EuNetAir’s top story on taking charge of air quality control in Europe’s smart, green cities
The COST Action EuNetAir “European Network on New Sensing Technologies for Air-Pollution Control and Environmental Sustainability” is working on developing cheaper and energy efficient sensors for air quality control in Europe’s future smart cities. EuNetAir is a very successful network of European spin-offs, SMEs, agencies, research centres and universities and has been selected by the COST Association as top story.
Air pollutants in the EU are still estimated to reduce life expectancy by eight months and are directly linked to climate change. A network of 25 SMEs and spin-offs and researchers from around 120 research institutions across 38 countries worldwide (31 European) is now trying to develop affordable, low-power sensors to assess indoor and outdoor air quality and eventually reduce greenhouse gases and other toxic pollutants. The COST Action will also look into environmental sustainability and ways of better managing green buildings at low carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
The 25 spin-offs and SMEs are directly involved in producing sensor materials and devices using nanotechnologies, including advanced methods for odour monitoring. They are also researching new environmental measures, new technical standards and business models, while getting other companies on board. Mapping and connecting innovative, European private enterprises working on air quality control will lead to a broader and better picture of the present-day standards and future technology needs. Siemens, another EuNetAir partner, has already provided the industry’s view on indoor quality: despite measurements still needing improvement, accurate and cost-effective sensors are extremely urgent for practical applications. Given the need for a common standard assessing the variety of air pollutants across the EU, Siemens has been testing a complete set of application systems to include new sensors into existing building management systems.
The COST Action has been collaborating with the WHO Collaborating Centre for Air Quality Management, the EU Commission’s Joint Research Centre and meteorological agencies in Italy, Hungary and Norway. Additionally, EuNetAir is supporting the European Sensor Systems Cluster (ESSC), a pan-European network of experts trying to enhance collaboration among sensor-systems applications experts that was launched by the EC in November 2014.
Please read the entire success story of EuNetAir at the COST website.
Eurice is Grant Holder of EuNetAir and supports the network by applying financial, administrative and coordinating services for a successful implementation of the COST Action.
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Juliane Roßbach
European Research and Project Office GmbH
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