A new care home for the elderly with integrated nursery, set in the heart of an “eco-district”, is France’s first healthcare facility to implement copper touch surfaces to help reduce infection risk.
The Centre Inter Générationnel Multi Accueil (CIGMA) in Laval is equipped throughout with copper handrails and door handles. These surfaces are constantly touched by the residents, children and care staff. With “normal cleaning” the Copper Development Association (CDA) says the antimicrobial copper surfaces will kill viruses, bacteria, and fungi that could otherwise remain on the surfaces. The handrails and door furniture, from French company Cuivrinox, bear the Antimicrobial Copper Cu+ mark, signifying that the products are capable of continuously killing pathogenic microbes, “24/7”, in between cleans. The 6,000 m2 CIGMA building also uses geothermal energy for heating, solar energy for hot water, and has a “green roof”.
