A healthy building can improve productivity, increase morale, and decrease energy usage. For the longest time, improving a building’s health was extremely difficult without a wide array of expensive and complicated instruments—and a team of scientists to monitor them.
HALO is a revolutionary device with over 12 different state-of-the-air sensors that can sample air quality and sound an alert to many unsafe conditions. It’s about the size of a traditional smoke detector and can activate HVAC equipment or send text and email alerts when it detects something is wrong.
Read on to learn more about building health impacts and how HALO sensors play a leading role in improving occupant safety.
The Importance of Building Health
The case for healthy buildings has never been stronger. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, people want to ensure that the buildings they spend time in won’t make them sick.
The term “sick building syndrome” may sound like something out of a sci-fi novel, but it’s a very real condition. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines sick building syndrome as:
“The term “sick building syndrome” (SBS) is used to describe situations in which building occupants experience acute health and comfort effects that appear to be linked to time spent in a building, but no specific illness or cause can be identified.”
Chemical and biological contaminants, in conjunction with poor building ventilation, are the biggest causes of SBS. Adverse effects can include headaches/migraines, flu-like symptoms, reduced productivity, and increased absenteeism.
However, many other factors, such as noise, abnormal behavior, and other emergencies can also detract from a building’s overall safety.
9 Ways HALO Improves Building Health
HALO sensors positively impact the health of a building in nine critical ways:
1. Noise
Indoor noise emanating from office and mechanical equipment and machinery can lead to pounding headaches and disruptions. HALO sensors monitor and adjust for sound anomalies such as rattling HVAC equipment or noisy vents when they become a safety concern.
2. Temperature
There’s a daily tennis-like occurrence in many buildings as occupants raise or lower the local thermostat in accordance with their own comfort levels. The trouble with that is people often overcompensate and tend to raise or lower the temperatures too high or too low. This results in uncomfortable temps for everyone and decreased productivity levels.
HALO sensors monitor the temperature in real-time and proactively adjust the thermostat to ensure the building is comfortable for everyone.
3. Occupancy
HALO can tell you when a room is occupied, when there should be no one in there, or when too many people are inside. The sensors can also detect when many people are in a room and are behaving abnormally.
4. Alert Lighting
The devices have a light indicator that can show the quality of the air, safe egress paths, and when occupancy maximums are met.
5. Ventilation
Every building has an ANSI/ASHRAE-approved airflow rate. HALO can determine when outdoor air ventilation rate guidelines are met or exceeded to control indoor smells, chemicals, and carbon dioxide levels.
6. Air Quality
When used with building products and supplies with low VOC emissions, HALO can significantly reduce indoor pollution. The sensors can monitor indoor carbon dioxide, particulate, and carbon monoxide levels and remove them when necessary.
7. Safety & Security
HALO allows you to be situationally aware through non-visual sensory technology. This will allow you to install it anywhere, including bathrooms. The device will actively monitor for spoken keywords (and alert first responders), detect aggressive tones of voices, and use of prohibited or illegal substances.
8. Humidity
The sensors monitor humidity in real-time to prevent moisture issues that can lead to mold outbreaks in areas that are out of human sight or hard to access. Lowered humidity levels also lead to improved indoor comfort.
9. Dust & Particulates
Using HALO with high-efficiency filters will enable the system to detect and remediate dust and dirt levels. Viruses often travel on these particulates and are a vector for human transmission of diseases.
Let Conexus Help Improve Your Building Health
HALO can detect and mitigate a wide range of unsafe conditions and positively impact the health of your building. At Conexus, we will advise and install HALO sensors to ensure the safety and well-being of your occupants.