AIR QUALITY CONTROL CASE:
Better life & business decisions with air quality and environmental data
Ideahackers provided hands-on help with experiment design and validation process to help early stage air quality startup achieve problem-solution fit and find the right market for their proposition.
Next to customer development and solution validation we executed branding, visual prototyping and testing B2B and B2C value propositions on the Dutch market.
Result: first paying customers in 2 months
Year: 2019
Problem:
Nitrogen emissions lead to biodiversity loss, human health problems and significantly contribute to climate change.
Critical nitrogen deposition loads have been exceeded in several European countries, threatening an initiative of nature protection Natura 2000, a network of protected areas across all EU states.
Assessment: the nitrogen deposition is tested in Natura 2000 areas with nitrogen-sensitive habitat types or species (according to Raad van State 11 March 2020, ECLI:NL:RVS:2020:731). This appropriate assessment should assure that the new industry activity cannot affect the natural features of a Natura 2000 site.
Validated learnings:
1. Multiple sectors have been affected by the new regulations. The government is looking into ways to measure nitrogen deposition real-time or near real-time.
2. Next to the most urgent problem of climate change, people (families with children, expecting families, chronically ill patients (COPD or similar) pay more attention to air quality when they look for a new house.
3. Construction companies have paused projects to make sure they comply with necessary regulations.
4. People with chronically ill family members and concerns about climate change are more willing to contribute air quality measurements to help collect crowdsourced data.
5. Ecologists and compliance managers benefit from having one overview of Natura 2000 areas and air pollution deposition real-time.
Solution:
Caeli combines data sets from government agencies, crowdsourced data and satellite imagery, to provide the most comprehensive image of environment quality any time.
Measuring data is not enough, that's Caeli takes into account weather conditions, and wind flows to forecast the spread of emissions accurately, tracking key air pollutants including PM2.5, PM10, Ozone, NO2, CO2, & SO2. Next to air quality levels Caeli analyses sources of pollution and proximity to protected Natura 2000 areas, equipping businesses with the necessary tools to check their risks.
Value proposition: Air quality and environmental data for any location within the European Union and beyond.
Business model: API & tailor-made reports
