Real-estate firm Coretrust Capital is using robots with artificial intelligence to disinfect surfaces against Covid-19 at its offices in Los Angeles, Pasadena and Philadelphia.

The Adibot UV-C robots from Chinese firm UBTech Robotics disinfect air and surfaces against Covid-19 and other harmful airborne pathogens. These are the centrepiece of multiple anti-Covid technologies at its office properties in downtown Los Angeles, downtown Philadelphia and in Pasadena, California.

As mask mandates are lifted and people return to the office after a year of isolation, Coretrust has improved building technology to create safe, healthy and stress-free office environments.

The robots are the first to be deployed at any office building in the USA and the first to be used at any venue in California or Pennsylvania since their introduction in January.

The robots use UV-C technology that disinfects air and targeted surfaces to deactivate the DNA and RNA of harmful pathogens. This also reduces interaction with harmful chemicals, one-time use plastics and chemical disposal into the environment. The system effectively disinfects 99.9 per cent of targeted areas with little downtime.

“UBTech located its North American R&D headquarters at our Pasadena property and, as soon as we became aware of the UV-C robots, we recognised they would be incredible additions to our health and wellness technology,” said Thomas Ricci, managing principal at Coretrust. “As our tenant customers return to the workplace,many starting this month, health and wellness issues are paramount to staff confidence. The robots are visible symbols of the anti-Covid technology that stands behind the environmental health of our buildings. We know of no other office owner that has the combination of environmental technology and health and safety operational protocols to combat Covid-19 and other viruses.”

John Rhee, senior vice president for UBTech in North America, added: “The Adibot UV-C system offers a long-term strategy to help protect people from Covid-19 pathogens or other viruses. We spend much of our daily lives at our offices so it is a smart strategy for landlords to use intelligent robots as an added cleaning layer to create safer and healthier workplaces.”

A major element in achieving virtually hospital grade indoor air quality at all Coretrust properties is the patented Biowall Max, an ultraviolet germicidal irradiation air disinfection system that sterilises 99.9 per cent of airborne bio-contaminants. Sanuvox Technologies, a specialist in ultraviolet air purification, installed the in-duct UVC air sterilisation systems for Coretrust. The Biowall Max virtually eliminates the HVAC system as a mode of virus transmission.

Coretrust further enhanced indoor air quality by installing the Merv air filters, making frequent fresh air purges and allowing increased fresh air ventilation throughout the day. In addition, Ricci said that Coretrust was one of the first landlords to provide continuous elevator air purification through bi-polar ionization units atop each cab.

A major Coretrust innovation was hacking the curtain wall of the FourFortyFour tower in Los Angeles to create a 90-square-metre loggia terrace that brings fresh air and sunlight into the 2000-square-metre Workplace Innovation Lab on the sixth floor. Similar indoor terraces could be created for occupants at all its properties as desired, said Ricci.

Coretrust also added touchless destination dispatch systems to modernised elevators at its buildings that allow tenants to use personalised access cards to call cars without touching buttons. Coretrust has further reduced touch points by adding automatic doors, touchless parking garage entry, touchless security access for visitors, touchless toilet fixtures and NanoSeptic film on common door handles for continuous disinfecting.

Coretrust Capital Partner is a Los Angeles-based private real estate operating company formed in 2014 by three original partners of Thomas Properties Group. The registered investment advisor provides fiduciary investment management services to institutional clients in co-investment and separate account vehicles targeting opportunistic, value-add, core plus and core strategies in the office sector.

UBTech Robotics specialises in artificial intelligence and humanoid robotics, including robots such as Walker, Aimbot, Cruzr and Alpha Mini, as well as the award-winning Jimu Robot building kits designed to support stem education in a fun, hands-on way.