Smart office for Halton using Empathic Building

As Halton headquarters moved to a new office space, it was a great opportunity to take new kinds of solutions into use. Halton wanted to utilize their office space the best possible way, make working easier, and know how and when their spaces were used. Also, the COVID-19 situation has created a further need to monitor used desks and rooms for social distancing, as well as make cleaning more efficient.

One of the main requirements for the solution was also that it needed to be integrated into Halton’s ventilation and CO2 monitoring system for automation so that all the data could be found in one place.

Empathic Building was taken into use in the new office spaces in Tripla, Helsinki right away. The Empathic Building solution includes a digital twin of the office, from where people can see the desks and rooms and their occupancy and usage rates. The digital twin also shows temperature, air quality, and messages from other users.

Halton’s own system for ventilation and air quality monitoring was integrated into Empathic Building for the best possible user value. Now, the users can define their preferred temperature in Empathic Building: if it’s too hot or cold around your work desk, you simply change the temperature in the digital twin, and Halton’s HVAC system automatically adjusts it!

The desk and room occupancy information is based on wireless Thingsee PRESENCE IoT sensor devices that are installed in desks and meeting rooms at the Halton office. The sensor device detects movement and reports when a desk or space is used.

Based on the data provided by Empathic Building, Halton employees spend less time looking for available desks and meeting rooms.

“Especially during these times, Empathic Building brings extra transparency. We show what the conditions are like in the digital twin. When our people come to the office, they can immediately see the CO2 figures, which is a good indicator of the indoor air quality”. Anu Saxén, the Director of buildings at Halton says about Empathic Building.

Another great feature of Empathic Building is the possibility to see when different spaces have been used. To reduce exposure to airborne transmission of COVID-19, Halton leaves their meeting rooms empty for at least 15 minutes to give the demand-based ventilation time to clear to air in the room. “From Empathic Building you can see that no one has been in that room for a while, so it’s safe to use. This brings a lot of peace of mind to everyone”. Anu Saxén says.

The same principle applies to desks as well: when choosing a desk in Empathic Building, the users can see which desks have been used and where other people are sitting. There, they can choose a desk that fits their needs best, and if necessary, is away from other people for social distancing.

To make cleaning more efficient, the cleaners can see the used desks and room from the Empathic Building, and focus their efforts on where it’s needed the most.