For years, the center of Eindhoven served as a ‘Living Lab’ for research into smart integration of air purification technology in the public environment, within the scope of the Lungs of the City project. The key question being: ‘What is the added value of targeted integration of air purification for the improvement of urban air quality?’. This project was carried out by a consortium consisting of the municipality of Eindhoven, Eindhoven University of Technology, Air Liquide, and ENS Clean Air.
Initially, a scientific study was carried out, in which the potential large scale air quality improvent for the city center of Eindhoven was assessed by implementation of air purification systems in (underground) parking garages . Using airflow simulations, it was shown that the Lungs of the City approach has great potential. Particulate matter concentrations were reduced by 30 to 50% in the direct vicinity of parking garages and even by 10% up to a distance of one kilometer.
To assess the Lungs of the City approach in practice, a large scale experimental study was carried out on the city hall square (Stadhuisplein) in Eindhoven: an air purification setup actively removed particulate matter from the (ventilation) exhaust air of the parking garage below the square, and then released the purified air over the square. Over a period of 6 months, state of the art monitoring equipment provided highly detailed data of particulate matter concentrations and weather conditions at the square and in the surrounding streets.
The project results show that Lungs of the City is a technically feasible strategy that can contribute to significant reductions in particulate matter exposure. The Lungs of the City concept can add to (existing) local clean air policies and provides the tools to be integrated into the urban environment in many ways. Our team of airflow specialist can analyze the effect of the Lungs of the City-approach for your city.
1
If necessary, locating hotspot locations, searching for suitable integration options within the urban environment and coordinating the required (or desired) treatment capacity.
2
Identify building volumes, terrain characteristics and height variations. Defining local particulate matter sources, ventilation characteristics of buildings and most common wind conditions. Align most suitable method of effect determination.
3
Analysis of the distribution of untreated and treated air to the surrounding area (at the desired level of detail) for the most relevant boundary conditions, in order to indicate the bandwidth of particulate matter reduction.
4
If possible, determine the potential health gain using calibrated calculation methods and/or scientific literature.