What is Senate Properties doing to ensure better indoor conditions?

Maintaining and ensuring good indoor conditions is part of everything we do. Under the Government Premises Strategy, management of central government’s premises matters has been focused on Senate Properties. If a client needs new space arrangements or facilities because of functional changes or to improve the use of space, Senate helps in defining the space objectives and quality standard, compares and choses the best of the facilities options.

More than 600 buildings are subject to building inspection. We regularly monitor the condition of the structures and ventilation system. The aim is that more than 90% of our clients’ employees work in inspected premises. In addition, we have carried out radon measurements in more than 700 buildings and ensured successful repairs. Radon is a particular indoor air quality problem in Finland.

There are currently a total of 16 development projects relating to our indoor air quality operations under way. Everyday activities include rewarding cleaners for reporting indoor air quality observations as well as rapid action teams comprising Senate’s indoor air experts and a detection dog team to respond to abnormal indoor conditions.

We have achieved results. Client satisfaction with indoor air quality and Senate’s approach to dealing with indoor air matters has improved since 2015. Senate Group manages almost 9,000 buildings in which more than 100,000 people work. We take our responsibility for indoor air quality seriously in central government.

Proactive detection and prompt reaction

Feedback from facilities users and our clients’ facilities management must be collected about how well the facilities are aligned with their activities and whether changes can be expected in their needs for facilities use. This allows us to respond to their needs for change in a timely, orderly way so that the facilities user does not modify the facilities and the crowding of facilities to meet their own needs – usually at the expense of indoor air.

We monitor the number of indoor condition service requests that users submit to property maintenance and the response to them on a monthly basis. Almost 220 buildings already feature a possibility to conveniently use a QR code to submit service requests. The indoor conditions section in the annual user satisfaction survey provides information on the user experience for each property. In the survey, we ask facilities users for feedback on temperatures, draughtiness and air freshness.

We also organise indoor air clinics, where early signs of dissatisfaction can be raised even before users complain. They at least offer a chance to react immediately to user feedback, correct misconceptions and provide information. Proactive indoor air clinic activities have become established as one of Senate’s indoor conditions communications channel. This is where we give users a chance to ask our panel of experts about matters relating to indoor conditions and the work environment.

We constantly monitor indoor conditions, mostly temperature, to ensure they remain within the limits laid down in more than 120 buildings. Besides this, we have innovated an indoor air incentive model for cleaners in those buildings with Senate Properties arranges cleaning services. An incentive is paid to the cleaner making an observation of particular importance in preventing indoor air problems. Defence Properties Finland has introduced a similar indoor air tipoff incentive scheme for staff.

In order to ensure that facilities users know what to do in the event of indoor condition matters, we review the Government indoor air management model with customers. This is Senate Properties’ standard way of operating and standard guidance, which are supplemented with things we indicate are to be determined by the client. Also in shared work environments the indoor air management model has been tailored for shared use.