Clearing The Air: Helping managers of small businesses and community facilities to improve ventilation
Gyms, churches, clinics, daycares, libraries. They all need to ensure safe and healthy air for staff, customers and visitors. But how? Many smaller buildings don’t come with ventilation systems but rely on doors and windows to provide fresh air and remove stale and potentially germ-filled air. But how much ventilation is enough?
During COVID-19 we “locked down” because we had no means of ensuring that indoor spaces posed a low risk of infection. Clearing The Air was initially funded by the NZ Ministry of Health to improve our understanding of the risk posed by contaminated air in enclosed spaces, to become better prepared for future pandemics and to empower facilities managers and users to protect New Zealanders.
At The Air Quality Collective we are committed to continuing the mission of clean indoor air for all.
What is Clearing The Air all about?
We can sense when we are hot or cold, but our sense of air quality is poor. We can invest in ventilation technologies (including windows) but that does not mean we will use them properly. Clearing The Air is all about harnessing technology to develop a “sixth sense” for indoor air quality, using data-based prompts to train new ventilation habits. Low-cost carbon dioxide monitors are widely used to indicate air quality. We turn that data into insights, delivered via a dashboard providing realt-time and summary information, about the causes of contamination, recommended actions, and the effectiveness of those actions.
What has Clearing The Air done to date?
In 2022 we developed a prototype monitoring and feedback system and trialled it in 99 rooms across 31 different centres such as vets, clinics and early childhood centres. This provided insight into the current state of air quality in such centres. The data collected showed how sensitive air quality was to both how usage was scheduled, and when windows were, or weren’t used – in other words ventilation depends as much on the day-to-day practice of the room’s users as much as the ventilation technology it contains.
What services do we provide?
We can design bespoke systems for the specific needs of different buildings or building uses.
A generic multi-purpose system is in development and we are keen to link with like-minded ventures to further our R&D.
Based on our expertise and experience we can provide educational and training materials and in-person sessions.
Where else is the approach being used?
Since 2023 we have been exploring using the same basic concept in school classrooms. This is allowing us to better understand the way learning can be built into an interactive human-based ventilation control system. Find out more about The Air We Share.
