Providing a pleasant and healthy space for everyone who stays, works, studies, or visits your building is of great importance to us. Although it remains challenging to express the value of an optimal indoor environment in exact euros, its impact on performance has been proven. Research by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health shows that cognitive functions decline drastically as CO₂ concentrations increase. In poorly ventilated spaces, performance can even decrease by up to 50%. Poor air quality is also a primary cause of “Sick Building Syndrome,” where elevated CO₂ levels directly lead to higher absenteeism due to complaints such as fatigue, headaches, and loss of concentration.

Investing in IEQ is therefore not a cost, but an investment in the health and productivity of the people in your building. Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) has shifted from a side issue to a top priority. Through legislation and ambition, we see that a proactive, safe, and healthy building environment is becoming the new standard.

Legislation and certifications

This shift is accelerated by stringent legislation. The revised European EPBD IV directive states that sustainability measures may never come at the expense of the indoor environment and mandates continuous monitoring of indoor environmental quality from May 29, 2026. Linked to this, BACS legislation (Building Automation Control System) requires owners of non-residential buildings with climate installations of 290 kW or more to implement smart, data-driven control and energy monitoring as early as 2026. In addition, certifications such as WELL and BREEAM impose strict requirements on indoor climate conditions. Is your organization ready for this?

Sectors in Motion 

In addition to general regulations, there are sector-specific drivers for optimizing air quality and thermal comfort. The EPBD IV guidelines and the Green Deal are the common thread running through all these branches. 

• Education: The updated Dutch Fresh Schools Program of Requirements 2025 sets stricter standards for air quality, directly linking smart ventilation to continuous CO₂ concentration monitoring to enhance learning performance. Moreover, under the Dutch Decree on Living Environment Buildings, it has been legally mandatory since July 1, 2025 for all primary and secondary school classrooms to have a functioning CO₂ meter.Read how we achieve this at, among others, the Carmel College. 
• Healthcare: Health insurers increasingly require the Milieuthermometer Zorg in their contracts. This certification scheme, developed by the Dutch Environmental Platform for the Healthcare Sector (MPZ) in collaboration with SMK, helps healthcare institutions meet the goals of the Green Deal for Sustainable Healthcare 3.0. This environmental thermometer sets strict requirements for indoor air quality, requiring CO₂ levels in spaces to remain continuously below 1200 ppm. 
• Industry: In the industrial sector, the focus on IEQ is increasingly shifting to integrated office environments and major infrastructure hubs. Driven by occupational health and safety legislation, data is crucial for monitoring the working environment. A strong practical example is Eindhoven Airport, where we make meters “smart” to guarantee a healthy indoor climate while simultaneously facilitating the transition to fully emission-free operations.
• Culture:  In museums, archives, and other heritage institutions, an extremely stable microclimate is essential for the preventive conservation of vulnerable heritage as well as visitor comfort. Here, the program of requirements of heritage institutions from the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE) has become an important guideline. This publication, together with models such as “Climate Control in 9 Steps,” provides a framework for translating complex laws and regulations on indoor climate into specific targets for temperature and relative humidity.
• Offices: In addition to complying with legislation, offices can also invest in a healthy indoor environment based on the Program of Requirements for Healthy Offices developed by Binnenklimaat Nederland. We support our clients with a monitoring plan for Healthy Offices; this plan and its implementation have, among others, been realized for the Municipality of Amsterdam.
• Government: Public and social real estate must set the example. Schemes such as the DUMAVA subsidy accelerate the sustainability of this real estate, allowing comfort and energy neutrality to go hand in hand. Provinces and municipalities often have diverse real estate portfolios that require a specialized, tailor-made approach.

PULSE as integrator

To meet these complex requirements, our approach and the integration of data and expertise are essential. As part of SPIE, PULSE CORE acts not only as a software platform, but as a complete integrator for the performance of your entire technical HVAC installation. We seamlessly make use of the customer’s building management systems, meters, and IoT. Where BACS guidelines primarily require technical control, PULSE CORE functions as the control system that, through building data, fault detection, and diagnostics, enables our specialists and technicians to keep your building installations operating optimally and your users healthy.

Our approach is rooted in collaboration and the bundling of knowledge. By analyzing installation performance together with the customer and intelligently using data from the existing building management system, we can quickly and easily implement an optimal indoor climate or assess whether the desired indoor climate can be achieved with current installations and capacities. Where additional or specific measurements are required, we use our indoor climate sensors. These wireless sensors communicate via a secure LoRa network combined with a 4G gateway, allowing us to implement this sensor network effortlessly without complex cabling or invasive modifications to your existing installation.

• Comfort: Putting people first by aiming for a healthy, safe, and pleasant indoor climate for every user, coupled with an installation that is as energy-efficient as possible.
• Sustainability: Eliminate energy waste and reduce the CO2 footprint, while maintaining an optimal indoor climate. 
• Workspace: Dynamically optimize office and workspaces based on current occupancy rates and comfort data. 
• Asset Monitoring: Gain insight into the performance of building systems and building-related installations. By continuously detecting deviations, you aim for an optimal lifespan with predictive maintenance.
• Operation Support: Providing facility teams with the right tools immediately. We convert data into actions and dashboards, so that building management becomes proactive and efficient. 

Discover what new legislation means for your organization and how you can work step by step towards a healthy, compliant, and energy-efficient indoor climate.