2>made a real difference feeling that you really couldn't go

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<v Speaker 2>anywhere but to at least have kind of a beautiful

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<v Speaker 2>view outside.

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<v Speaker 3>But one challenge here with this idea is that so

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<v Speaker 3>much of what we see with where kids are in

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<v Speaker 3>school and the existing infrastructure, this is stuff that's built,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, Kim, more than one hundred years ago. Can

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<v Speaker 3>you retrofit this stuff to make it to bring the

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<v Speaker 3>daylight in or do you have to start over?

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<v Speaker 1>No, you're absolutely right, but it is true. Obviously, new

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<v Speaker 1>construction is much easier because then you can orient the

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<v Speaker 1>school towards to north light, which is always the nicest

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<v Speaker 1>light to bring in. So renovation is a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>more challenging. But of course we can look to the

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<v Speaker 1>exterior wall to really maximize the window and how much

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<v Speaker 1>light comes in. And then we also use other technologies,

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<v Speaker 1>meaning that outside you may bring in all that light,

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<v Speaker 1>but you also don't want glare. Right, there is a

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<v Speaker 1>point where it gets to be too much light and

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<v Speaker 1>then all of a sudden, the temperature goes up in

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<v Speaker 1>the classroom and it's uncomfortable, right, and then there's a

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<v Speaker 1>different problem. And so what we do on day lighting

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<v Speaker 1>strategies is we think about maximizing the glazing, but also

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<v Speaker 1>putting in shading controls that will monitor and limit depending

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<v Speaker 1>on the amount of light coming in during the day.

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<v Speaker 1>And we also tie that to artificial lighting in the

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<v Speaker 1>classroom with sensors so that we can also be energy efficient,

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<v Speaker 1>which goes back to our earlier conversation about climate change. Right,

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<v Speaker 1>And those are some of the moves we're doing to

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<v Speaker 1>try and lessen the operational costs for school districts.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey, Kim, just got thirty seconds. If you had to

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<v Speaker 2>talk about, like, what is the biggest trend when it

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<v Speaker 2>comes to building right now? What is it?

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<v Speaker 1>Well, let's say the trend to building, I would say

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<v Speaker 1>it's about a holistic experience and human and mental health

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<v Speaker 1>and making sure we're providing in by aments that help

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<v Speaker 1>people thrive for the task at hand in that environment.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, Well, I feel like our boss definitely got

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<v Speaker 2>that memo years ago. I'm very lucky this is not

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<v Speaker 2>one of them old We're like, the windows don't open them,

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<v Speaker 2>just door there are now for years. Yeah, the old

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<v Speaker 2>Excellon building that was the basement of.

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<v Speaker 3>The New York Stock Exchange.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, and you're like, I have no idea, what's going

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<v Speaker 2>on outside. Hey Kim be well, have a great rest

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<v Speaker 2>of the summer. Kim Varhollig, she's president of National Buildings,

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<v Speaker 2>practiced at STV, joining us on zoom there. This is Bloomberg.