How to maintain buildings during COVID-19?
The surprise wave of COVID-19 this year has become a major challenge for almost the entire business sector. The inconvenience caused by the pandemic not only demonstrated the resilience of businesses, but also the ability to respond to the situation in a flash, flexibly adapting to the crisis caused by the virus. It has become clear that in some industries, the traditional business model is not prepared for such challenges, and provision of physical services to customers is either insecure or impossible at all. Building managers have to choose between saving energy resources and more intensive ventilation and virus prevention. As with everything these days, you need to respond quickly and professionally. So how do you maintain buildings in these extraordinary circumstances?
Is disinfection important?
The recommendations of the Lithuanian Ministry of Health, which are based on the latest guidelines of international organizations, advise to clean all premises / surfaces as often as possible during a pandemic in order to stop the spread of COVID-19 virus as effectively as possible. Both daily indoor hygiene with preventive disinfection and disinfection after the detection of COVID-19 are necessary measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection and to eliminate it completely.
Success stories and good practices – digitization of buildings
Buildings without remote control are indeed facing challenges. Even those with BMS systems often become inaccessible. In principle, we successfully manage those buildings that are digitized and connected to the APEX Intelligence remote control center. This is a new model of building maintenance, which makes building maintenance significantly more efficient, requires less inefficient actions, ensures continuous maintenance of systems, reduces the risk of equipment downtime, increases work efficiency and saves energy costs. Building systems are constantly monitored remotely, data flows are analyzed, and thanks to appropriate algorithms, the system automatically informs about equipment failures and anticipates possible failures and losses. With enough data, we can immediately form the best solution / control algorithm. For example, when the humidity and temperature outside changes, we can react quickly and change the parameters. Thus, we can maintain a balance between health, because we work remotely and finance energy costs.
“eCSE” is a tool for your phone
We are responsible for the maintenance of your property, therefore we would like to emphasize once again that we are able to organize the management of buildings without direct physical contact at the client’s site. Use “eCSE”, a self-service platform and mobile application for all users of the facility, for convenient and secure communication. Many of our customers are already convinced that this tool can solve problems faster, more conveniently and, most importantly, more safely, as physical contact is eliminated.
Other relevant tips
• If the flow of people in the building decreases, it is necessary to review the heating, ventilation and air conditioning parameters to meet the needs of employment or operation. Unnecessary costs would be avoided. Keep in mind the risk of quick temperature decreases. Also pay attention to supporting systems, the operation of circulating pumps.
• Secure the power supply.
• Even if buildings are not occupied, insufficient temperature and humidity control can cause mold to grow.
• Keep the temperature of the building between 13 and 27 degrees and the humidity (in case of a virus) between 50 and 65%. However, do not exceed the dew point values.
• Carry out preventive maintenance (heating, ventilation and air conditioning, power supply, lighting) until the buildings are occupied.
• Perform a preventive inspection of emergency power supply systems for use if necessary.
Contact us if you have any questions or would like to consult.