Facility Benefits From Testing Nanotechnology Products

Since first learning of the technology, Baidwan has kept a close eye on the reported results of the NanoSeptic products. This continued as he introduced the products into his facilities. Early on, as the products were being used in universities, feedback indicated that the products would hold up for about one year. He found that to be true.

"NanoSeptic encourages you to change them out every three to six months, so that's something I watch for," Baidwan adds. "When I'm on my walkthroughs and see they need to be replaced, I personally take care of that. It's a way to control costs and still make sure the products are effective at keeping occupants safe."

He adds that if he were dealing with larger facilities and more staff, he might put the products on a regular rotation for replacement. As of now, though, this process works.

When Baidwan first began using the products, he started with a test in the tribal government's two main administrative buildings, but said it didn't take long before he went campus-wide.

Explaining his reasoning for investing in widespread use of the products throughout the facilities, Baidwan says, "Our goal in facility management is to reduce absenteeism. Even if we're only impacting 10 percent of the visitors and building occupants, we are saving tens of thousands of dollars because people are at work and they are well enough to conduct their work effectively."

These savings — as well as knowing that building occupants are healthier — helps to justify his use of the products. Baidwan admits the products come at a cost, but emphasizes that they do last and he knows they are effective, which results in a strong return on investment.

"I do ATP testing when I go through a building," says Baidwan. "Every time I test a NanoSeptic installation, it comes out zero, so there is no biologic living on the surface."

Another benefit of the NanoSeptic products, in Baidwan's opinion, is their visibility. High-touch points and surfaces are not being cleaned "behind the scenes' out of building occupants' sight, but instead, the installations are visible and touchable.

"It's also a banner, almost an advertisement that demonstrates that you care about people's health," explains Baidwan. "When occupants see the NanoSeptic labels, stickers, sleeves and buttons, then they know we are looking out for them and doing everything we can to keep them healthy."

Overnight, the pandemic amped up occupant awareness of cleaning. Departments are now focusing on showcasing efforts that will result in healthy and safe environments.

"COVID-19 amped up that awareness tenfold," says Baidwan, "but we'd already been using NanoSeptic for so long. It reinforced the fact that we care about our building occupants, our visitors; we want them to stay healthy. This is something tangible they can see and feel and they're reminded that we care about their health."

Creating Strong Partnerships

As an early and satisfied adopter, Baidwan says another thing he appreciates about working with NanoSeptic is that they continue to be progressive and they accept input from users in the field. "I talked to them about the idea that some of the labels were too large for the application and I had to cut those down to fit," he says. "I felt like that was a waste. So they started making smaller sizes."

Baidwan also noticed that the labels weren't staying put or curling on some of his ADA handles. After he expressed this to NanoSeptic, he was presented with a new product to meet the need — a sleeve. The same thing happened when the discussion turned to elevator buttons.

"They've been very responsive to feedback from the field," says Baidwan. "I'm 100 percent satisfied with the product and company support, as well as their innovation."

Baidwan will continue to use NanoSeptic products and would recommend them to other facilities, maintenance and custodial managers. In fact, his recommendation of the products has already resulted in their use throughout the community. NanoSeptic is in place at the local library, casino and in the schools.

Seeing the product being implemented in other facilities was a joy to Baidwan because he does believe in this technology. In fact, he encourages managers to take any opportunity they can to see the products in the field and ask questions of the managers who implemented them.

"I work really hard to make sure our facility management team continues to create safer environments for everyone — safer for me, my staff, our visitors and for our building occupants," he adds. "These products definitely fit in with that mission statement."

Shannon O'Connor is a freelance writer from Mason, Ohio.