With the Coronavirus being very disruptive resulting in the need for greater cleanliness, self isolation, limiting human contact, practice social distancing, etc. To enable organizations mitigate issues from this and other diseases, there is a need for greater automation. In addition to improving efficiency and lower costs, automation enables traditional processes to be skipped, typically saving time and money. In addition, it’s now also important to consider automation to reduce or eliminate as many steps as possible that require human to human contact.
COVID-19 is a wake-up call to ensure buildings are healthy spaces with Automation and Smart Solutions
From a health perspective, there is an increased demand for automation to provide sanitary conditions because humans leave germs behind – even if there isn’t physical contact with another person. Like second degree smoke or other residual items, second degree contact from being in a place where others have been is now a huge issue. With us all now well aware of how long viruses can live in a variety of environments, the COVID-19 pandemic, like all disruptive microbes, are great examples of the lasting effects in office environments, public places, etc. Because of this, to better assure good health, there is a need now to be proactive at mitigating issues going forward.
Cleaning automation, particularly in large commercial spaces, will now be a priority for greater confidence people are in a healthy environment and that organizations are doing what Is needed to avoid unnecessary business disruption and potential liability (of not responding in kind to threats). And as people return after the pandemic to the office or collaborate with others in close proximity, they will want to know these places are clean and safe. Whether as employees, patrons, tenants, or owners – people will be much more aware and inquisitive about how spaces they occupy are cleaned, not just one time to disinfect, but on a regular basis going forward.
While we now understand the preventative measures to minimize risks for pandemic threats and other viral contagions, automation with a Smart Cleaning Solution is important to reduce risk of causing or propagating disease as well as to avoid workforce immobilization and business disruption. As highlighted with the rapid spread of COVID-19, Smart Building Solutions are a strategy to improve outcomes and minimize issues with proper cleaning and greater automation of processes
In the way of insight, with over 50 % of commercial spaces being carpeted, a lot of time and manpower is dedicated to vacuuming or spot cleaning. However, when done less frequently or not thoroughly, then there are more microbes and poorer air quality because carpeting holds dust and debris. And with dust and debris building up over time, the concerns and risks increase. Further, when people walk through a space or move furniture, the contaminants are stirred up to cause potential health issues and undermine it’s the importance of air quality.
Automated Health and Smart Cleaning Solutions are available to better manage – offices, washrooms, environment, lighting, vacuuming, waste, etc. Some examples are Microshare Smart Building Solutions (www.microshare.io) with a platform and sensors for automation and improve operations within healthcare facilities with Smart – Washrooms, Space Utilization, Environmental Monitoring, Inventory Mgmt, Reporting, etc. In conjunction with this, Microshare “ Push Button “ sensors are used in operating rooms for staff to signal when a deep clean is needed – after a person with an infectious disease was treated in the space. Other sensors are able to read and transmit air temperature and water quality data, which can be used to determine predictive cleaning patterns as well as set optimal conditions for disease transmission reduction. Another example is a robotic vacuum called Whiz which uses lidar technology, computer vision, and proprietary algorithms to navigate and clean commercial spaces. For non-carpeted floors, the Neo by Avidbots is being used in commercial spaces.
An article about “clean tech” automation recently reported a company that produces UV light-emitting robots has seen a huge increase in demand since the outbreak began in China and that some studies show significant decreases in the spread of infection in healthcare facilities that use UV lights to kill microbes. Additional insights were published an article discussing Well building standards, and one of their air quality optimizations called for the use of UV lights to filter particulate matter from HVAC units.
Going forward, with many people now concerned about space, environment and human cleanliness – property owners and facilities managers need to now include plans for Smart Building Solutions. This is not only important to increase building appeal and value, but to better manage business risk by avoiding health related issues on their premises. Because of COVID-19, health means the environments we share need to satisfy a higher standard of clean. And that’s why “ Automation “ and “ Smart Cleaning Solutions “ matter.
April 15, 2020 – Propmodo / CAIL – Smart Building Insights info@cail.com