Balvi Fund partners with ActiveBuildings for air quality improvements in Maharashtra, Karnataka

In a bid to improve indoor air quality in the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka, Vitalik Buterin led Balvi Fund and ActiveBuidings joined forces for the next one year to deploy  5000 Indoor Air Quality monitors measuring carbon dioxide emissions and 10,000 air cleaners to keep indoor air pollution in check and to collect real-world data on indoor air quality.

According to a recent study by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), there are unsatisfactory levels of air pollution in 28 of the 73 sites(locations) that were monitored. The ambient quality of the air at these sites were classified as being in the “very unhealthy or worse” category. The worst sites were found in Mumbai, followed by Thane, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Raigad. These are all industrial regions that produce large quantities of pollution from automobiles, dust generated by the construction industry and factories.

Additionally, the same report suggested that Karnataka had the worst air quality in the whole of the south of India. It stated that polluted air was responsible for 95 deaths out of every 100,000 people. The national average is 90 per 100,000. Over 50 percent of deaths attributable to air pollution are younger than 70 years old.

Talking about the partnership, Abhinav Gupta, CEO at ActiveBuildings said, “We are glad to partner with  Balvi Fund in the movement to create awareness around the fact that clean indoor air is a fundamental requirement. With the help of this partnership, we intend to cover 600,000 sq. meters of indoor spaces, that will be protected with the help of  10,000 units of the Bubble CR boxes* to public spaces like schools, healthcare facilities etc. The idea to tap such areas is to ensure access to clean breathable air to every strata of the community.”

Adding to Abhinav, Vitalik Buterin said, “Covid is primarily an airborne disease, and one of the most powerful ways to fight Covid is to improve indoor air quality and reduce airborne transmission. Air filters are very effective at reducing airborne spread of Covid and other viruses, and work entirely in the background, and CO2 sensors can detect poor air quality and suggest when filtration or ventilation might be required. ActiveBuildings’ ambitious project in India will mass-manufacture and distribute monitors and air filters, paving a path toward making clean indoor air a standard in India much like clean water has become a standard in much of the world today.”

ActiveBuildings through this partnership plans to drive public dialogue in India highlighting the importance of clean indoor air quality as a necessity. They aim to :

• Donate Bubble CR boxes to public spaces (schools, healthcare facilities etc) that cannot afford devices that curb aerosol pollution.

• To cover 600,000 sq. meters of indoor spaces, with 10,000 units of air cleaners that are inspired by the Corsi Rosenthal boxes of international acclaim.

• Provide 5000 units of RESET certified IAQ sensing devices to monitor, track and analyse the impact of Bubble CR boxes in the spaces where it is deployed.

• Open-source the designs of Bubble CR boxes and a simple IAQ monitoring device to provide public access to critical tools that help fight aerosol pollution.