As CEO of Elevated, Erin McDannald is committed to making work a healthier place. Launched in 2020, the software development company specializes in building automation systems that meter air quality and track human behavior in effort to correct deficiencies in workplace design and enhance the overall office experience. It also empowers building owners to reduce energy cost and scale for the future. Here, she discusses how to rethink office layouts and optimize productivity by enforcing healthier habits.
Workplace Design: What did you set out to accomplish with Elevated?
Erin McDannald: We started the first couple of years really just understanding all the data that came in from our building. We took every data point that we possibly could and tried to make sense of it. Three years ago, we had to take our next step, so we started using that data to automate our building and we scaled that out and now we provide automation platforms for all kinds of different businesses.
How does your technology work?
EM: Our technology is always monitoring, metering the air quality in real time. We use existing HVAC to increase air turns to move CO2 out and lower levels of total volatile organic compounds in particulate matter. It’s self-automated, but you have to really meter the space for a certain amount of time. You can’t just go in and automate without really understanding what the space thresholds are. It’s going to be different for every one of them.
Why is air quality so important at work?
EM: Outbreaks in our space occurred when the CO2 levels met a threshold above 800 parts per million. When we keep below that threshold, we find we have a much healthier workforce. The health of the rainforest is measured by how many decibels it gives off, and we’re measuring decibels in our office, really understanding what our most productive times were. When our CO2 levels reach above 800 parts per million, our decibels dramatically drop. The reason is because CO2 kills collaboration. It discourages the people from continuing to talk because they’re getting sleepy. We figured this out because my office didn’t have any ventilation and we were getting sleepy after 40 minutes.
How did COVID reshape your mission?
EM: In 2020, we all put Oura Rings on in my company and we tried to gauge our wellness based on how we were doing at home so that, when we came back to work, we would then take a look at our wellness patterns. In 2020 and 2021, we were at the height of our health and as we came back to work, our health and our heart rate variables started to fall dramatically.
How did workplace design negatively impact our health prior to COVID?
EM: We packed people too tight. I think the reluctance to come back to the workplace is because we haven’t fixed a problem yet. There’s other ways for buildings to collect revenue through smart power, but they also have to change when it comes to health and wellness and they have to become attractive places to go or it’s just not worth it.
What are some ways we can make workplaces healthier?
EM: One of the things that we’ve noticed on our heat mapping is that people love to pace and they love to walk. We were all healthier because we were moving around during the pandemic. Those companies who are retracting in space, I think they have it wrong. They need to just have everybody spread out and be able to move around and respond to all of the human things that we do, which is talk and walk. We should give them double the space that they had before.
How do you address skepticism about new technology?
EM: The infrastructure to a smart building has a lot of different perks to it. If you’re metering and monitoring the air quality, and your lights are more efficient, and you’re lighting to circadian rhythms, now you have a more productive workforce.
What’s the return on investment?
EM: The return on investment is probably about a year and the return on investment is a healthier workforce. A healthier workforce is a workforce that thinks more with their prefrontal cortex, which is important because they have to have that analytical thinking. Calmer, more analytical thinking in your workforce then relates to more competitive advantage, so you’re really optimizing the people within your space.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity