Competition creates new maintenance plans

Van der Valk Hotel Gent recently won the prestigious 'Win a free air duct inspection for your hotel!' campaign. The campaign, organised by Valor Services, gave hotels in Belgium and the Netherlands the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to excellent air quality. With this win, Van der Valk Hotel Gent reaffirms its commitment to creating a healthy and safe environment for both guests and staff.

Thierry Desmet, CEO Valor Services: "Everyone talks about air quality. But how do you know whether that quality is good enough? Everything starts with the ventilation system, of course. But not everyone has time to check it constantly. And those ducts can sometimes be dirtier than you think. We are not just talking about dust, but also mould and the like. So inspections are needed for that. We use a specially designed camera to check the condition. In fact, many people are not familiar with this story. Notwithstanding the clear legal framework in the November 2022 Royal Decree, which applies to publicly accessible places."

By winning this air duct inspection, the Van der Valk Hotel Gent learned a lot. Bart Devyver, technical service Van der Valk Hotel Gent: "The hotel has only existed for three years, so an inspection was actually not yet an issue. For me, it was also the first time I was able to witness such an inspection from close by. In short, a very instructive experience. Anyway, the filters of the air groups are cleaned weekly and checked for all kinds of pollen and pests. In the future, it will be interesting to clean those in the rooms as well. Valor went through all the ducts with a camera and we clearly noticed that the steam from the showers caused the dust to stick. We have now included that in our maintenance plan."

The importance of air quality should never be overestimated, Bart believes. "Also because an important piece of temperature is controlled by this. So a fresh and pleasant smell is very important for both guests and staff. Think, for example, of guests taking a shower. Is the steam coming into the room properly extracted? Is the air blown back into the room of good quality?" 

Valor provided not only an inspection report after the inspection, but also a usb stick with the images of the camera investigation. "A nice bonus," says Bart. "Moreover, communication with Valor went very smoothly. First an initial appointment was scheduled, to see concretely what such an inspection entails and what the possibilities were. The actual inspection followed shortly afterwards. All in all, a good, smooth and above all instructive experience."

"We obviously don't just do these inspections," adds Thierry Desmet. "If you want to be kept informed about the air quality in your business or hospitality space on a regular basis, we have the Zaack IAQ. The system provides real-time monitoring, visualisation and management of key air parameters, with the aim of improving health and productivity by reducing exposure to pollutants. Zaack can monitor various parameters, including CO2, fine particles and volatile organic compounds. If recommended levels are exceeded, automatic alerts are sent and, if necessary, experts are called in for further investigation."