Personnel of the Kotka Children’s Hospital can focus on the essential client work in peace – 720° Solution helps ensure the quality of the indoor environment

Quality of the indoor environment is particularly important in the care facilities offered by Kymsote. After the completion of renovations, the analysis of the quality of the indoor environment and communication of the related information are carried out by the 720° Solution. Now, the personnel have access to relevant information and are able to provide feedback easily. The work done to improve the indoor environment is made more visible and the users’ confidence in the facilities has increased. Kastek is now planning to also utilize the indoor environment analytics and communication in future new constructions with the help of 720°.

Kastek provides essential support services to ensure the well-being of the people in the Kymenlaakso region

Kastek, which is part of the Kymsote group, employs 250 professionals to provide healthcare support services for construction, and property and facility management, for example. Kastek makes sure that Kymsote has the capacity to provide preventive, high-quality, and cost-effective services that ensure the well-being and functional ability of the people in the Kymenlaakso region in all life situations. In practice, this means securing the best possible environment in the properties managed by Kastek.

Further investment to communication on the indoor environment was sought after

There was a significant demand for communication pertaining to the indoor environment at the Children’s Hospital that was renovated in 2013. A system that would provide extensive information about the indoor environment and an easy-to-use channel for providing feedback to the personnel was sought after. Kastek wanted to improve awareness of the technically successful renovation and its results. It was found that ensuring proper communication was essential.

“On the technical side we know that the building has been renovated and is working properly. But this has not been clear to the users. This is the situation we wanted to change,”

explains Antti Ahola, indoor air quality specialist at Kastek.

720° Solution brought the users of the facilities and the property management closer

Kastek had already been considering ways to communicate and provide information about the indoor environment to the personnel when 720° offered its solution to the Children’s Hospital as a charity project. The desire to help met with a need, and thus the cooperation was started.

At Kastek, the personnel were included in the project from the beginning.

“We have included the personnel in the project from the start. The decision on which facilities would be primarily included within the scope of the system was left to the personnel”

says Antti Ahola.

A 720° Display was installed on each floor, which can be used by the users of the facility to examine the status of the indoor climate. This also allows for real-time communication with the users and offers them an opportunity to provide feedback. Thus, 720° has bridged the gap between the users of the facility and the technical personnel.

Personnel can now focus on their work instead of the indoor environment

The personnel have been very happy with the transparent communication. Instead of a mere technical detail, indoor air has become a common interest of the entire personnel. The personnel know that they are listened to and are thus better able to focus on the essential work, i.e. taking care of the patients in the hospital.

“It is nice to be able to the see the level of carbon dioxide and the temperature in different rooms, and the technical provisions and limitations concerning indoor air were explained to us clearly. The most positive outcome of this is the fact that these issues are monitored, and that efforts are made to improve them”

says Suvi Penttilä, Services Secretary at the pediatric unit.

Kastek’s indoor air quality specialist Antti Ahola is also satisfied with the 720° solution. The analytics produced by the solution clearly indicate the condition of the indoor environment. Thus, it has been possible to observe that ensuring a proper air quality is largely a question of fine-tuning the technical systems of the property. The 720° Display used as a communication interface increases the visibility of the work done to improve the indoor environment and reinforces the confidence of the users of the facility.

“We have received no new feedback from the children’s hospital after the installation of 720°. Everyone has been very happy with the system. In the future, it is our aim to install a similar system to all new constructions as well.”

Ahola is pleased to say.