Assistance from sensors

Challenge

During the spring and summer of 2021, there was a gradual return to full attendance in many workplaces in Denmark – from 20% to 50% and eventually 100% attendance.1 But even in situations where all employees can return to the workplace, many employers agree that hybrid working life is here to stay. With the need to control attendance as it relates to infection risk, new management tools are also needed to ensure that organisations can manage the presence of employees. In the reopening phase, many workplaces developed ad hoc systems to manage attendance – from spreadsheets and phone calls to “task forces” and applications. Common to these solutions, however, is that they increase the administrative burden for the parts of the organisation responsible for compliance with the guidelines.

Solution

To facilitate the workflow, the Copenhagen Properties and Purchasing (KEID) has initiated a pilot project with heat-sensitive sensors in a number of the municipality’s office premises. The small sensors are located under desks, on columns, in the ceiling, or on the walls, continuously recording the number of people in the room. This tool can be used to register how many people are present in a given room and the number of workstations and spaces in use. The pilot project is part of the transformation of the organisation’s offices toward activity-based design. As such, the sensors are going to work together with the organisation’s system for registering employee attendance to assist each employee in finding a vacant workstation.

The example shows how a hybrid form of work and continuous changes in restrictions place new demands on the design of the workplace. Our buildings and the spaces we use are increasingly monitored by sensors to control indoor climate and air quality, for example, and now also attendance. This type of technology allows the optimisation of spaces throughout the workplace to improve safety, comfort, and access.

Taxonomy

Sphere: The Workplace, Timescale: Long Term

Type: Interior Design, Smart Solution

User Group: Employees/Service Providers

Sensors send information to a computer, which registers the number of people in the building

Project and location: Koshitsu-Dana, Japan

Contributor: Tachibana

Established: 2021