Daniel Bachmann, Group CEO, Founding Partner, IIoTD

Dubai, UAE, 8 November 2018: Indoor climate is often misunderstood, said Daniel Bachmann, Group CEO, Founding Partner, International IoT Distribution (IIoTD), emphasising that it is a combination of air, temperature, humidity, noise and light, and that, with most people today spending 90% of their time indoors, being immersed in an artificial environment can have serious health implications. “You can control it, but you cannot control what you do not know,” he stressed, highlighting the company’s commitment to intelligently use data to understand and improve IEQ.

Providing a historical perspective on the level of awareness given to IEQ in Denmark, a country known for its expertise in resource-efficient buildings, Bachmann said that good intentions paved the way for the current situation, where IEQ can be largely an afterthought. “When the oil crisis hit in the 1970s, we all decided we needed to secure energy consumption,” he said. “By doing energy renovations, we insulated buildings even more in order not to waste heat energy. Bachmann explained that the more insulated the building, the worse its indoor climate, as it lessens fresh air changes and increases CO₂ levels, potentially leading to sickness.

Bachmann stressed that the focus of stakeholders of new and existing buildings, first and foremost, must be on IEQ, as it is a public health issue. “In Denmark today, 30% of children going to public schools get sick from the bad indoor climate,” he said, “that, to me, is not acceptable.” In private homes, Bachmann said, the conditions are worse, with indoor climate up to five times more polluted than the outside climate. Bachmann stressed that a better indoor climate can be secured if stakeholders can better understand the situation, measure the conditions in order to better predict and implement the necessary solutions that will not come at the expense of energy consumption, making a case for digital platforms that can help in this regard.

With a lot of research carried out on the impact that IEQ has on building inhabitants over the years, Bachmann said a great deal of work is being done to develop a more three-dimensional understanding of the full value of a property. In Denmark, he explained, buildings that did not have a good profile, energy-wise, could not be rented out, which drove investment in, and benchmarking of, energy-efficient solutions. “If you have bad indoor climate, you also shouldn’t be able to rent it out,” he said. “These two things have to go hand in hand; it is very important for the future.”

Hannah Jo Uy is Assistant Editor at Climate Control Middle East magazine. She may be contacted at hannah@cpi-industry.com