Indoor air experts join forces in zero tolerance work

A real dynamic indoor air-matters duo can be found at Senate Properties’ Kuopio office in the form of Indoor Air Expert Jenni Kotilainen and Real Estate Manager Mikko Rissanen. Under the zero tolerance for problems with indoor conditions announced by Senate, they ensure together that any indoor air problems detected in the properties for which Rissanen is responsible are immediately acted on and promptly resolved.

In practice, the teamwork by the property manager and indoor air specialist means that if property management is unable to resolve a matter arising alone, an indoor air expert is invited to look into it.

“We have a clear division of work: Jenni participates in indoor air investigations, arranges info briefings for users where needed and tells them clearly what indoor air matters are about. I, on the other hand, will get the decisions and money required for the repairs,” is how Mikko Rissanen sums up the division of work.

The duo have a broad operating area, Mikko Rissanen around Kuopio and Jenni Kotilainen the northern part of the Eastern Finland and properties in Kajaani and elsewhere in the Kainuu region.

Jenni Kotilainen is a member of Senate’s in-house indoor environment team, Siti, comprising Senate’s indoor air experts working in different areas of Finland. One of its tasks is to support property and construction management managers in investigating and predicting problems with indoor conditions.

”I work with all 11 property managers in the region and I am in touch with them almost weekly. Naturally, I’m mostly in contact with those managers who currently have indoor air problems to be clarified. Needless to say, not all properties have constantly ongoing indoor air problems that need to be intervened in,” Kotilainen says.

Jenni Kotilainen emphasises the early intervention model also in indoor air matters.

“I encourage getting in touch with us already before the problem is even properly noticeable. The earlier an indoor expert gets involved, the better and easier matters can be investigated.”

Indoor air matters are part of all operations

Senate’s in-house indoor environment team Siti aims to make the indoor air aspect a natural part of all Senate’s operations, from design and building all the way to property maintenance and use. Jenni Kotilainen and Mikko Rissanen are pleased that indoor air is important at Senate and that a zero tolerance for indoor air problems has been raised right up to the strategy.

“This makes our work easier: it’s easy to put plans into practice when the strategy requires us to take prompt action. We can also require our partners to act quickly. Senate encourages innovation and boldness, and the strategy gives our employees good support,” Mikko Rissanen says.

Pro-action is the most important

Pro-action is Senate’s most important tool in the good management of indoor conditions and is an important part of the work of property managers and indoor air experts. Thanks to pro-action and cooperation, we don’t get caught out by indoor air problems. For example, cleaners observe premises constantly and report any observations to property maintenance. Cleaners are also paid a reward for indoor air observations.

”Structural and ventilation inspections play an important role in pro-action and in some buildings they take place every three years. I’m involved in directing and ordering inspections and if something that needs to be repaired is detected in an inspection, the property manager is immediately on to it,” Jenni Kotilainen says.

Mikko Rissanen underscores the importance of helping in teamwork.

”We both also actively ask whether anything has remained unclear. In teamwork, the most important thing is helping. If something doesn’t move forward, it’s a good idea to ask straightaway whether help is needed,” he says.

“I think the fact that we indoor air experts work in regions is a good operating model. This means we work with the same property managers and construction management managers and gradually get to know the buildings in the region,” Jenni Kotilainen says.

Candid dialogue requires trust

One of Jenni Kotilainen’s and Mikko Rissanen’s joint premises is the operating base of the Finnish Air Force, Karelia Air Command in Rissala, Siilinjärvi, not far from Kuopio Airport.

Karelia Air Command has dozens of different buildings and halls of different ages in Rissala: facilities built by Germans during the war, caverns excavated later into the rock and more modern buildings. Hundreds of professionals and conscripts work and serve in Karelia Air Command.

Three partners are jointly responsible for the maintenance and development of Defence Forces’ buildings in Rissala. Senate owns the buildings and the Construction Establishment of the Finnish Defence Administration is responsible for their maintenance and upkeep. As the user, Karelia Air Command is responsible for user instructions and advice.

“The facilities of Karelia Air Command are challenging from the indoor air aspect since people work in windowless spaces and various chemicals are handled in the caverns, for example. Conscripts and the staff also have a lot of equipment, which it would be a good idea to store somewhere else than where people work. When brought straight from the forest, the equipment can spread the smell of moss around the environment,” Mikko Rissanen says.

The Rissala indoor air team comprises representatives from Senate, the Finnish Defence Forces and the Construction Establishment of the Finnish Defence Administration and meets around four times a year.

“The indoor air team is important with regard to sharing information. For example, users provided us with information that there were many broken surfaces in the mineral wool sound insulation in the walls of the caverns and that this caused some people symptoms of irritation. We investigated the matter, made an investment proposal and the mineral wool was soon replaced,” Mikko Rissanen cites as an example.

Cooperation is important since indoor air problems are a sensitive matter. Rissanen thinks that it’s important to create trust in the workplace to ensure candid dialogue and that the staff dare to tell us if repairs are needed somewhere.

“We’ve created trust through this cooperation. I believe that people can already see that we want to help and that at Senate we work for the benefit of everyone working on the premises. This can be seen in the dialogue: it’s much more relaxed when people are satisfied.”