International airport improves staff health and well-being and visitor experience with enhanced indoor air quality

The Amsterdam Airport Schiphol – also known as Schiphol Airport – is the main international airport of the Netherlands and the hub for flag carrier airline KLM. Ranked as the third busiest airport in Europe, Schiphol Airport is also a popular visitor attraction famous for its large shopping area, library, rooftop viewing deck, and an extension of the Rijksmuseum.

A key concern raised by the real estate company that manages the airport along with the surrounding office buildings and warehouses is protecting the health and well-being of the employees and visitors. Because of the activities performed in the airport spaces, pollution is perceived to be high.

Challenges:

These were some of the challenges that the company needed to address when it came to the indoor environmental quality in Schiphol Airport:

• Complaints from employees of tenants about discomfort and illnesses inside the buildings
• Providing confidence to visitors and staff that the airport is a safe and healthy place
• Improving indoor air quality without incurring huge costs for HVAC upgrades or repairs

Benefits Achieved:

The uHoo Business solution allowed Schiphol Airport to identify specific issues and take appropriate action to resolve them.

Listed below are the benefits they achieved with the use of uHoo.

Ensured building stayed at comfortable levels and reduced complaints from employees by sharing data and actions to take

With proper monitoring and management using uHoo, the following issues were addressed through data-driven and data-validated decisions and management:

• Efficiently regulated ventilation and reduced average carbon dioxide (CO2) levels by 50% from 1,500ppm to 800ppm, thereby bringing it to safe levels
• Identified ionization exercises that increased volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to levels beyond healthy standards. This prompted Schiphol Airport management to change their ionization service provider

As a result, employees felt and noted the improvements and complaints on health and well-being issues went down.

Saved energy with occupant-based adjustments on heating and cooling

The occupancy density in Schiphol Airport and the surrounding buildings drove the need to introduce more outside air that required conditioning, With the four seasons in the Netherlands, this resulted in high electrical energy consumption. Integrating uHoo into the HVAC system allowed Schiphol Airport to automate and regulate heating/cooling according to occupancy levels ensuring optimal comfort levels while reducing HVAC load. Moreover, management did not have to spend heavily on HVAC upgrades or repairs. Real-time data provided by uHoo helped in the early detection of HVAC faults.

Data-driven and fact-based marketing initiative as a healthy and safe place

With improved indoor environmental quality, Schiphol Airport leveraged the air quality insights to assure the public on its health and safety practices and retain its reputation as a stellar visitor destination in the Netherlands.

Bottomline Results:

Improving indoor environmental quality need not be a costly initiative, as demonstrated by Schiphol Airport. By taking the first step to understand air quality conditions with uHoo Business Solutions, they were able to identify and take control of their specific issues. Data-driven and data-validated decisions by management resulted in a reduction in staff complaints and energy costs, and enhanced indoor air quality.