Smart, Smarter, Smartest
In its most recent publication, ZORGMagazine took a look at innovative technology in the healthcare industry. IPBuilding also featured in its publication. Here you can read the complete translated article on Smart Assisted-Living Housing whose technology adapts to its residents’ needs and requirements.
The technology of the new generation of assisted living flats adapts to its users.
Smart, smarter, smartest
IPBuilding’s Smart Building solutions have found their way into the healthcare industry in recent years. Today, Belgian company IPBuilding provides smart assisted living housing and life-long housing and apartments with a hyper intelligent emergency call system, combined with integrated living and residential automation. We talked to Kris Pensaert, CEO of IPBuilding, and visited Yo Buyens and Pieter Goffin, promoters of “De Linden assisted living flats”.
Kris Pensaert: “IPBuilding creates hardware and software solutions for Smart Homes, Smart Buildings and Smart Care projects. We make sure that all the devices, technologies and sensors in a building or a flat communicate with each other so that the resident can use them easily and the administrator can also operate them, both on-site and remotely. This increases comfort and safety levels and we can greatly reduce energy consumption. “
A smart assisted living home is much more than a nice flat with an emergency call system. “An assisted living home that is equipped with IPBuilding’s systems adapts to its residents’ care needs, as it were. By using the Internet Protocol – the global standard for images, speech, data and communication – we are able to add a lot of features along the way when the occupant’s profile changes or a new resident with another care profile enters the apartment, without the need for demolition or construction work,” says Kris Pensaert. “The fast-moving world of the Internet Of Things, for example, already enables us to detect unusual behaviours, night-time wandering, a changed sleep pattern, and more, thus enabling the living assistant, family or doctor to intervene ahead of time.”
Future-Proof
IPBuilding has already completed more than 1,300 projects. We visited ‘Assisted-living flats de Linden’, located in the heart of the Antwerp borough of Kapellen. The people behind this initiative, psychologist Yo Buyens and architect Pieter Goffin, built 17 flats there, whose surface areas range between 67 m² and 111 m². Yo Buyens: “This is our first project in the healthcare industry. Before shaping our concept, we visited many other projects. We always kept in mind the idea: “How do we really want live when we are 70 or 80 years old or even older?” By using IPBuilding’s Smart Building Systems, we are able to take action ourselves remotely”. Safety, freedom, respect, social engagement, accessibility and service are paramount. All facilities for providing suitable care if necessary are present, but they are not visible. In this way, we promote the dignity and privacy of our residents. Adaptable technology
“The building is very bright and we really wanted to create the feeling that this is a normal flat, and not an assisted living flat,” explains Pieter Goffin.
“The flat needs to adapt to its occupant’s care needs. That is why we also started to look for a suitable solution, to make the assisted living flats ready for the future.” The promoters eventually opted for IPBuilding and turned their apartment building into a real Smart building. All controls such as for lighting, heating, screens, and others are operated via a touchscreen. Also, residents can make emergency calls via the same system, together with movable push buttons and a push button/necklace. Home nurse Jan Van Gils who provides care in De Linden, experiences the added value of IPBuilding’s Smart Care solutions. “When a resident of De Linden places a call, I immediately get a message on my phone about who is contacting me and where that person is located inside the flat. I can also communicate with the resident, via a high-quality two-way communication system. At the same time, the TV switches itself off, so I can better understand the person. To ensure the residents’ safety, the hob is also automatically switched off, the temperature of the floor heating is raised and all of the lights in the apartment are switched on.” Controlled remotely
In addition to the benefits for residents and nurses, the Smart Care system also offers numerous benefits for the building manager. Peter Goffin and Yo Buyens can monitor the entire building remotely. This includes building access and access to the individual apartments and common area, camera surveillance, temperature monitoring, and more. Salveto also selected IPBuilding’s Smart Care solutions for the other new projects in the pipeline (incl. in Kalmthout, Mariaburg and Putte-Kapellen).
