The Air We Breathe

THE AIR WE BREATHE IS EASY TO OVERLOOK. Beyond being free and abundant everywhere, for most, the expe¬rience of consuming air is largely subconscious; breathing is effortless and generally tasteless, odorless and invisible. Though along with water, air is one of life’s only must-haves required by every living thing, air is something most of us take for granted. Air quality on the other hand is starting to become more and more of a concern, particularly indoors where unseen pollutants can accumulate and ultimately compromise human health and wellness in many ways, potentially fatally.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there are four major indoor air pollutants — excess moisture, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide and radon – each of which poses individual and cumulative threats to our health. Short-term health effects attributable to air quality can include irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, dizziness and fatigue. Long-term exposure can lead to respiratory dis¬eases, heart diseases and cancer.

Perhaps more problematically, the possible pollutant sources within our homes are also everyday necessities — stoves, furnaces, HVAC systems, carpets, flooring, insulation, cleaning and personal care products, as well as the adhesives, paints and sealants we use to fix or make things — to name just a few. While some sources, like building materials, can release pollutants through a continual process called off-gassing, other sources like smoking, cleaning, redecorating or doing hobbies release pollutants intermittently. Unvented or malfunctioning appliances can release higher and sometimes dangerous levels of pollutants indoors.

As post-pandemic life in the U.S. resynchronizes to the new normal, more and more Americans are spending a larger percentage of their daily lives in their homes. From remote work and remote learning to the self-as-brand movement, increased human activity inside of a home in turn increases the need to improve indoor air quality with literally every breath we take.

“Carbon Dioxide or C02 is what we exhale when we breathe,” says Edwin Bender, GM of Innovation Segment at Broan-NuTone, a global leader in residential indoor air quality. “C02 causes lower cognitive abilities and fatigue. People who have recently started working from home are now placing the C02 load they would have dispelled at the office or in the car directly into their living spaces, yet very few people have made changes to their home ventilation. So increasingly, there is a buildup that hasn’t been accounted for happening just from changes in the way we use our homes.”

Bender has been in product manufacturing for more than 25 years, the last six with Broan-NuTone. Founded in 1932, today Broan-NuTone employs more than 2,500 people in seven countries across four continents. Headquartered in Hartford, Wisconsin, the company’s product lines cover a wide selection of forward-thinking residential ventilation and home automation solutions.

“Simply put, we believe that breathing better quality air means people will enjoy a better quality of life, and everything we do revolves around this mission,” says Bender, who combines a technical background in materials engineering with a passion for explaining how problems are solved. “Celebrating 90 years, Broan-NuTone is the largest manufacturer of ventilation products in North America, offering everything from range hoods, exhaust vent fans, dehumidifiers and fresh air systems for both homes and light commercial.”

Within the context of a home, Bender shares that though C02 is the most prevalent pollutant, as the EPA points out it’s not the only one. Humidity in a home can be both too high, which leads to mildew and mold, or too low, which makes the home a breeding ground for viruses. Volatile Organic Compounds, known as VOCs, include off-gassing from building materials like flooring and carpets and fuel-burning combustion appliances, and intermittently introduced contaminants like hairspray, solvents and varnish. Potential outdoor sources of air pollution include radon, which can seep in from beneath a home, pesticides used in gardening or lawn care, and the local outdoor air quality, which depends on a combination of nature, geography, industry and traffic. In accounting for all of this, Broan-NuTone found inspiration for their latest innovation.

“Our newest product is the first fully automated fresh air system that uses highly sophisticated sensors to monitor indoor air characteristics and responds dynamically,” says Bender. “Overture is a game changer for residential air quality.”

Overture is a fully integrated indoor air quality system that links to a home’s ventilation components using three simple modules. The system consists of a room sensor, a wall control, and a smart plug, which work together to manage the air quality throughout the home. The product’s high-tech sensor technology monitors indoor air quality in live time. Whenever air quality concerns are detected by sensors, Overture’s cloud-based system automatically turns on the home’s ventilation system to clear pollutants and provide fresh air to the home.

The Overture Wall Control looks like a standard light switch but instead senses Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC), C02, humidity and temperature. When the Wall Control detects pollutants, it will automatically turn on either the ADA-compliant range hood in the kitchen or most Broan-NuTone bathroom ventilation fans to which it is connected. For rooms without ventilation devices, the Room Sensor is paired with the Wall Control unit to automatically activate ventilation devices when pollutants are present. In addition to being able to detect the same things as the Wall Control, the Room Sensor can also detect particulate matter up to 2.5 micrometers in diameter. These tiny inhalable particulates, 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair, can get deep into our lungs and even get into the bloodstream.

Finally, the Smart Plug works in any 120v electrical outlet to connect to a home Energy Recovery Ventilation system (ERV), Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV), make-up air damper, or supply fan. Whenever the range hood or bathroom fan is turned on, the Smart Plug will activate the home’s fresh air device. Everything can be managed through a smartphone, allowing users to add rooms, add devices, and even add new homes. Users can also review historical data to analyze pollutants over time.

Broan-NuTone’s Overture System enters the market either through home builders or the mechanical trades builders are accustomed to working with. The MEP often installs the ERV, bathroom fans, range hoods, and switches, and then hands Overture’s components off to a low-voltage technology integrator that installs the sensors, before turning system control over to the homeowner and explaining how everything works.

“For the industry, the important thing to understand here is that this is just another technology trade activity,” says Bender of product integration. “Installing these sensors is essentially the same as putting in a light switch. Just do it before the sheetrock goes up.”

Overture is also designed to work with voice assistant products like Alexa to turn on a range hood or bathroom fan and respond to valid utterances like “What is my air quality” or “What is the temperature in the living room?” Bender shares that each device is estimated to have a five-year life cycle, with Room Sensors changed as easily as a plug-in air freshener and Wall Sensors changed by an electrician.

“The biggest thing we want to recommend to industry partners who are designing and building houses is that they should always leave room for health,” says Bender when asked what decision-makers need to know. “When they build new houses, they should either be putting in an ERV or HRV system, or they should leave room for one to be installed later.”

As awareness about the health and wellness deficiencies associated with poor indoor air quality increases, Bender believes more homeowners will expect data-backed proof of a homebuilder’s claims around better-quality living. By installing the Overture system, builders will be able to quantitatively prove their homes live healthy by putting the power of fresh air at the homeowner’s complete command.