Five leading indoor air quality (IAQ) organizations on June 14 announced the formation of a new consortium, Alliance for Sustainable & Practical IAQ in Real Estate (ASPIRE), with the goal of helping commercial and institutional buildings sustainably achieve indoor air quality. ASPIRE aims to encourage a more comprehensive, performance-based and data-driven approach to IAQ for building owners, managers and operators. The founding consortium members include Awair, Clockworks Analytics, enVerid Systems, SafeTraces and System2 Consulting.
"ASPIRE's founding members share a vision that buildings should provide a positive occupant experience, promote health and safety, and operate efficiently and sustainably; and we believe that IAQ is an intrinsic component of all three of these objectives," said Aaron Lapsley, principal and founder of System2 Consulting. "Despite widespread claims in the marketplace, we know that there is no easy-button, silver-bullet solution that will fully address IAQ in every building. Instead, ASPIRE aims to encourage a performance-based framework that will help building stakeholders make well-informed decisions and implement practical solutions for achieving healthy air quality in a manner that minimizes or eliminates the trade-offs with energy efficiency."
As part of its charter, ASPIRE said it will provide market education on leading practices related to indoor air quality and its intersection with sustainability. ASPIRE's framework addresses five objectives:
- Monitor and improve indoor air quality (IAQ) and ventilation systems.
- Measure and reduce pathogen transmission and illness risk.
- Reduce energy costs and carbon emissions.
- Demonstrate success and leadership through certification.
- Direct investment to the highest value opportunities and solutions.
Nexus Labs, a smart building industry community, media and education group that publishes podcasts and newsletters on smart building technology, introduced ASPIRE on the first episode of its new monthly broadcast series on June 16. Hosted by James Dice, Nexus Labs' founder, the webinar "A Data Driven Approach to IAQ" features a discussion of the consortium's vision, goals, and framework. Register for the free webinar here.
"We look forward to a discussion with these five companies and expert IAQ voices that cuts through the hype to offer insights on how to make indoor environmental quality as measurable and actionable as energy and water usage in a building," said James Dice, Founder, Nexus Labs. "Organizations are eager for an approach that mitigates pathogens and contaminants of concern such as CO2, VOCs, PM2.5, and where IAQ data can be tracked, shared and acted upon, in a context that meets ESG goals."
"Every day our team at AirRated sees firsthand the benefits of using data to drive decisions for building design and operation to deliver good indoor air quality," added Francesca Brady, CEO of AirRated. "Our AirScore certification serves as the quantitative benchmark against best practice guidance for IAQ. In many cases it also acts as validation of investment in building systems and clean air technologies/products that aim to create healthy, productive spaces that occupants of the built environment deserve. This data point has been a kitemark both for prospective and current building users to refer to when looking to understand the quality of indoor air in buildings. We are witnessing the industry shift its focus to performance-based certifications and standards, with tangible, meaningful and actionable results. That is why I am happy to support the ASPIRE consortium in their goal of promoting and educating the industry on a more comprehensive and information-first approach to improving and maintaining good indoor air quality."
"Post-pandemic, the real-estate industry has learned it needs to shift rapidly towards performance-based air quality standards, measured all day, every day," said Raefer Wallis, Founder of RESET. "Achieving this will require close collaboration between solution providers that can deliver measurable air quality results, without losing sight of global climate goals. This is exactly what ASPIRE was formed to achieve and we hope it will have a much needed catalyzing effect across the industry."
Testimonials
"Our mission at Awair is to ensure everyone can breathe safely anywhere indoors," said Dustin DeVan, CEO of Awair. "IAQ requires management on a real-time basis, as well as having the insights and integrations to address issues quickly. We are excited to join such a collaborative team to democratize air data and to ensure people's safety, particularly as indoor air matters now more so than ever post-pandemic."
"Increased awareness of the critical role of IAQ on building and occupant health - coupled with a proliferation of IAQ solutions, standards, and data collection over the past year - has resulted in a large education gap," said Alex Grace, VP of Business Development at Clockworks Analytics. "We are excited to join with leaders in the building performance and IAQ space through ASPIRE and share our expertise in fault detection and diagnostics in order to help consumers make more informed IAQ decisions in their buildings."
"There has long been a tension between achieving indoor air quality goals and energy efficiency and sustainability goals," said Christian Weeks, CEO of enVerid Systems. "Buildings now need to solve for both. Working as part of ASPIRE we hope to educate building owners and operators on the opportunities to adopt performance-based design standards and advanced filtration solutions to enable healthy and sustainable buildings."
"The global pandemic has put a spotlight on the critical importance of IAQ to public health, as well as the insufficiency of our current paradigm for IAQ systems, regulations, and standards in public buildings," said Erik Malmstrom, CEO of SafeTraces. "SafeTraces is thrilled to join forces with the most innovative technology companies in the built environment and to leverage our technology for advancing performance-based, data-driven metrics for combatting indoor respiratory infection."
