CO2 as a Proxy for Indoor Air Quality is Wrong

CO2 has been the long-standing de-facto measurement of air quality in the built environment. Ethos and Butterfly are challenging the status quo and warning all building operators that following the traditional means of measuring IAQ is harming your occupants and staff!

Butterfly-Air, backed by the Royal College of Engineers at Imperial College London, and development partner Ethos Engineering, are pioneering a cutting-edge advancement in air quality and occupant wellbeing.

The Butterfly IAQ sensor provides high quality, real-time feedback on a holistic range of air quality parameters, giving transparent information to occupants on the air they breathe. With its integration to renowned air purification manufacturer Rensair, this simple detect & solve solution can arcuately rectify any IAQ issues.

Knowing all this, the facilities managers, building operators, and designers who are staying ahead of the curve are the ones who are prioritising not only holistic building data, but also high-quality data that provides an accurate reflection of the spaces we’re occupying.

“Your facilities manager has more of an impact on your health that your GP”

- Brian Coogan, Director Ethos Digital

The Bigger Picture

When it comes to indoor air quality, CO2 remains seen as a singular ‘primary issue’ to be rectified in the minds of many facility managers. This thinking is industry wide is still widely accepted even in the most efficient of buildings.

In reality there’s far more to air quality than just CO2, focusing only this singular parameter and ignoring the rest is not only poor practice, its dangerous and occupants are silently suffering.

Figure 1 shows a more realistic view of the air we’re breathing indoors. Particulate matter of various sizes and volatile organic compounds compose an equal-to or greater number of harmful pollutants other than CO2. Therefore, while all may seem well on the surface in a room where CO2 is being monitored, the health of the occupants could well be in jeopardy.

High levels of CO2 causes numerous negative health effects such as headaches, irritation, poor sleep, mental health effects, reduced cognitive function, respiratory infections, and the exacerbation of existing conditions.

But what is lesser known is that high levels of PM and VOCs have just as much of an effect on our health as CO2. The WHO recognises air pollution as a risk factor for noncommunicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and cancer. [2]

A Study examining how indoor air quality affects cognitive performance using data from official chess tournaments found that a 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 concentration raises the likelihood of a player making a bad move by 26.3% [1].

An increase of 10 μg/m3 had the same adverse effects as an increase of 500ppm of CO2.

Detect & Solve

Traditionally, in a naturally ventilated room, the immediate solution to an accumulation of CO2 is to flush in fresh air from the outside. However, by doing so we expose ourselves to potentially worse outdoor pollutants. 99% of the world’s population lives in areas where WHO outdoor air quality levels were not met. ?

By installing combined Butterfly Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality monitors, linked to Rensair purification, we can deliver 20/20 vision on the way a specific building ‘breathes’ and therefore control both CO2 and PM.

We can then use this data to balance mechanical ventilation with air purifiers to optimise health and minimise energy costs.

This simple, low cost, ‘detect & solve’ retrofit solution provides building operators and occupants with clean air and straightforward reliable data. Butterfly detects the issue, Rensair solves it.

Butterfly has several distinct advantage over other popular sensors on the market. Namely its measurement of PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 rather than inferring PM1 and PM10 based on PM2.5 readings.

The unique design of the Butterfly Morpho and Antenna sensors use ‘LaminAIR’ technology that provides more accurate data by ingesting air samples into the device for analysis rather than allowing air to passively flow over the sensors. This patented design ensures accurate, high quality and reliable readings for occupant’s peace of mind.

Ethos – Butterfly – Rensair: ROI

An extensive trial period between Butterfly-Air and Ethos Engineering comparing Butterfly with 2 other market-leading competitors found the following:

• Butterfly sensors picked up PM readings in periods that other sensors could not.
• Butterfly sensors reflected a more accurate and steady concentration of particulate matter in the office environment
• Versus competitors, the Butterfly Morpho did not record unrealistic and unexplainable spikes in organic compound contaminants upwards of 2,000 ppm.
• Butterfly air quality readings better reflected office occupancy fluctuations and office cleaning schedules than competitors.
• Thanks to its more accurate sensor, Butterfly Morpho gathered particulate matter readings in periods that other sensors recorded as zero.

By leveraging high quality IAQ data, Rensair purification, and reducing ventilation rates, we can achieve the following outcomes:

• 40% reduction in ventilation energy consumption
• A rapid-deploy detect & solve solution
• A solution that will meet any forthcoming health regulation on indoor air quality
• An environment that optimises productivity and minimises absenteeism
• A lower carbon footprint that contributes to net zero sustainability goals
• Health, Sustainability and Energy Saving – combined