Cleaner Air Makes Smart Factories Healthier, More Sustainable and Less Expensive

Thursday, February 2, 2023

Source | The Frontier Hub

Although many people imagine that enclosed spaces such as offices would offer enhanced protection from outdoor pollution, indoor air can be contaminated by many harmful substances. This rings especially true for workers in the industrial sector, where factory floors can be home to any number of air-quality pollutants due to the nature of the machinery or operations within. Enter Smart Factories.

Personal health is increasingly important among workers post-pandemic, meaning manufacturing enterprises must start to prioritize their indoor air quality (IAQ). This process of creating a healthier, more sustainable work environment within the industrial sector starts with technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI).

AI can be used for monitoring and analyzing massive amounts of data with minimal effort, giving industrial enterprises real-time information about their IAQ. Furthermore, ventilation systems coupled with AI can determine the optimal airflow for maintaining a suitable environment of the building, as well as keeping track of the number of occupants and the air pollutants concentration.

The AI in manufacturing market size reached USD 2.3 billion by the end of 2022, according to Markets and Markets, and is expected to grow at a whopping CAGR of 47.9 percent, bringing the estimated market value to USD 16.3 billion by 2027. The rapid growth is thanks to AI’s ability to optimize machine functions in Smart Factories, as well as the supply chain process. However, the numbers may be subject to change, as the industrial sector begins to realize the benefits AI can have for their workspace IAQ, and their employee’s long-term health

Recently, Veea, a company specialized in integrated smart edge connectivity, computing and security technologies for edge and cloud, and WYND, provider of comprehensive indoor air monitoring, environmental analytics, and air purification solutions, have deployed an AI-powered edge solution combining VeeaHubs, mesh networking, and distributed multi-location monitoring and control applications with WYND Halo IAQ Monitor and WYND Max medical grade air purifiers. 

The partnership creates an award-winning duo, as Veea recently announced it received the IoT Product Excellence Award from TMC and Crossfire Media for the range of VeeaHubs, while WYND recently announced it received the 2023 Innovation Award from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) organization for their AI-powered air quality products. 

The solution has already been installed in several U.S. locations operated by Lincoln Property Company, a global, full-service real estate firm and Top 10 manager and developer of office, industrial, retail, and mixed-use properties.

“Keeping the indoor air environment healthy is the most important lever to reducing disease spread, but air is invisible so it’s hard to tell whether the environment is good or bad as well as how to improve,” said Ray Wu, CEO, WYND. “WYND’s Halo air monitoring solution along with cloud analytics (airIQ) enables comprehensive and proactive management of spaces for healthy and productive employees and guests. There is also a need to balance bringing healthy air with not wasting energy from systems like the HVAC when it’s not needed.”

WYND Technologies, Inc. supports the solution with their advanced clean air measurement and remediation technologies and devices. The Veea Edge Platform provides the local edge mesh network, which collects the data from the WYND Halo indoor air quality monitors, and performs the local processing for interpreting, managing, reporting, and presenting the information collected. The Veea Edge Platform also provides a wireless 4G WAN uplink to the cloud for remote reporting, alerts and notifications, and archiving.

Multiple locations can be connected to the Veea Cloud for highly efficient remote monitoring, management, alerting, data collection, and analytics with a unique distributed solution that can be implemented in a matter of days in an economically efficient manner. 

“Our strategic partnership with Veea enables the modern, smart building to automate air operations and enable healthier spaces while saving energy at the same time. Veea’s enables the insights from WYND’s Indoor Air Quality monitors to transform into HVAC and other device controls to remediate detected issues automatically,” continued Wu.

Veea tapped WYND based on the quality and performance of their equipment and embedded, AI-enriched software and connected multiple air monitoring and purification devices using VeeaHubs and vMesh edge networking software, and Veea Control Center to provide a fully automated and always-on air quality monitoring and purification system for Smart Factories. 

“Following the pandemic, air quality became an immediate and pressing priority for property owners and property management companies,” said Mark Tubinis, Chief Commercial Officer, Veea. “Together with WYND, and in concert with property owners and management companies, we have developed and perfected a full-stack solution unlike any other in the market today. The WYND-driven air quality solution is one of a range of smart building applications that run on Veea’s in-building digital infrastructure, which leverages edge computing for real time automation and instant alerting based on specific criterion.”

The solution is part of a broader set of Veea’s Environmental, Social and Governance as-a-Service (ESGaaS) solution, powered at the edge by VeeaHubs providing a unified solution across multiple edge devices, accessories, and peripherals. This solution leverages the combination of the Niagara building management open framework integrated with the Veea Platform and data analytics capabilities to bring robust, comprehensive, and market-leading solutions to market. These solutions provide direct, secure, and scalable control of building environments and associated operational costs.

“Whether conserving energy through smart lighting, detecting water leaks before they cause major damage, supporting safer spaces through connected and remotely controlled key systems, remediating germs, pollen, smog, and harmful pollutants in the air, with our partners Veea is leading the market in smart building technologies,” stated Tubinis. 

Veea and WYND will be demonstrating the solution at the AHR Expo next week, which runs from Monday, February 6 to Thursday, February 8 at the Georgia World Congress Center, in Booth B375. 

The AHR Expo is the essential event for HVACR professionals, attracting the most comprehensive gathering of the industry from around the globe each year. The show provides a unique forum where manufacturers and suppliers of all sizes and specialties come together to share ideas and showcase the future of HVACR technology in Smart Factories.

Contact Tom Williams, VP Global Business Development, Veea, to schedule a demo.