Care About Your Air: monitor the indoor air quality of your workspace or classroom
Prior to the global pandemic, people spent almost 90% of their time indoors. With lockdowns around the world to slow the spread, people are spending more time indoors than ever before. This raises concerns for the quality of indoor air, as it is almost 100 times more polluted than outdoor air. The air we breathe indoors can affect energy, focus, and productivity, or for more sensitive groups, it can contribute to serious health conditions.
Taking control of your indoor air quality can improve the overall health and wellbeing of your workplace or classroom, making the invisible, visible. Employers or teachers can return to work with the peace of mind that the ambient conditions of their offices and classrooms are safe.
Why should you monitor your indoor air quality?
Air pollution can cause both short and long-term effects on health, performance, and physical and psychological wellbeing. There is also a link between indoor air quality and the spread of viral infections. Different aspects of the indoor ambient environment, such as temperature, humidity, particulate matter, and carbon dioxide, can affect the rate at which infections spread. These aspects can also impact the performance of people in an office or classroom, causing fatigue, loss of focus, and lesser productivity and energy levels. For more sensitive groups, these aspects can worsen pre-existing conditions or cause serious health concerns.
How can you monitor indoor air quality?
i3CAIR is a simple solution that allows the monitoring, alerting, and reporting on indoor air quality, and the solution fully integrates with any i3TOUCH interactive display. Through ambient monitoring and data analytics, i3CAIR improves wellbeing, health & safety in classrooms and work environments.
The basic configuration provides you with the tools and visibility you need to follow up on air quality in an individual office space, meeting room, or classroom. The i3CAIR Wellbeing Index accurately measures the temperature, humidity, CO2 levels, and particle matter, and alerts you when you need to take action to improve ambient conditions.
i3CAIR offers a central, cloud-based dashboard of all of the sensors within your building, or in multiple locations, with complete historical data and advanced reporting capabilities through i3RDM (Remote Display Management).
The Wellbeing Index
The Wellbeing Index of the i3CAIR accurately measures four different parameters: temperature, humidity, particulate matter, and carbon dioxide.
Temperature
Temperature plays an important role in a virus infection rate and also has an impact on performance. Viruses can thrive in temperatures below 18°C (64°F). In warmer temperatures 30°C (86°F) the infection rate or transmission of viral infections is significantly slower. The ideal indoor temperature lies between 18°C and 24°C (or between 64°F and 75°F) to keep the ambiance healthy and comfortable.
Humidity
Like temperature, the humidity in a room can affect the transmission rate or comfort of a room. In humidity levels below 30% and above 55%, virus particles can remain highly infectious. Staying between 30%-55% humidity can slow the infection rate and keep a room comfortable. Too low of humidity can cause people to become more prone to cold infection or affect respiratory illness, while too high of humidity can also trigger some allergic reactions or contribute to existing allergies.
Particulate Matter (PM 2.5)
Particulate Matter (PM) is a complex mixture of microscopic particles and droplets of liquid. PM 2.5 are Fine Particulate Matter that is less than 2.5 microns (µm) in diameter. Virus droplets can attach to these small airborne particles increasing the contamination risk of influenza-like viruses. Particulate matter 2.5 microns or smaller can be inhaled deep into the lungs, and children, older adults, active people, and people with heart or lung disease (such as asthma) should use caution when PM 2.5 levels are above 12.1 µg/m3.
Carbon dioxide (CO2)
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most straightforward parameter of indoor air quality in association with the ventilation of a room. As the CO2 levels within a room rise, carbon dioxide replaces the oxygen our body and brain need, resulting in a noticeably “stuffy” air quality of a room. At moderate levels, CO2 can reduce concentration, focus, and the overall optimal function of our brain and body. At higher levels, some could experience headaches, fatigue or dizziness, loss of concentration and attention, or even an increased heart rate and nausea in some cases. Increased CO2 levels in the bloodstream can also suppress the immune system, making some more susceptible to illness.
i3CAIR and i3TOUCH Interactive Touch Displays
The i3CAIR is a plug ‘n play extension to an i3TOUCH display. Just connect the i3CAIR sensor to the i3TOUCH display via USB and get detailed information about the air quality, receive alerts and tips on how to improve the ambient air quality.
Integrated with i3STUDIO
A widget appears in the launcher providing real-time data about the air quality in your class-/meeting room. Get insightful data about the air quality while working on the interactive touch display
Tapping on the widget in the upper left corner will give you more details about the various measurements, both in real-time as well as a 7-day summary.
Integrated with i3RDM
i3CAIR becomes really powerful when it’s linked with i3RDM. Get access to a central cloud dashboard where all sensor data, alerts, and notifications can be consulted along with advanced reporting capabilities.
This is the ultimate tool for a facility manager or health & safety advisor to follow up on air quality and make informed decisions with a dedicated i3CAIR profile. Monitor multiple rooms at any time and from anywhere with i3CAIR and i3RDM.
What's Next?
i3CAIR is the perfect accessory to your i3TOUCH interactive display to monitor the safety and wellbeing of your workplace or classroom. Keeping the ideal indoor air quality of your organization or school can have tremendous benefits for health and wellbeing, and create safe spaces to minimize the risk of viral infections.
Now it’s time to experience it for yourself! If you are looking at i3CAIR and are interested in the solutions available for your office or school environment, or want to talk to us about the different i3TOUCH connectivity options, please contact us.