The launch of Aerum, powered by Metrikus
July 15, 2020
We are excited to be launching Aerum, an unparalleled approach to bring healthier air to the spaces in which we live and work. Using a combination of air purification technology, real-time monitoring and environmental expertise, we can deliver consistently pure air for an ever changing world.
Why is Indoor Air Quality so important?
We spend more than 90% of our time inside, and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) can be two to five times worse than Outdoor Air Quality (OAQ). Offices and homes that implement mechanical ventilation provide filtered air from the outside, however, these systems rarely provide any form of air cleaning or purification.
Sustainability targets and energy performance ratings encourage buildings to be ‘sealed’ as much as possible to improve energy efficiency, but this is often detrimental to IAQ. Air purification technology has an essential role to play in creating a cleaner, safer and healthier indoor environment.
What are the impacts of poor Indoor Air Quality?
There is a wealth of scientific research indicating that poor air quality inside buildings increases the risk of contracting illness and exacerbates the risk of transmission of airborne viruses. This has particularly come to light recently, with studies showing that air pollution significantly increases the COVID-19 death rate.
Being exposed to poor IAQ can leave us vulnerable to illness, poor cognitive performance and compromised wellbeing. Long term exposure to high levels of PM2.5 (dust) can increase the risk of developing respiratory illnesses, such as bronchitis and pneumonia, and cardiovascular problems, such as coronary heart disease.
Additionally, elevated levels of CO2 in buildings are associated with reduced cognitive performance, most notably decision making and information usage. Temperature and humidity contribute to the phenomenon of ‘Sick Building Syndrome’ which can affect health and comfort, most commonly in office buildings.
How can Aerum help?
Aerum brings together leading air purification technology, powered by our real-time monitoring solution. Healthy Air Technology Ltd (HATL) provides their patented and certified D-Orbital Nano Oxide (DNO) Catalyst ‘pollution eraser high nano-air cleansing technology’ supplied in liquid form and fitted in HEPA H13 medical grade air purification units.
These units can remove more than 99.5% of all harmful substances from the air, including viruses and bacteria. HATL is a company founded by leading inorganic and biochemistry researchers from Oxford University.
Following this, you can be assured of the air quality improvements through our real-time monitoring platform. Data can be viewed as heatmaps on floor plans or as dynamic scores for health and cognitive performance in the Wellness dashboard. Historical data can be used to plot graphs and charts to identify problem areas and compare different rooms, floors and even buildings at portfolio level.
The system also allows users to define alerts for environmental parameters to help monitor and manage the quality of a space for building occupants.
How is Aerum unique?
Although there are many other air purifiers in the commercial marketplace, there is no other system that can deliver our combined approach. We can monitor a space in real-time for air quality metrics, identify when these metrics move outside of user defined levels or healthy living guidelines, clean and purify the air to an unrivalled degree of efficacy (at a localised level), and have the ability to interact with the BMS to change the ventilation system where necessary.
The filters are unique in that they not only trap, but entirely eradicate harmful substances within the catalyst layers, ensuring there is no risk of secondary release. Any gas pollutants, bacteria or viruses that are captured are efficiently converted into harmless by-products.
Other air purifying filters simply absorb harmful substances using HEPA and activated carbon. They do not have the ability to destroy the pollutants, which means they can be released back into the air when the temperature rises or when the filter has reached full absorption. Unlike photocatalyst technology, Aerum’s hardware does not require light to function, and does not generate ozone as a by-product. In fact, the DNO catalyst technology can convert ozone to oxygen. The efficiency of the filter is also more than 8 times that of an ordinary activated carbon filter.
We are excited to be bringing this leading solution to market. If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact us to find out more.
