Intelligent solution provides a cleaner indoor climate for Danish school

Schools in the Danish city of Aarhus are introducing ‘intelligent’ napkin dispensers that will alert students and teachers when surfaces need disinfecting.The city council has teamed up with the Zurface Group to provide 12 schools with the dispensers that as well as keeping the environment clean, they also – in the era of COVID – aim to reduce the spread of infection and make schools safer.

The dispensers assess the cleanliness of indoor climates by collecting data such as CO2 and VOC levels, temperature, humidity, and noise. With this knowledge, the device can evaluate whether the environment needs to be disinfected. It it determines that the surrounding surfaces must be cleaned, it will light up to alert students and teachers. When this occurs, they must use the appliance’s disposable wipes to clean the classroom’s surfaces.

‘Better everyday life for children’

The council’s website reports that the technology’s pilot project saw 82 per cent of classroom surfaces were contaminated by lunchtime before the use of Zurface, but this fell significantly when it was introduced, with ony three per cent of surfaces being recorded as unclean.

Jacob Bundsgaard, Mayor of Aarhus, said: “In Aarhus Municipality, we have high expectations for the Zurface solution, which can help reduce infections among children and adults – initially in schools, but it can also be rolled out to other areas. The future requires intelligent solutions that involve the citizens.”

Thomas Medom, councillor for children and young people, added that it was part of a solution to a ‘better everyday life for children.

“In the pilot project, we have seen how a clean teaching room spreads to the students and teachers. They clean up more and they express that it is nicer to stay in the premises. If at the same time we can avoid sick leave for both the children and the adults, it is positive.”