Advancing Sustainability Research at the University of Arizona
Partner: University of Arizona
Location: Tucson, AZ
Scope: AQ data analyzed over a 4-month period, research ongoing since March 2023.
In partnership with the University of Arizona and Nanyang Technological University, Airvoice supported a research initiative to explore CO2-based room occupancy detection using physics-informed machine learning and real-time air quality data. Up-to-date information about room occupancy is essential for optimizing smart HVAC system operation and implementing demand-controlled ventilation.
Objectives
Design a research platform to explore innovative methods of indoor AQ monitoring and management.
Collect datasets on the relationships between air quality and room occupancy for further research.
Develop physics-based models for generating realistic synthetic data for training advanced machine learning models.
Solution
Developed physics-informed machine learning models to determine room occupancy status with high accuracy based on CO₂ level dynamics.
Results
Collected a unique labeled dataset on indoor air quality and its relationship to room occupancy status.
Demonstrated that an algorithm based on Auto-Regressive Hidden Markov Models achieved significant improvement in accuracy compared to traditional algorithms on both synthetic and real-world data.
Research results have been compiled into a scientific paper titled "Physics-Informed Building Occupancy Detection" and are being prepared for publication.*
*Update: Results published in the Proceedings of the American Control Conference and are available on IEEE Xplore.
Related Products
Airvoice.Indoor — a real-time indoor air quality monitoring and management platform for improved safety, health, and productivity. With the platform, property owners, businesses, and facility managers can effectively manage ventilation and air filtration systems to ensure safe and healthy indoor environments. It provides clear visualization and analytics of air parameters on a website, app, or public displays that can be shared with tenants, employees, and investors to drive value.
Airvoice Indoor Air Quality Monitor — a compact, real-time device for tracking indoor air safety, health, and comfort. It leverages proven technology to ensure comprehensive monitoring of indoor air quality parameters such as CO2, PM2.5, TVOCs, NOx, temperature, and humidity. The monitor incorporates industry-leading high-quality sensors, each rigorously calibrated for accuracy.
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