The company
La Française is a financial and real estate asset management enterprise based in Paris, France. Its headquarters is a place of work for over 500 people, with offices spread across a 9-story building. The company has been operating for over 40 years, successfully creating and offering investment solutions for third parties.
To address the indoor air quality (IAQ) requirements of the Covid pandemic, control the ventilation system, create a healthy work environment, and allow more employees to return to work at the office, the global asset management company has revamped its IAQ monitoring system with the Aranet ecosystem.
The challenge
The ventilation system in La Française headquarters in Paris is divided into two groups, each of them covering half of the building. The air exchange on each floor used to be based on the data attained by two wired CO2 sensors installed together with the ventilation system. These could not be moved freely to fit the changing layout of the working spaces, nor did they provide enough data to understand the air quality everywhere in the building in real-time.
To ensure that the conditions offered to the employees in the headquarters were safe, the company needed more sensors that monitor the data in real-time, are portable, and convenient.
Aranet solution
After a colleague brought an Aranet4 monitor to the office for testing, La Française General Services Director Philippe Guerin recognized several important benefits of choosing Aranet. He mentioned ease of use as one of the major advantages.
“Wireless and with a large battery autonomy, Aranet4 PRO monitors can be easily deployed all over the building for a long time without maintenance. What’s more, we can reposition them if we need to modify the partitioning of some areas,” said Mr. Guerin.
Realizing the benefits and easy deployment, La Française purchased 140 Aranet4 PRO CO2 monitors, an Aranet CO2 and temperature sensor, three Aranet PRO base stations, and the Aranet Cloud solution for simple and convenient data storage and management.
It took only two days to install all the Aranet monitors in the entire building, connect them with Aranet PRO base stations, set up Aranet Cloud, and easily integrate them all within the company’s building management system (BMS) with Aranet MQTT functionality. What was most satisfying for the management was the instant information and control this provided about the employees’ immediate surrounding air quality.
Deputy General Manager Franck Meyer recognizes that the Aranet ecosystem gives the company a chance to take even better care of its staff. “As an employer, I must guarantee the best air quality at work for my employees’ well-being, but also as a protective measure against the spread of disease and to reduce absenteeism in our teams. Aranet monitors allowed us to improve the ventilation of our premises while keeping the same HVAC installation but with a better distribution of the ventilation flows.”
As a financial institution, La Française required a solution that complies with their IT safety regulations for data management. The indoor air quality readings had to be gathered into the company’s BMS without being sent outside. Aranet MQTT functionality allowed importing data directly into their BMS from the three Aranet PRO base stations. The management team also used Aranet Cloud for centralized data gathering and management. The user-friendly interface and graphic data visualizations allowed the management team to analyze the overall IAQ in the building at their weekly management meetings and see if any improvements were needed for their HVAC systems.
Results and benefits
The team will continue collecting IAQ data to adjust their working patterns in the offices and meeting rooms, notes the Director of Human Resources. La Française is using weekly alert readings on Aranet Cloud in their management meetings to address air quality and the well-being of their employees with actionable real-time data.
A member of the staff mentions some of the ways using the Aranet ecosystem has changed employees’ daily life: “When we see healthy levels of CO2 displayed on Aranet4 PRO, it reassures us it is safe to come and work in the office and that our health and safety is considered when organizing the workflow. If CO2 concentration in a room ever rises quicker than our HVAC systems can correct, Aranet4 PRO monitors alert us so we can reduce the number of people in the office or open the doors and windows for cross-ventilation.”
The added benefit of using the Aranet monitors is the chance to manage the energy efficiency of the building using the temperature and humidity readings. Mr. Guerin noted that using Aranet Cloud helps discussing any additional questions or needs with the Aranet team. Working together, each of us can improve our services and the conditions in the modern office.
If you want to learn how to ensure healthy air quality at your workplace drop us a line at info@aranet.com and we will be happy to help!