How does the Internet of Things help schools improve indoor air quality?

Throughout the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the primary goal of schools has been to protect the health and safety of students and those who educate them.

To this end, more than 10,000 classrooms in Australian public schools have received new natural ventilation systems to protect staff and students from the spread of Covid-19.

This decision comes as new research shows that the spread of Covid in classrooms could be reduced by up to 80% with mechanical ventilation.

The study, conducted in just over 10,000 classrooms in the Marche region of Italy during a Delta variant outbreak, revealed that Covid infections were significantly lower in the 316 classrooms equipped with mechanical ventilation systems.

The Gap Cubbyhouse Montessori daycare, based in Brisbane (Australia), has created a safer, healthier, and more productive learning environment for its students and staff by using Internet of Things (IoT) technology.

The Gap Cubbyhouse, part of the Montessori brand, is a long-established family daycare serving children aged six weeks to six years.

Once it reopened after pandemic closures, the challenge for the center’s staff was that maintaining a “Covid-Safe” environment required careful monitoring of indoor air quality.

With extensive experience in engineering and scientific methodology, the center director, Sue-Ling Lau, understands the importance of providing young children with good indoor air quality. She approached the Australian companies Thinxtra and Zeplin.

“All daycares face the same threat of virus transmission, and by knowing the CO2 levels in a room, informed decisions can be made to minimize not only the transmission of COVID-19 but all airborne diseases,” Lau said.

“It has been quite revealing to see the CO2 threshold alerts come through. We didn’t realize how high CO2 levels could get even in a low-density suburb like The Gap. Initially, we received alerts several times a day, but now we need them less thanks to procedures in place to increase airflow.”

Lau said the center’s trigger point is 800 parts per million (ppm) – which is an acceptable CO2 level.

“Complaints of drowsiness and poor air quality start once CO2 exceeds 1000 ppm. These levels were surprisingly common in our center when we first installed the monitors.”

Thinxtra CEO Nicholas Lambrou states, "the reality is you can’t properly manage what you can’t measure.”

“Ventilation, purification, and filtration of indoor spaces are effective ways to reduce the risk of disease spread, but without data, this largely happens by chance or intuition,” Lambrou told The Educator.

“It is assumed that windows will be consistently opened by staff and that this will be effective.”

Lambrou said that while traditional CO2 sensors provide spot checks by capturing data at a single moment, they rely on people being present to read the data when an alert occurs.

“When you consider that indoor air quality can change within minutes and varies in different parts of a room, it’s clear there are gaps in the information available to schools,” he said.

“This is where the Internet of Things (IoT) comes in. The low-power Sigfox network, which the daycare leverages, allows battery-powered CO2 sensors to transmit real-time data, with timely alerts to inform the right actions that can be taken to improve airflow, filtration, or ventilation.”

Lambrou said the reason IoT monitoring solutions are effective for schools and any other indoor space is that they are quick and easy to install, require no connectivity to the facility’s internal networks, no cables to run, no outlets to install, and require no maintenance for years.

“This makes them cost-effective and provides schools with the reports they need to satisfy stakeholders (elected officials, administration, parents).”

Lau said she was surprised to see the number of CO2 threshold alerts rise since the technology was implemented at the center.

“Parents now tell us they feel very reassured that we are doing everything possible to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our daycare, with daily deep cleaning of our facilities, weekly rapid antigen testing for staff, and now CO2 sensors.”

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