I think that our mission is more relevant today than it ever has been before
because we, in essence, have a mission which is all about sustainability.
And for us, creating healthy living environments is something which is desirable
on a societal level and on an individual level.
And I think that is what’s driving our business.
When we discuss sustainable buildings, the actual value is the health and well-being of the users.
The cities, the communities, the suburbs are where it happens.
And how we do it, how we approach it
and how we must do it in the building industry, is by working in partnerships.
The way our lives have evolved, our lifestyles - we are spending a lot of time inside.
Think about the time you spend on sleep.
One third of the whole day, will impact how you feel the next day.
Well certainly, without enough access to daylight
and a good feeling of contact with the outdoor environment,
whether you are actually outside or inside, this can lead to depression.
It can also lead to having difficulty focusing.
We've seen in circumstances that this can also contribute to allergies, especially in children.
If the indoor climate is not good for our health,
then you’ll see problems for the individual and for society as a whole.
As we only actually renovate about 1% of our housing stock every year,
it's a problem which is not getting better. If anything, it’s getting worse.
VELUX is actually a name that
was devised by our founder Villum Kann Rasmussen and it's pretty simple.
It's VE for ventilation and LUX for light,
which are two of the most crucial components, of course, for a healthy indoor environment.
Our mission in VELUX, is to bring better living environments
for work, life, and play, with our products.
Our products are daylight and fresh air, ventilation and lux.
Due to the time you spend in buildings, it's essential that the indoor climate is good for you,
for your health, for your well-being, for your productivity.
So, it's important to be critical towards it.
What is the air quality actually? Is the humidity good? Is it optimal for your health and productivity?
And today, it's actually possible to make these parameters tangible.
You can have sensors.
You can have a prompt on your smartphone telling you the air quality and the humidity,
the temperature - all the things that matter to how you are feeling.
So, our partnership with VELUX has enabled this to be applied in the context of roof windows
and other climatic control possibilities in buildings.
We measure aspects like carbon dioxide, fine particles, NO2, ozone.
We measure noise levels, we measure light levels
and we use a combination of sensor fusion strategy, with some interesting algorithms
that create this layer of intelligence that's actually empowering healthier buildings.
Controlling and adapting buildings to drive energy efficiency,
at the same time as driving good indoor climate, is an important agenda.
We've really engaged with the UN Sustainable Development Goals because we believe
that it is actually the duty now of a private company to contribute to society
and to contribute to the sustainable development of our world.
SDG number 17 is about partnerships
and in our view partnership is the glue that holds everything else together.
We have to partner across generations.
We have to partner with governments and institutions.
We have to partner with academics.
Because it's only in those ways that we can come up with the solutions
which are really going to address the problems that the UN SDGs seek to have resolved.
And we continually work with governments to make sure
that they don't have too much of a focus on a single aspect of a building's capabilities,
such as its energy performance, but also consider the health
and well-being of the people who are living in the building.
In a way it's our guiding principle - if we do developments, we do it by experiment.
That comes back to our founder. One experiment is better than a thousand expert assumptions.
Studies show that lack of daylight along with poor air quality indoors,
can have negative effects on our health and well-being.
So, why aren't we thinking about this problem more?
Especially considering that we spend approximately 90% of our time indoors,
where the air can be up to five times more polluted than outside.
Something must be done to improve the living conditions of the indoor generation,
which is what we all have become.
Rapid urbanisation and densification of indoor spaces calls for a new approach to make them healthy,
so that we can live in sustainable cities and communities.
VELUX will continue to investigate new technologies to integrate with its products,
and work with partners to maximise the use of daylight and fresh air in new and existing buildings.
So that time spent indoors will become better for both people and planet.
Looking into the future, you have to be aware to make buildings that are, of course, efficient
and with a minimal footprint, but at the same time maximising the qualities for the user.
We pay a lot of attention to what goes into our bodies.
We should pay a lot more attention to the quality of the indoor environment
and buildings play such a large part in that.