Testing innovative air pollution treatments in school environments
Providing effective air quality solutions in school courtyards
The issue
The city of Poissy, located in the Île-de-France region in France, is home to some 38,000 residents. In recent years, as part of the whole region's call for innovative projects, called “Changeons d’air” (“Let’s clean up our air”) meant to improve the population's overall quality of life, the city has stepped up its campaign to enhancing the air quality in its public buildings.
In particular, the city wanted to improve the air quality of indoor and confined air in public buildings, especially day nurseries and school courtyards, deploy a circular economy solution, and raise awareness among children and their parents and teachers. Schools are considered 'sensitive receptors', or places where vulnerable groups (e.g. children) may experience adverse effects of air pollution and other pollutants.
Being at an age when they are just building and strengthening their immune defenses, children need to be protected from the harmful effects of air pollution. Studies show that more than 94% of children worldwide breathe polluted air. This is the reason SUEZ is rolling out this innovation first in schoolyards.
The solution
SUEZ, was chosen as part of the call for projects to improve the air quality at the Victor Hugo Elementary School. It offered a patented air quality improvement solution called InspiR®, a multi-stage air treatment solution designed to improve air quality in sensitive locations. Depending on the local air pollution it needs to tackle, this complementary and modular technology is capable of capturing and removing a large spectrum of air pollutants. Among these harmful particulate matters are PM10, PM2.5, and PM1, as well as nitrogen oxides (NO & NO2) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
The benefits
InspiR®, a part of the SUEZ AirAdvanced® air treatment range of solutions, brought in innovative technology that not only monitors, but purifies, the air around designated areas. This resulted in the following benefits:
Creation of a clean 'air bubble' in the primary school's playgrounds and surrounding areas
Reduction of critical main air pollutants due to the broad-spectrum, customised treatment that removes hazardous air pollutants
Integration of a well-designed system that fit the school landscape using colourful, child-friendly themes
Increased awareness among children, parents, and teachers about the health benefits of having good air quality with a goal towards behaviour change resulting in valuing public health
Participation in an innovative project enhancing knowledge regarding urban air quality improvement anchored on positive messaging about air quality optimisation
InspiR® is an innovative solution that combines many advanced filtration technologies, captures air pollution at ground level and creates a pure air bubble in the school yard.
Jérôme Arnaudis-Air Quality Director at SUEZ
Differentiating factors
InspiR® offers a customised, efficient treatment that reduces people's exposure to air pollutants in public areas such as school courtyards and gymnasiums. SUEZ has developed this system with an ecological approach and a circular economy in mind.
It is an innovative solution that uses multiple treatment stages with low power consumption for a large volume of air treated. It uses positive ionisation to capture nano to millimetre-sized particles. This technology does not require a filter change, and can be cleaned to restore it to full capacity. The same goes for the second stage, which uses active carbon fibres to capture molecular pollution such as NO2 and O3. In parallel, microalgae can consume the captured pollutants and transform it into biomass.
Implementation
The Victor Hugo Elementary School project in Poissy is an ongoing campaign that began in 2020.
