Dear friends,

With the end of 2020 behind us and the start of 2021 upon us, I want to take a moment to reflect upon the fantastically difficult year that was 2020 and also take this opportunity to share with you a brief preview of where RESET will be headed in 2021.

In 2020, the topic of indoor air quality (IAQ) and the critical role it plays in the health and safety of building occupants soared to new heights as a result of COVID. Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, the RESET Standards received unprecedented attention, as did the RESET team.

We were invited to serve as keynote speakers and expert panelists in expos, interviews and webinars all over the world and RESET emerged as one of the more comprehensive and forward-looking assessment tools and service organizations to provide actionable, long term strategies for the built environment. What differentiates RESET is our insistence on data and continuous monitoring.

Which leads me to 2021. Our big focus this year will be finalizing our transition from just an Air Standard to a complete suite of data standards and tools. The RESET homepage already states that RESET is a “Data Standard” and a set of “Tools for healthy and sustainable built environments”. We will continue defining and promoting standards around data and continuous monitoring. We believe that these standards will be part of the infrastructure that will significantly accelerate the desire and opportunities in the industry for better solutions and long term implementation for healthier and more sustainable world.

In June of 2020, I took on the role of president of RESET and wrote a letter describing how we plan to take RESET to the next level. I would like to add a quick update to that:

Expanding the Standards

We are excited to finally announce the suite of RESET Standards this month. The RESET Standards will include: Materials, Air, Water, Energy, and Circularity. The official announcement will come out sometime later this month with more details on how each standard functions.

Focusing on Tenant Landlord Relationship

In the second half of 2020, we explored the tenant landlord relationship and our new standards will reflect that consideration. In addition, we have been developing tools in the RESET Cloud specifically targeting the tenant landlord relationship. We will be sharing more details regarding these tools in February.

Building the Community

Building and expanding the community is always a priority and we have two new ways to do this: RESET Statuses for projects and RESET Membership for companies, both of which will be officially announced in the coming weeks.

Diving into Research

In 2020, we personally dived heavily into research, and came up with the RESET Index for Airborne Infection Potential, the first and only air quality index for COVID that leverages continuous monitoring data. In 2021, we are excited to announce RESET Research Initiatives, where we will have a process for connecting and funding research that will become publicly available to the entire industry and community. We will also be official announcing the RESET Research Initiatives later this month.

With 6 months under the belt, I still feel similarly to when I first took on this role. I believe that to solve any problem effectively, we must first measure it properly and continuously. We continue to be excited and optimistic for the future.

From all of us at RESET, Happy New Year!

All the very best,
Stanton Wong
President