Indoor Monitor for LoRaWAN

INDOOR AMBIANCE MONITOR for LoRaWAN

Despite the widespread use of CO2 monitoring in building systems, typically for the purposes of increasing energy efficiency, and to save energy and reduce costs, the use of CO2 monitoring as a public health tool has only recently gained attention, derived from pandemic-related experiences.

During the pandemic, it becomes critical to assure that spaces are adequately ventilated (always taking into account the characteristics of the spaces; e.g. considering the number of occupants and types of activities) in order to reduce the risk of transmission.

CO2 its just and indicator about how well the spaces are vented; we need to keep in mind that COVID-19 transmission depends on multiple factors, of which ventilation is only one of them.

Regarding the concern about how spaces are safe for people, the City Council of Terrassa has deployed some indoor ambiance monitors that help us to take certain actions in order to reduce CO₂ levels, such as:

- open windows (in manually or automatic modes) and doors

- take periodic breaks in which occupants leave the room to air out the space

- reduce occupancy

- avoid high-intensity activities

- increase fresh air supply using HVAC systems

- controlling ventilation system fans (exhaust fans included) during occupied and non-occupied periods

In some cases, it is not possible to increase ventilation or reduce occupancy to maintain levels as desired. In such cases, it may be better to consider whether the activity can be moved to a different space or outdoors.

About this topic, air indoor quality, some of the indoor monitors tested by the city of Terrassa have the capacity to integrate with our LoRaWAN network; that’s especially interesting in order to integrate, also, with our sensors & actuators platform, SENTILO.

Among the different devices tested the sensor that is giving the best performance is the DL-IAM-001-EU868 from DECENTLAB (https://www.decentlab.com/).

The main sensor features are:

• CO₂ and VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) sensors
• Humidity and temperature sensor
• High accuracy barometric pressure sensor
• Ambient light sensor
• Motion / presence detector
• More than a year without replacing batteries (standard alkaline AA-type)

Sensor data are transmitted in real-time using LoRaWAN™ radio technology.