Pre-Event Advice – Long-Term

Weatherize the Building to Reduce Outdoor Air Penetration

Cracks around windows and doors allow conditioned air to escape the building, and outdoor air to enter. Sealing these gaps can reduce the amount of flow between the building and the outside, thus improving energy efficiency and slowing the rate at which contamination enters the building from the outdoors.

Many large buildings have a small surface-to-volume ratio. In such buildings, weatherization is unlikely to have a large effect on reducing casualties from an outdoor chem/bio release. On the other hand, this improvement might pay for itself in a few years, and improve occupant comfort (especially in the offices on the perimeter of the building), in addition to potentially improving safety for a chem/bio attack, so this action is worth considering.

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