AirBird® makes indoor air quality tangible by design
Better air is ‘one chirp’ away with indoor climate sensor AirBird®, thanks to a collaboration between VELUX Group, Leapcraft and 3XN/GXN.
Remembering to ‘clear the air’ has never been easier when AirBird® is in a room with you. This clever indoor climate sensor gives a shape and sound to something invisible and yet so important for our health and well-being,
AirBird® gives indoor air quality a shape and makes it tangible and actionable. It measures CO2, temperature and humidity every few minutes and uses this real-time data to prompt action, when needed, to improve air quality and thereby the health and well-being of people in indoor environments.
Inspired by canaries in coal mines
The functionality and design of AirBird® are inspired by canaries used years ago in coal mines to alert miners of toxic gas leaks. With AirBird®, when carbon dioxide levels are too high, an algorithm activates the sound of a bird chirping and a small light flashing. This indicates that it is time to react to poor air quality by opening windows, activating other forms of ventilation, or moving to another indoor space.
Benefits of indoor air monitoring
Today we spend up to 90 percent of our time indoors, so monitoring indoor air and taking steps to improve it is important for our health and well-being. Research shows that controlling pollutant concentrations indoors can improve the performance of office workers, make learning and teaching easier for students and teachers, respectively, improve sleep and decrease the risk of asthma and allergies.
Elegant design and easy to use
The shape of AirBird® is inspired by an elegant Japanese origami bird. It is easy to operate, requiring no WiFi set-up, is battery-powered and ready-to-use out of the box. Read more about AirBird® and how to order it on www.getairbird.com.
Tested in school environment
AirBird® has been throughly tested for more than one year in a Danish public school in Kokkedal, north of Copenhagen. VELUX Group and Leapcraft have been working with the local Municipality of Fredensborg to monitor the school’s indoor conditions ahead of a municipal renovation project to create the best learning environments in Denmark. See more about the monitoring results in this report.
AirBird® a joint effort to nudge behavioural change
AirBird® combines design skills from GXN (part of 3XN), sensor and hardware expertise from Leapcraft, plus healthy indoor environment knowledge from VELUX Group. Together, they ideated, co-created, developed, tested and started production of the sensor. The aim was to make clean air more accessible by helping people to easily understand its importance and to nudge behavioural change.
Read more about 3XN.
Read more about Leapcraft.
About the VELUX Group
For more than 80 years, the VELUX Group has created better living environments for people around the world; making the most of daylight and fresh air through the roof. Our product programme includes roof windows and modular skylights, decorative blinds, sun screening products and roller shutters, as well as installation and smart home solutions. These products help to ensure a healthy and sustainable indoor climate, for work and learning, for play and pleasure. We work globally – with sales and manufacturing operations in more than 36 countries and around 11,000 employees worldwide. The VELUX Group is owned by VKR Holding A/S, a limited company wholly owned by non-profit, charitable foundations (THE VELUX FOUNDATIONS) and family. In 2022, the VELUX Group had total revenue of EUR 2.99 billion, VKR Holding had total revenue of EUR 4.29 billion, and THE VELUX FOUNDATIONS donated EUR 181 million in charitable grants.
For more information about VELUX Group, visit velux.com.