[larryliu]

Working with old buildings require a compromise mindset.

No you don't want to drill the asbestos tiles, but you can install poles standing on the floor with lights and wifi access points.

[crazygringo]

No, it requires a cost/benefit mindset, like everything else.

There's nothing special about old buildings requiring compromise. Asbestos is just particularly costly. It sucks, and often it's more benefit in the long run to just rip that band-aid off now rather than live with suboptimal compromises for decades to come.

[stephen_g]

Yeah, that's it. Luckily it's not actually too hard to remove the ceiling tiles - they're not standard size grid but are drop-in, so nothing has to be cut to remove them and we can have new ceiling tiles made with a non-asbestos fibreboard with an insulation panel glued to the back of it. We'll probably end up removing about a fifth of the tiles in strategic locations for access and ceiling mounted things, because the disposal cost is so high to do all of them. Ideally we could get it all gone but as you said, it's just finding the cost/benefit balance.