Which floor to choose to breathe clean air?

As#nbsp;can be#nbsp;seen from the graph, stations on#nbsp;floors 10, 11 and 12 recorded lower concentrations of#nbsp;fine dust particles compared to#nbsp;those located on#nbsp;floors 1−9. Observations have shown that the difference in#nbsp;air quality between the lower and upper floors is#nbsp;stronger in#nbsp;the episodes of#nbsp;pollution during frosty calm weather, when a#nbsp;stable stratification occurs in#nbsp;the surface layer of#nbsp;the atmosphere. If#nbsp;the pollution is#nbsp;well dispersed, the air quality on#nbsp;different floors differs only slightly.

So, is#nbsp;it#nbsp;right that the air is#nbsp;cleaner at#nbsp;the level of#nbsp;upper floors? Alas, there is#nbsp;no#nbsp;universal answer.

The fact is#nbsp;that the air quality outside the window of#nbsp;a#nbsp;particular apartment is#nbsp;highly dependent on#nbsp;the characteristics of#nbsp;air flows in#nbsp;the city canyon. In#nbsp;addition, every city is#nbsp;different. For example, in#nbsp;our practice, we#nbsp;observe large cities that were formed around factories. In#nbsp;such cities, the ambient air on#nbsp;the level of#nbsp;lower floors can even be#nbsp;cleaner than on#nbsp;the upper ones, since the key sources of#nbsp;pollution are emissions from industrial pipes.

By#nbsp;the way, air quality data is#nbsp;already taken into account during real estate valuation in#nbsp;large cities.

The scale of#nbsp;the future impact of#nbsp;reliable high-resolution temporal and spatial air quality data is#nbsp;estimated at#nbsp;10% of#nbsp;the entire real estate value in#nbsp;the city. In#nbsp;particular, this conclusion follows from a#nbsp;study conducted in#nbsp;Chinese cities that already have fairly dense monitoring networks and open data on#nbsp;air quality.