Application of PM <sub>2.5</sub> low-cost sensors for indoor air quality compliance monitoring
Lídia Morawska, Christof Asbach, Hamesh Patel
Abstract
The importance of indoor air has come into the spotlight in recent years with attempts being made to address the challenges surrounding indoor air quality (IAQ). In order to legislate IAQ, compliance monitoring guidelines and frameworks are needed to support regulation. Current compliance monitors are expensive and complex, and it is not feasible to install them in every indoor space; however, the emergence of PM2.5 low-cost sensors (LCS) provide an avenue for IAQ compliance monitoring. As PM2.5 LCS’ mature, there has been a significant development into our understanding of these sensing technologies which has enabled us to improve their data. However, a significant proportion of this learning is within an ambient setting, not indoors. Therefore, in this paper, we provide a framework to use PM2.5 LCS for compliance monitoring of indoor air. An indoor reference sensor must be allocated as a ground truth for the neural network and this sensor must be taken to a monitoring station to be collocated with reference instrumentation or reference instrumentation taken to the sensor at regular intervals. A database of correction factors should be established and shared with the wider community. It is apparent that the use of PM2.5 LCS is a realistic way forward for compliance monitoring of IAQ. The framework outlined in this paper, provides a starting point to gather high-quality data for effective IAQ compliance in the future. With improved active management of indoor air, environments will become safer and healthier for all.