On #CleanAirDay in the UK, Dane Ralston, founder and Managing Director of iOpt welcomes the opportunity to help improve the health of tenants by monitoring the air quality in their homes. Indeed, ensuring the air we breathe is safe, particularly at home, is more important than ever according to a major new study from a University in New Zealand…
As the UK draws breath and considers the very real dangers of air pollution on #CleanAirDay today, researchers at the University of Otago, Wellington (UOW) have proven a connection between damp and mouldy homes and the emergence of asthma attacks in young children, according to a major new study published in the journal Indoor Air.
It has been widely known that damp and mould can make asthma worse for people already living with the condition, but this is one of the first studies to prove mould could be causing asthma to develop.
“The study found the more mould, the more cases of asthma,” according to the study’s lead author Dr Caroline Shorter from the Department of Medicine at UOW.
At iOpt, air quality and subsequent respiratory issues are high up the agenda. “Hearing how mould and damp can affect a child’s health so significantly is shocking, but it is not uncommon to hear of people living with damp and mould in their properties,” Dane Ralston, founder and managing director, said.
“With changes in building regulations coming into force over the next couple of years, all properties will eventually have to have CO2 sensors in bedrooms. The implementation of regulations like this will go some way to improving the health of tenants in the UK, but there is still a long way to go and we want to continue making a difference to the people affected through enabling asset managers to have more visibility of the condition of their properties.”
“What is key for property owners with the iOpt product is how we can provide an early warning of potential issues,” said Dane. “Tackle issues like damp and mould as early as possible and you can, most importantly, improve your tenants’ quality of life as well as the value of your asset.”
The mission of the #CleanAirDay campaign is for people to share information with friends, family and colleagues with the aim of helping to make the air cleaner and healthier for everyone. Dane added: “Since iOpt specialises in technology enabling the internal environment of assets to be monitored remotely, we want to, on #CleanAirDay, make people really think about the air they breathe.
“When we think of air pollution, many people’s first thought tends to go towards car and those fuel emissions, which are obviously a major environmental issue. Far less consider the toxins they may be exposed to within the home. iOpt’s bespoke algorithms and machine learning techniques allow us to predict when and where issues such as mould growth will arise, allowing preventative intervention before health issues can escalate as well as potential repair costs.
“As we shine a light on the air we breathe through #CleanAirDay and UOW’s new study, owners and managers of large rental property portfolios are key to ensuring the air their tenants’ breath is healthy and safe.
“We are particularly proud of the fact that our technology means asset managers need fewer physical trips to check properties and therefore less CO2 is emitted. We are leading the fight for climate change head on!”
For more information on iOpt please log onto www.ioptassets.com.