This article presents a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) whose objective is to identify aspects related to the built environment of Emergency Rooms (ERs) and healthcare facilities that interfere with infection by respiratory diseases. The SLR presented is a relevant part of ongoing research dedicated to discussing the built environment’s role on contamination, considering the COVID-19 pandemic scenario and the ER of the University Hospital of the University of São Paulo (USP), sited in São Paulo city, Brazil, as a case study. The results of this SLR showed that the main aspects discussed in the selected articles are: Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems; disinfection and hygiene; layout and spatial organisation; air curtain and air purification; natural ventilation; door opening; and surface material. As major findings, the importance of properly designed mechanical ventilation systems and of the parameters’ control for the maintenance of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) are highlighted. In addition, the existence of isolation rooms; periodic assessments based on guides and protocols; self-sanitising materials surfaces; and environmental design strategies are presented, together with the development of technologies, often incorporated into hospital furniture. Thus, as contribution, the article highlights the importance of the association of several measures related to the performance of the built environment to minimise respiratory infections in healthcare environments. As a limit of this research, only open access articles and reviews from 2017 to 2021 were considered, so that the article reveals trends in this field of study, not covering the entirety of content.

Due to the large number of activities that must be carried out by emergency-care services (ESs), the tasks of facility managers and architects are challenging and complex. Several strategies, guides, and diagnoses have already been developed in order to improve ESs. Part of the solution to this problem depends on obtaining a normative and universal understanding of the problem, and another part depends on conducting a specific and relational analysis between the environment and the flow of activities that are allocated within it. This paper presents the results of a study that was conducted using a software program that is currently under development for mapping the congruence relationship between activities and environments. Here, we present a discussion of the first results that were obtained with the instrument, which was applied to a single case. For this purpose, the fundamentals of the instrument, as well as the environment and the flows of an ES at a university hospital, are described. The forms of analysis, benefits, and limitations of the instrument were investigated, with a view towards its use in supporting the management and the design of large and complex environments, such as emergency departments. In this program, the relationships that are hidden from the managers, the designers, and the researchers due to the aforementioned complexity are revealed through the use of matrices. This mapping can supplement the decision making of the managers and the designers. The application showed advantages in modeling with fewer inputs, mainly in pre-design evaluations.

Este artigo objetiva avaliar o desempenho de um ambiente adaptado para isolamento hospitalar de paciente com COVID-19, utilizando-se da Avaliação Pós-Ocupação. São apresentados resultados parciais de medições das condições ambientais e de entrevistas semiestruturadas realizadas com funcionários de um pronto-socorro hospitalar. Após a comparação das informações obtidas, juntamente com a menção às principais normas relacionadas ao assunto, ressalta-se a necessidade de sistemas adequados para controle de temperatura, umidade e pressão e para garantia de renovação e filtragem do ar, além da existência de visibilidade entre paciente e funcionários, antecâmara e banheiro privativo.