Making a case for smart buildings in preventing corona-virus: focus on maintenance management challenges

The major prevention for the COVID-19 pandemic is staying indoors. But research has discovered that COVID-19 can be spread indoors through the touching of building components. Therefore, this study makes a case for the development of contactless smart buildings for preventing the spread of coronavirus. However, most studies related to smart buildings are focused on energy consumption and occupants’ satisfaction while neglecting maintenance management challenges. Thus, this study examines the challenges of maintenance management of smart buildings. A random sampling technique was used in collecting data from facility, property and project managers. The data were collected with the aid of questionnaire and analysed using SPSS V 24, adopting mean score and factor analysis. The study discovered that there is a high prospect for developing smart buildings as a preventive mechanism against coronavirus. The major challenges confronting maintenance management of smart buildings are maintenance cost, occupants behaviour and maintenance strategy. The study recommends that the occupants must be involved in the maintenance management strategies of smart buildings. The study provides the roadmap for creating an innovative method of reducing the spread of coronavirus through construction management.