Veteran Building Services Leader Ilkka Salo Calls for People-Centred Building Technology

Lämmöllä-lehti's September issue runs a wide-ranging interview with Ilkka Salo, the long-serving building services expert who stepped down as Talteka's CEO in spring 2026. His career began in the 1980s as a trainee pipe fitter and took him through energy analysis, cleanroom technology and ABB product development. He led Talteka (Talotekninen teollisuus ja kauppa ry, the Building Services Industry and Trade Association) from its founding in 2018 until spring 2026, and argues that building services are not primarily about devices or meters but about creating healthy, safe and pleasant indoor conditions for people.

He sees the sector shifting from pure energy efficiency to smarter, more flexible energy use. Distributed generation, energy storage and demand response will let buildings act as active participants in the energy system. Salo points to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive as calling for a balance between emissions reduction, energy savings and indoor environment quality.

On heating, he rejects one-size-fits-all solutions. Hybrid systems that combine solar, heat pumps and backup options will become more common, increasing system complexity and underlining the need for skilled design. He warns against uncritical hype around automation and artificial intelligence. "The next phase is demand response, distributed production and energy storage," he says. "Technology must serve the people and the environment."

Securing a building services professorship at Tampere University stands out among his career milestones; research and teaching have now begun under doctoral researcher Piia Sormunen. Now retired from full-time work, he remains active as chair of the Construction Products Quality Foundation and will give space to Talteka's new CEO, Matti Loukkola. He plans to spend more time with family, travel and oil painting.