'Good air quality adds value for guests'  

A healthy indoor climate and fire safety is the least you can expect as a hotel guest. Yet, in the experience of Valor Services Group - which specialises in air and grease duct cleaning, among other things - ventilation ducts in hotels are often highly polluted. "We would like to raise awareness of air quality and fire safety among hotel facility services," says CEO and co-owner Thierry Desmet.

When it comes to a healthy indoor climate in public buildings, such as hotels, there are many laws and regulations, laid down in the Buildings Decree and the Working Conditions Act, among others. European regulations also set all kinds of air quality requirements. No lack of clarity, you would think. Yet air quality in hotels often leaves much to be desired, Thierry Desmet knows. 

He explains that professional cleaning of air ducts is of utmost importance: "In particular, the filters in so-called pulse groups - which supply fresh outside air - should be changed frequently. These filters remove dust and fine dust from the air and prevent moisture and mould from settling in the air ventilation system. Incidentally, how often these filters need to be replaced also greatly depends on the hotel's environment. For example, if a hotel is located right next to a construction site with a lot of dust, it is necessary to change the filters several times a year."

Apart from pulse ducts, air ventilation systems contain so-called extraction ducts; these ensure the exhaust of air from (humid) rooms to the outside. "In maintenance, these extraction ducts are often overlooked, even though they are often the most polluted," warns Desmet. "Especially in extraction ducts of sanitary spaces such as bathrooms and toilets, a lot of dirt and dust often accumulates, which can create a serious fire hazard. Either way, both types of ductwork should be cleaned frequently. The legal standard for this - as stated in the Building Decree, for example - is once every three to five years, but it is better to start from the EN 15780 standard. This is because it determines from how many grams of dust accumulating in a duct per m² a cleaning is necessary." 

Measuring air quality is also crucial for a healthy indoor climate. Whereas an installer used to have to take a look at the air ducts himself, all sorts of ingenious equipment is on the market today for this purpose, Desmet clarifies. "A good example is our own Zaack DUST®, a sensor that continuously monitors the dust level in a ventilation system according to the NF EN 15780 standard. For measuring indoor air quality, there are also all kinds of systems that automatically measure the concentration of CO2, volatile organic compounds - VOCs for short - and particulate matter, among others. When one of the parameters exceeds the permissible level, an alert is automatically sent. Such measuring equipment is a good investment, because being able to demonstrate good air quality also adds value for hotel guests."

A topic that Desmet says deserves separate attention is fire safety in hotel kitchens. "In commercial kitchens, people often work with deep-fat fryers, hot oils, baking trays and open flames. If extractor hoods are not maintained properly, fats accumulate in the grease ducts, with an increased risk of fire. It is a legal requirement to have extractor systems cleaned at least once a year by an authorised cleaning company. What we see is that most hotels comply with this nicely. But for fire safety reasons, especially in heavily used hotel kitchens, it is advisable to have it done more often. Because remember: the cost of a periodic cleaning absolutely does not outweigh the cost of an emergency closure of a hotel due to a fire in an extraction duct." 

Desmet speaks from his own experience and is keen to emphasise this: "I am CEO of a company with about a hundred employees, but I learnt the trade entirely from practice. I got my hands into the grease, dirt and dust myself, so to speak. That applies to the entire management of the Valor Services Group, by the way. This clearly sets us apart from other large companies in our industry," he concludes.