The Path to Tomorrow: Smart Building Solutions at the University Hospital Basel

Hospital buildings today are complex organisms that actively contribute to smooth operational workflows. Where building automation once ensured the smooth operation of facilities, Smart Building now forms an integral part of business processes. This brings significant benefits to all users of a future-oriented building—whether visitors, patients, staff, or management—by addressing their specific needs.

What might sound like a nice theory must also work in practice. Alessandro Cerminara, Head of Building & Energy Technology at the University Hospital Basel, has a very clear vision: "For us, Smart Building is not a gimmick but a relevant strategic component with clear economic benefits. Our vision is: we improve people's lives and our own—every day. In our 2025 strategy paper, we approach innovation strategically and align every measure or feature with this principle."

In collaboration with Leicom, an integrator of Smart Building solutions, specific use cases are being implemented. What does this look like in reality? "It's not just important to understand the building but also to know the processes that take place within it. Additionally, the needs of the people interacting with the building must be efficiently integrated. Various workshops analyzed operational processes, interviewed stakeholders, defined parameters, and explored technical possibilities. This resulted in specific use cases with maximum benefits for each user," says Harald Störk, CEO of Leicom.

An example of a combination of building and process is the tracking of medical devices on an interactive map. This allows staff to easily locate available equipment. In case of damage or maintenance, a ticket can be directly issued to the responsible department. Hospital management or the infrastructure/automation team can evaluate and analyze the usage and efficiency of individual devices. Three processes are thus optimized with one measure, ensuring smooth and efficient workflows for various stakeholders.

Another example is room management through a booking app, coupled with monitoring actual room occupancy via presence sensors in the building automation system. This application optimizes the use of meeting rooms, flexible office spaces, and examination rooms. To prevent acceptance hurdles, employees are guided to booked rooms via indoor navigation.

With these non-personalized usage data, the facility manager can adjust the cleaning schedule based on usage frequency. Cost allocation of room usage to respective cost centers rounds off this use case. For building technology managers, controlling ventilation, heating, cooling, and lighting based on room presence is a given.

However, the path to tomorrow is far from complete and is constantly evolving. New management-level technologies as open platforms and various IoT data transmission methods, as well as wireless actuators and sensors, are already being used for the described applications. Given the rapid technological development and the need for digitized processes, there is no end in sight. The successfully implemented projects at the university hospital demonstrate what is possible. Today, employees can embark on a "digital journey" in their daily work with the Smart Building Platform Eliona. This enables the hospital to agilely respond to technological advances and diverse needs, initiating new offerings to meet the demands of a modern science cluster.