How Air Quality Data Makes Our HVAC Systems Smarter
Shile all smart home products aim to make our lives easier in one way or another, smart HVAC & air purifier systems are specifically designed to offer users healthier, more energy-efficient living spaces and more personalized experiences — they are one of the pillars of the blossoming smart home market.
According to a new report from Zion Market Research, the global smart HVAC market was valued at $8.3 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach $28.3 billion by 2025, amounting to an astounding 19 percent compound annual growth rate between 2019 and 2025. Over the past five years alone, the HVAC industry has seen revenues rise considerably, which some observers suggest has been a direct result of smart features’ being incorporated into the latest generation of products.
A Pressing Need to Improve Indoor Air Quality
By helping to eliminate excessive condensation, mold growth, and autonomously regulating indoor temperatures, smart HVAC systems can offer consumers improved control over their homes. To perform these functions effectively, ventilators must strategically regulate the intake of outdoor air. Without access to hyper-local air quality data, smart HVAC systems run the risk of bringing polluted air into customers’ homes and falling behind the trend pretty quickly.
Unfortunately, many HVAC companies have yet to take the necessary steps to address the risks associated with poor indoor air quality. In fact, some industry experts argue that indoor concentrations of certain pollutants have actually increased in recent decades due to the rising adoption of smart ventilators that, on the whole, fail to ensure safe air exchange.
Unless these concerns about indoor pollution are addressed, experts predict that by 2050, there could be an 80 percent increase in asthma cases in the U.K. as a result of consumers breathing unhealthy air indoors.
The Growing Need for Reliable Air Quality Intelligence
To address the issues associated with poor indoor air quality, ventilation systems must have access to reliable local air quality data. Unfortunately, not all air quality data is created equally.
Most free sources of air quality data are not fit for purpose when it comes to ventilation systems. This is because free sources don’t provide real-time or hyper-local air quality information — as air quality varies block-to-block, and changes dynamically, HVAC companies need more robust and dynamic data than these options can provide — one that delivers both in-the-moment and predictive insight.
By providing smart controllers with this data, HVAC companies can enable their products to make better decisions, like knowing when to run pre-ventilation before a forecasted pollution spike, or powering down a filtration system when outdoor air is clean.
Why Fast-Moving HVAC Brands Will Leapfrog the Competition
Driving innovation can be a challenge, but if a brand is truly hoping to differentiate yourself from the competition and offer customers truly healthy living spaces, they will need to create products and services that are smarter, more connected, and more personalized than ever before. That’s how companies like Blueair and Johnson Controls are making major strides in the industry — by offering products that understand users’ needs and deliver personalized experiences.
All signs indicate that air quality data is the next frontier when it comes to products for the smart home — early adopters like Dyson have already seen great success here.
By leveraging accurate and hyperlocal air quality data, HVAC companies can personalize their products and deliver smart controllers that put this data to use in the most impactful way, and when it’s most relevant.
Originally published at https://blog.breezometer.com on August 14, 2019.
