iatrixAir- Stopping airborne pathogens in public spaces

When we think about being comfortable at work or at home, we often focus on our heating and air conditioning systems. But, they are not the only factors to consider at work or at home. Another critical component of your indoor climate besides heating and cooling the air is your indoor air quality.

There is a growing concern about air pollution levels indoors. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor air can be five times as polluted as outdoor air. Since indoor air is not circulated as much as the outside air, many airborne pollutants continue to thrive inside. Many of us do not know that a 0.2 particulate can penetrate deeply and stay in our lungs.

When looking at indoor air quality, not only is air filtration and purification critical but also ventilation which is key to preventing COVID-19 spread and infection.

iatrixAir is bringing to market, a different approach or solution to indoor air pollution. They make commercial indoor spaces safer through intelligent detection, fast remediation or disinfection, medical-grade air exchange products that monitor air quality 24/7/365. IatrixAir’s solution can ventilate the air in a space as quick as a Boeing Jet exchanges the air in the passenger cabin. Their “Air Quality as a Service” business model delivers absolute, complete space, automated performance with a low-cost monthly fee and white-glove, a never-touch installation by professional contractors.

CIO Bulletin spoke exclusively to Marc McConnaughey, CEO of iatrixAir. The following are excerpts from the conversation.

Q. What makes iatrixAir unique in the Internal Air Quality (IAQ) Sector? What is its point of differentiation?

iatrixAir’s approach has three key differences compared to the products on the market today: 

1. Sensors gather data every 10 seconds, providing a quicker, more detailed understanding of the space’s air quality and allowing faster response to air quality problems. Faster is Safer.
2. First pass inactivation to 99.99% means that it only takes one pass through the air exchanger to destroy pathogens while others take many times, bringing solid levels of protection faster. Again, Faster is Safer.
3. Complete space air exchange in under 300 to 500 seconds, depending on the space, combined with the first two, brings an unprecedented level of safe and healthy air. Again, Faster is Safer, which is our unique value proposition.

Our design approach is similar to that implemented in a Boeing or Airbus jet. The air quality system on passenger jet pushes air down from the top of the cabin and exchanges the air completely in 300-500 seconds.

Q. Could you tell us more about your aerotru3? How does it help in providing safer and healthier indoor air?

Aerotru3 means measuring the entire space, not just square feet but cubic feet of space plus the air pressure and air flows in the room, including when doors are opening and closing in the space and the number of people in the room or density. 

These parameters are critical to understanding the air quality and how to remediate the air. Not all spaces are alike. We learned in our market research that restaurant spaces differ from nail salons or dental offices.

Q. What methodologies and techniques does your company implement to test indoor air quality? 

Our methodologies begin with the complete space or cubic dimensions plus the air dynamics of space, including the presence of people, air flow and air pressure, and where the HVAC vents are located. The testing will be contracted to university test labs, government facilities, and independent facilities. It will include complete space testing, which we believe is very important as testing in a six foot box is inadequate which is the common practice today.

We want to raise the bar in this industry and its test methodologies beyond a plastic box sitting on the floor, shooting air up to the ceiling.

Q. What are the different sensors you use in your IAQ monitoring system? Are they IoT compatible?

Our Priority 10 sensor cellular gateway has 16 sensor measurements:

• Temperature
• Humidity
• Presence or Occupancy
• VOC including HCHO, N02, and Formaldehyde
• True C02 < 50ppm
• Particulates (from 0.3 to 0.5, 0.5 to 1.0, 1.0 to 2.5, 2.5 to 5.0 and 7.5 to 10.0)
• Smoke
• Lighting-Brightness and Lighting-Color
• Sound
• Vibration
• Air Pressure

The Priority 10 sensor gateway is a fully automated, secure IoT cellular CAT-M device that detects every 10 seconds, processes and sends data packets to the cloud for further analytics and alerts, and sends commands to our Priority 100UV air exchanger to take action to remediate the air.

Q. As energy management is a key to the operations of any viable commercial property, how energy efficient is your indoor air monitoring system?

Our Priority solution is fully automated, so it has many levels of operations, from low energy-quiet mode to burst modes that can exchange the air completely in a space in 500 seconds and uses the most energy. However, we save more energy than our solution consumes as our solution connects to the designated space’s HVAC system, moderating the amount of time the HVAC fan runs, saving up to 10% of the HVAC energy costs.

Q. Do your IAQ Systems meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) standard parameters? 

Yes, we meet both the EPA and CDC requirements for disinfection equipment. We are designing our products to be FDA Class II certified in the future.

Faster is Safer. Indoor air quality through innovative solutions and ensuring safe and healthy air against pollutants, viruses, bacteria, and more

Marc McConnaughey is the CEO of iatrixAir. Marc has 35+ years in the science of light or photonics with senior or C-Suite assignments in US, Europe and Asia with roles in product management, marketing/sales, technology/engineering, and operations. iatrixAir is his fourth startup.

iatrixAir is fund raising on https://netcapital.com/companies/iatrixair