We would meed to fix the outer sash. The lock pushed up the outer one and pushes down the inner. To make that larch work.
Something similar to the depicted latch could be made to serve the function of locking the upper and lower sashes against vertical motion. The piece with the tapered bolt attached to the top of the lower sash and a rectangular hole in the bottom of the upper sash. (Discarding the supplied strike depicted on the left. Four potential issues that I can think of, though:
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The tapered bolt would drag on the glass and frame of the upper sash unless it is a really short bolt.
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A really short bolt would be vulnerable to prying the gap open, giving enough clearance to raise the lower sash from the outside.
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The depicted bolt assembly probably needs a thicker lower sash than what we have to be stable.
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The current latches, besides preventing vertical movement draw the gap closed between the sashes by design to compress a seal reducing air leaking between the sashes in the closed position. Common wooden sashes often have slight bevels where the sashes meet in the closed position. (Most people haven’t ever fabricated a wooden sash from scratch, so never would have reason to notice the bevel). The depicted latches couldn’t perform the compression desired of that seal.
I can imagine a few possible work arounds for these potential issues, but past a small amount of effort it doesn’t make sense to reinvent a working design unless the resulting additional functionality justifies the exercise.
(I’m actually not able to imagine the application of the depicted latch set except to latch objects in a position of complete overlap. Maybe I’m missing something).
Perhaps we could outfit the shops that are experiencing window issues with heavy louvers (and perhaps even fans). They would be secure from a security standpoint if left open, and would not prevent opening for egress.
Seems like we could easily have passive ventilation without sacrificing any measure of impregnability that our building may have.
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That’s thinking outside the box.
We could also program lights and equipment to power on and act like they are being used when the lights are off.
Making the building seem occupied or haunted. A few well placed rumors in the community and no one would be caught alive in that building by themselves
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Hmm… It is possible to do glass louvers…
They would be aesthetically pleasing to neighbors at least. Somehow I don’t see them being fans of a building that looks like it belongs in an apocalypse movie.
Well I watched thirteen ghosts the other day my initial idea was a bit more macabre
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Too bad these aren’t crank windows…
However, all thread or a lead screw could be used instead.
Apocalypse building… are you talking about the old building? 
perhaps motion detector lights and a romba with a mannequin on it? to make it look like someone is in the building?
outdoor screens over the windows are a thought too.
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By outdoor screens, I assume you don’t mean like the stuff that keeps mosquitoes out of my house, right? That stuff doesn’t even keep mosquitoes out.
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I wanted like a dozen Robots to clean the floors every night… and trip thieves.
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We have a bunch of sunroof motors.
as in window screens, you can get ones that are tinted black. it would be a bit more aethetically pleasing than bars (like a jail) over the windows.
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Although I have been watching carefully for additional ideas, I’m still of the belief that a simple, inexpensive and less ambitious system to detect window and latch position would be better than doing nothing about the problem.
There are definitely additional things that could have merit, such as bars on some windows, occupancy sensors, etc.
Unfortunately I’ve had significant health issues that have kept me away from the building, so I haven’t started looking at the details of how to best get started on testing. Or even to see what kind of Reed switches, optical components, or proximity switches we already have.
I wish I could predict when I’ll be able to come to the makerspace, but that’s not possible and won’t be possible for at least another month. And in the best case a month from now I’ll only have an estimate of when I can resume normal activities, if ever.
Wish I could give more details, but they wouldn’t benefit anyone and it’s very depressing to think about.
It wouldn’t bother me in the least if someone else decided to go forward with or without using any ideas I’ve written here.
For now all I can plan on is to monitor this thread and offer my input as appropriate.
Mike
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Hoping for quick recovery back to health for you.
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Part of me Hope’s we needlessly overcomplicate the system. But I dont have the time to invest in it to overcomplicate it.
sorry your health is sub par - hope you’re comfortable - and that you have continued improvement
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I have an idea, the same idea I had initially. A sliding bolt with a reed switch. The switch is designed to allow for over travel of the bolt. The bolt is a positive locking system that does not vary from window to window. Simple, cheap, effective.
Put a sensor on each window. When open it lights a sign near the door that says “Window(s) Left Open”. It could be wifi and send a message to leaders who are off site as well.
I’m still in favor of the solution being dumber than those leaving the windows open.