Sustainability and innovation: the project with Riyad King Khalid International Airport for the monitoring of indoor air quality has officially started

Indoor air quality (IAQ) management in public spaces is becoming increasingly important. Busy environments, such as airport terminals, are currently considered as “hot spots” and IAQ is a crucial element for the protection of passengers and staff, as well as a key aspect of the passenger experience at the airport.

Together with Hoshan Aviation and Defense, an important Saudi company specializing in the field of aviation and defense systems and our partner in this project, we have developed an indoor monitoring system for Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport which, thanks to a widespread network of IoT-Lora sensors, allows you to know in real time the level of CO, CO2, H2S, noise, O2 temperature, humidity, PM 2.5 and PM10 and other pollutants in the air of terminals 2, 3, 4, 5 , private 1 and 2.

The choice of LoRa technology, one of the most important wireless telecommunications networks currently used all over the world, is due to the need to guarantee an intelligent, safe, easy to install and low maintenance system and above all, with a view to greater sustainability which ensures low energy consumption.

The IoT sensors are manufactured by us: starting from the specific requests of the customer, we have studied, designed and assembled hundreds of sensors, identifying the best performing electronic components, the best materials and creating casings with specific characteristics and equipment; the sensors will be mounted inside the airport environment and will allow constant and precise monitoring of a wide range of factors.

The data will then be transferred to the specially developed software, which will allow for analysis and real-time visualization on a 2D or 3D map of the terminals.

The specific modules for the analysis allow the transformation of data into statistics, graphs and reports that can be exported in various formats for specific uses. Finally, an email alert system allows for prompt action when certain thresholds are reached that are considered dangerous for the health of passengers and airport operators.

In the airport sector, the international direction is now to encourage and accelerate green investments and innovation to ensure the full reconciliation of air transport with the environment and safeguard the competitiveness of the sector, which is decisive for the development of each country.

Reducing any negative environmental impacts is certainly crucial for airport management, but equally important is ensuring that airports are healthy and comfortable places to live and work. The quality of the indoor environment, including thermal, lighting, acoustic and indoor air quality, is of great importance for the well-being of travelers and airport workers, therefore, the progressive evolution towards sustainable and low-emission airport terminals carbon cannot be successfully implemented without addressing these issues.