With growing concerns surrounding indoor air quality, especially in the wake of the 2020 death of toddler Awaab Ishak in Rochdale through exposure to mould caused by damp, ensuring your properties are designed with suitable solutions in place to reduce risks to the inhabitants is crucial. Having the ability to monitor the IAQ within your managed spaces is key to maintaining healthy homes and happy tenants. Installing mechanical ventilation will help to mitigate health and structural problems, but as a provider of housing, you can go further to protect and instil trust with your tenants. By installing environmental sensors within properties you can monitor the safety of the indoor environment and allow your tenants the ability to track their IAQ in real time. There are various options available, from specific sensors that connect directly to ventilation systems to automatically increase ventilation when triggered, to universal triggers that can alert both your tenant and yourselves to rising contaminants allowing for action to be taken before irreversible damage to both health and structure can take hold. Let’s take a look at some of the options available:
Automated Response Sensors
We will start with environmental sensors that can connect directly to a ventilation system for automated response. These sensors are ideal if you are looking to combat a particular issue, especially in a problem area. Examples could be a humidity issue, build up of CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) or VOCs. Having an automated boost for your ventilation will help to combat these increases in contaminants with immediate effect, helping to stop a potential issue arising.
The AirSens range from Envirovent Does just this - described by the company as a Demand Control Ventilation System, the AirSens sensors come in three different configurations; the AirSens CO2, AirSens VOC and AirSens RH. The CO2 and VOC sensors can be set to trigger your fan system when the sensor picks up a rise in either CO2 or VOCs such as alcohols, aldehydes, ketones and organic acids respectively, in the atmosphere. The trigger point can be set between 450ppm to 2000ppm. With the AirSens RH, the sensor monitors the relative humidity and can have a trigger point set between 60% to 90% humidity
The AirSens range has three modes of operation which allow you to utilise the sensors with a range of different systems. First, a relay contact that allows the sensor to be paired with either an intermittent fan to trigger into operation or a continuous running fan system that is triggered to boost mode when the sensor is set off. Secondly, a 0-10V or 2-10V output which can be utilised to adjust the speed of a multi-speed system. And finally the AirSens sensors are equipped with Modbus communication for integration into building management systems.
Universal Environmental Sensors
Unlike the automated response sensors that generally guard against a single pollutant issue, Universal sensors can cover a wider range of environmental pollutants all in one unit. The difference here is that currently, these sensors are not integrated to automatically trigger ventilation systems, but they do allow for comprehensive real-time IAQ data that allows you to monitor the health of the household and alert you to significant rises in pollutants. With the majority of manufacturers utilising either an online portal and/or integrated App, these sensors allow the homeowner to track the potential pollutant levels within the home. More importantly for managed properties, this allows for landlords to identify problem properties and deliver unrivalled service to their tenants by providing maintenance before a problem gets out of hand. Let’s look at a couple of systems as examples:
Aico is the industry leader in the UK when it comes to fire safety, but their technology in sensors is not just limited to smoke alarms. Their range of Smart environmental sensors is a discreet and secure way to protect your properties, with the ability to protect against temperature, humidity and CO2. The Ei1025b sensor links to the Ei1000G SmartLINK Gateway which also integrates with Aico’s range of wireless enabled smoke and fire detectors, allowing you to fully integrate the house’s sensors. The SmartLINK Gateway acts as a hub, connecting the data to a secure and encrypted online portal or App via 2G GSM network (free roaming SIM included and no contract or cost for this service). The Portal allows you to log in to view the data collected and will also send alerts via SMS or email if required. Again, the data stored on the portal is held securely and only accessible to those with the login details. There is also no limit to the number of properties you can connect, as each property will have a unique login via the installed SmartLINK Gateway. This means that your tenant can have a login to be able to monitor their IAQ and you as the landlord can also access this data from all of your properties to provide exceptional property management.
Blauberg also supplies a range of environmental sensors that similarly allow you and your tenant to track the IAQ of the residence. In addition to the pollutants that the Aico systems can sense, the Wave Mini senses IAQ, mould risk, humidity, VOC and temperature, the Wave Plus additionally senses Radon, CO2 and indoor air pressure, and the View Plus with additional particulate matter sensor and in-built LCD monitor for easy access to real-time information all link directly to a user-friendly app and online portal without the need for an additional link hub. The hub interface features graphs, notifications and insights into your IAQ and can seamlessly integrate with your smart home using IFTTT, Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa for enhanced convenience and control. Again, with individual login and secure encrypted data management and push-notifications, the Blauberg systems also allows you the ability to be kept on top of the building and occupants health, and peace of mind for the tenants.
Put your company ahead of the game and your tenants safe in the knowledge that they are protected and cared for by forward-thinking property management who care about their welfare and are committed to providing safe and healthy living spaces by installing Environmental Sensors in all your properties.