The power to change the rules of the game.

1. BODIES &
BUILDINGS
NYU ITP LECTURE COURSE FALL 2014
OCTOBER 6, 2013
JEN VAN DER MEER @JENVANDERMEER WWW.JENVANDERMEER.COM

2. ASSIGNMENT:
Ebola Crisis
What can you learn?
What could be done by a student with ITP skills?
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3. PLACES TO INTERVENE IN A SYSTEM:
12. Constants, parameters, numbers (subsidies, taxes, standards)
11. The sizes of buffers and other stabilizing stocks, relative to their flows
10. The structure of material stocks and flows (transport networks, population age structures)
9. Length of delays, relative to the rate of system change
8. The strength of negative feedback loops, relative to the impacts they are trying to correct against
7. The gain around driving positive feedback loops
6. The structure of information flows (who does and does not have access to what kinds of
information)
5. The rules of the system (such as incentives, punishments, constraints)
4. The power to add, change, evolve, or self-organize system structure
3. The goals of the system
2. The mindset or paradigm out of which the system – its goals, power structure, rules, its culture-arises
1. The power to transcend paradigms
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4. 5. The rules of the system
Incentives
Punishments
Constraints
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5. Know the rules:
Thou shalt not kill
Treat your neighbor as you would treat yourself
Take care of ourselves, each other, this place
What are the rules at ITP?
How have the rules changed vs. your
undergrad?
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6. Let’s map out ITP rules
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7. Rules are HIGH LEVERAGE POINTS
Power over rules is real power
If you want to understand the deepest
malfunctions of systems, pay attention to the
rules, and who has power over them.
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8. Let’s change the rules
Now assume you’re not just an ITP student.
You run the WHO.
The UN.
What rules would you change?
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9. Sick building syndrome
The power to change the power dynamics – look
for where change begins
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10. Sick building syndrome
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11. Sick building syndrome
The term "Sick Building Syndrome" was coined
by WHO in 1986, when they also estimated that
10-30% of newly built office buildings in the
West had indoor air problems. Early Danish and
British studies reported symptoms.
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12. Health of buildings
1. Sick building: high toxic or health threat
affecting the majority of building occupants
2. Aggravated Building: above levels of toxic
air causing increased problems of lethargy,
allergic or asthma problems and above
average sick days
3. Average building: within acceptable levels
4. Green building: conducive to good health
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13. ARCHITECTS SPEAK OUT
Sick building syndrome made a rapid journey from media to
courtroom where professional engineers and architects
became named defendants and were represented by their
respective professional practice insurers.
Proceedings invariably relied on expert witnesses, medical
and technical experts along with building managers,
contractors and manufacturers of finishes and furnishings,
testifying as to cause and effect.
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14. Sick building syndrome
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15. Outdoor Sources of Chemical
Contaminants
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16. Outdoor Sources of Chemical
Contaminants
Pollutants from motor vehicle exhaust, plumbing vents
and building exhausts (bathrooms and kitchens) can
enter the building through poorly located air intake
vents, windows and other openings.
Combustion byproducts can enter a building from a
nearby garage.
Radon, formaldehyde, asbestos, dust and lead paint can
enter through poorly located air intake vents and other
openings.
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17. Outdoor Sources of Chemical
Contaminants
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18. Indoor: VOCs: Volatile Organic
Compounds
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19. Indoor: VOCs: Volatile Organic
Compounds
VOCs = airborne chemical contaminants
originating from either outdoors or indoors, or
from biological contaminants such as bacteria,
molds, or pollen
Air quality inside worse than air quality outside
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20. Other sources of Sick Building Syndrome
Biological contaminants
Inadequate ventilation
Electromagnetic radiation (TVs, computers,
microwaves w/out grounding)
Psychological factors (work stress)
Poor lighting
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21. Mapping out buildings and health
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22. Building code standards
American Society of Heating Refrigerating and
Air Conditioning Engineers – Standard 62-1989.
HVAC systems designed to meet ventilation
standards in local building codes.
Remove pollution sources.
Air cleaning.
The insurers needed a defense based upon Standards of Professional Practice to meet a court
decision that declared—that in a modern, essentially sealed building, the HVAC systems must
produce breathing air for suitable human consumption. ASHRAE (American Society of Heating,
Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers, currently with over 50,000 international members)
undertook the task of codifying its IAQ (Indoor Air Quality) standard
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23. SPEAR IN THE CHEST MOMENT
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24. What are the rules?
What rules govern this building?
The building where you were born (if you were
born in a building)?
Your first school?
Your apartment?
How do people learn about buildings?
How do they care for buildings?
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25. BODIES >
BUILDINGS
BODIES & BUILDINGS
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26. MIDTERM PREP:
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What is an OPED?

27. OPED: THE LEDE
1) Be timely. Editors want commentaries to be reflective of
the real world of news and news cycles.
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28. OPED: PERSONAL
2) Begin personally. Often the best way to get your op-ed
published is to show how a larger issue affects a single
person.
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29. OPED: EXPERTISE
3) Think of your expertise. It’s better to leverage your own
expertise—as a parent, a lawyer, a pipefitter, an amputee—
than to try to solve the world’s socio-economic troubles.
That's what politicians and think tanks are for. Pick topics for
your op-eds that are closer to home.
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30. OPED: PURPOSE
4) Have a purpose.
Is the goal of your commentary to enlighten? To get us to go
to the polls and vote? To argue against someone else’s view?
Have the goal of your op-ed in your mind as you draft it, and
go back through during revision to hone your point of view.
Thinking of who your audience is—and op-ed pages are
usually for general audiences—should help you sort this out.
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31. OPED: UNIQUE
5) Be unique.
Remember, editors of op-ed pages receive hundreds of
submissions a week (and in the case of the New York Times,
probably hundreds per day). Your core idea needs to be
something unusual. Be controversial, be counter-intuitive, be
candid.
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32. MIDTERM
BODIES & BUILDINGS
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33. ASSIGNMENT:
Prepare a written and spoken argument (2 pages, 5 minutes) clearly outlining your
position on the topic of mobile health innovation. Prepare for the midterm: a written and
spoken argument (2 pages, 5 minutes) clearly outlining your position on one of two
viewpoints:
Topic Options:
a) Propose a way to contain the spread of Ebola virus
b) Propose a way to improve the quality of life for people with chronic conditions
c) Your choice
This is taken from the Op-Ed structure. (From the Op-Ed Project)
Format:
1. Introduce from the context of the current discussion (LEDE)
2. State your thesis argument – what do you believe
3. Provide three relevant examples proving your point (evidence point one, evidence
point two, then conclusion)
4. “To be sure” Provide the counterpoint, then argue against the counterpoint.
5. Conclude with a recommended action.
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