Managers and people in charge are considering managing space more often nowadays because it can affect efficiency in the workplace. These small decisions can mean a lot when it comes to organizations like dealing with the completion of leasing agreements, fulfilling customer requests for more space because of growth, or trying to accommodate new tenants. In the past, decisions about this were made based on educated presumption but now we have the technology to do it for us.
There are powerful tools that smart building technologies use to obtain information about the space occupancy and calculate every detail that is important. You can get many types of cameras or sensors depending on your needs but sensors are becoming more popular because of their ability to collect a lot of data and optimize decisions about space management. Find more information on the Athena page.
What Occupancy Density Means?
When it comes to monitoring occupancy, it represents the number of people in your workplace in real-time and more details about them. The sensors are usually placed in doorways and desks or any place with a clear view. This method of monitoring has become crucial in 2020 when the epidemic struck the whole world and when big businesses had an issue when it comes to the whole workplace organization.
These tools are now necessary and everyone had to quickly adapt and implement safety measurements that most of the world set when the epidemic grew. Some of them include social distancing and temperature monitoring which can be done with this equipment. New technology is crucial because they do the measuring in real-time. Other products like cameras aren’t that efficient but are still being used. Find more information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupancy_sensor
How Is It Implemented?
Imagine that you have a small firm that employs 10 employees it would be very easy to manage them to follow every safety rule. The problem occurs when you have a large building with hundreds of workers that need to be organized. These systems bring back workers to their job when you consider that having control was an issue this year. Most specialists assume that these principles will stay here for a longer period of time.
Manual headcounts won’t bring anything great because we won’t be that efficient so tracking the number of people in a room must be done with high tech. With the data provided, it can be much easier to make a work time schedule. Maintaining a safe working environment is a number one thing nowadays so, even for a small office, there should be some measurements.
Organizing Your Workplace
Besides being grand in the short-term when you have situations like with COVID-19, occupancy monitoring is great long-term. The more data you collect the easier it will be to make decisions about how much space you need to function properly. This situation showed that many businesses have segments where you can work remotely which means that they have more space than needed which implies more unnecessary expenses.
Most of them will cut costs when reducing their office properties and many people will work from home but new regulations at the office will still be implemented. It will become more natural for companies to use these methods considering their efficiency. They will just need to look for the right product and the right price.
Maintaining Safe Environment
Even without the pandemic, office spaces should always be cleaned before employees come to work again. Another way that companies use occupancy data collected is for organizing schedules and cleaning regimes. You will be able to understand which area is being used the most or not used at all which helps you cut down the cleaning costs and focus on areas that should be cleaned more often.
You can find many studies online when it comes to COVID-19 and most of them show that the virus is still detectable on cardboard for up to 24 hours and on steel and plastic for up to 72 hours. Occupancy analytics are there to show you which places are busy the most like lunch areas and where employees have the most contact. These places should be cleaned several times per day.
How Do Sensors Work?
They work by detecting any changes or motion in the environment but there are a few different ways to do it. Some of them are used to check body heat like passive infrared or PIR. More modern are ultrasonic sensors that use high-frequency waves that bounce and return back to detect people. Artificial intelligence is used to detect changes when someone passes.This type of technology uses the time of flight infrared sensors that are like ultrasonic but rather than the sound they use infrared light.
Everything depends on your needs so how you utilize it will depend on your organization. You might look to utilize space, enhance employee productivity, or improve energy efficiency. You can find a product for each use and the market is constantly growing especially in 2020. The price will depend on efficiency and accuracy but most important is the compliance with data protection policies.
You can hire an agency to get the right product for you because some of them will display only if the zone is occupied or not like the PIR sensor but won’t show the number of individuals. This type won’t benefit you a lot so look for those that show real-time data involving occupancy limit for the room, built-in alert system and identifying zones that need better hygiene. Read more on this page.
Can You Expect ROI?
If you want to have a good ROI then you should look at the value of the data you have collected that helps you analyze and improve your business. The situation with COVID-19 made many companies shift their attitude and made them transform their environment. Every improvement and renovation needs to have a good reason behind it so data is crucial.Optimal working conditions are a dream for many people and with new technology that is very possible by making your business more flexible.
