New technological solutions for optimizing indoor air quality and minimizing airborne transmission of pathogens

The overall objective of the AIRSAFE project is to provide society with safe and healthy environments in areas of everyday life for citizens, public buildings, hospitals, schools and other everyday environments. To achieve this goal, the consortium presenting the project will undertake different research tasks to offer new technological solutions for the optimization of indoor air quality. One of the main motivations behind the construction of this project is the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, which, among other things, has shown the importance of having ventilation and air conditioning systems that guarantee the safety of people in indoor spaces.
In this scenario, the AIRSAFE project aims to develop a series of tools, following a holistic strategy to ensure a healthy indoor environment in buildings, both in those that have HVAC systems (ventilation and air conditioning) and those that do not, providing them with pathogen mitigation strategies and intelligent air renewal and adapted to their characteristics, which take into account, in addition to the health of the occupants, an efficient and environmentally responsible and user-friendly energy management.
Vicomtech will develop artificial intelligence-based models that are able to predict indoor air quality based on data collected in real time by IoT equipment that will be developed within this project. In addition, Vicomtech will develop tools to size and simulate ventilation and air conditioning systems and equipment suitable for specific spaces, and establish operation/exploitation criteria for such systems and equipment, based on the characteristics of the spaces. Finally, Vicomtech will develop an Edge/Coud platform composed of different software modules and associated services, which will allow the operation of the solution for the monitoring and dynamic management of the installation.
The entities participating in this project, in addition to Vicomtech, are Airlan (coordinator), Biotalde, APA (Association for Accident Prevention), Fidegas, Euskal Herriko Ikastolak, Fundación Jose Matía Calvo, Giroa, Ingetek sistemas, Wattio, Zylk, CEIT, Aclima and Matia Instituto Gerontológico.
This initiative has been financed by the Hazitek program of the SPRI group. The results achieved will reinforce and consolidate the commitment to smart industry and personalized health.