Countering Bioterrorism: Why Smart Buildings Should Have a Code of Ethics

This article examines some of the ethical issues that engineers face in developing bio-protection systems for smart buildings. An innovative approach based on four different containment strategies is used to identify these issues. Subsequent analysis shows that, whilst smart buildings have the potential to prioritize the safety of the group over that of individuals, the practical and ethical implementation of such containment strategies would require systems account for the uncertainty over the clinical state of each individual occupant.