A Wireless Monitoring System to Quantify Indoor-Outdoor Air Pollution in a Building

As the world becomes increasingly urbanized and industrialized, the quality of air has become a critical concern for public health. Consequently, various studies involving indoor and outdoor air quality monitoring have emerged and identified airflow as one of the main factors. Even though airflow was deemed a major influence in the dispersion and concentration of pollutants, existing monitoring systems does not consider it when gathering data. To address this issue, the study focused on designing a wireless sensor network for indoor-outdoor air quality and dispersion assessment which can be deployed in different facilities and buildings. This was accomplished through air quality sensors and anemometers which were utilized for measuring pollutants levels, wind speed, and direction. The air quality data of each sensor node were measured and sent to the database server together with the anemometer data. The monitoring system successfully collected air quality levels and wind speed data. Results showed that air flow is a factor in the air quality of a facility. Furthermore, the outdoor environment indicated a worse air quality index in comparison to the indoor environment primarily due to its exposure to more environmental elements. The proposed infrastructure can serve as a stepping stone in the development of a smart building management system.