Thierry Ricci: «Air Coach is both a technological and behavioural revolution!»

A meeting with Thierry Ricci, the founder and managing director of NatéoSanté, whose company has recently launched Air Coach, the first intelligent CO₂ sensor and indoor air quality monitor. The device monitors pollutant levels in real-time (dependent on the version… fine particles PM1, PM2.5, PM10, VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) and formaldehyde) but doesn’t stop there! It alerts you before any deterioration of air quality occurs. It delivers clear instructions to take action and thereby modify users’ behaviour. Internet-connected, it displays collected data in real-time on a display screen. It is suitable for all public access buildings and corporate work environments wanting to guarantee a healthy environment.

What is the current public awareness level of indoor air quality’s impact on health?

There should be no compromise here: in a healthy environment, we breathe an average of 10 to 12 times per minute; this can double if the ambient atmosphere is unhealthy. CO₂ makes you tired, VOCs give you a headache… if the air is heavy, you can quickly feel as though you are suffocating. In companies, for example, poor indoor air quality is not compatible with concentration, creativity or productivity.»

How can we reconcile indoor air quality and energy management?

Thierry Ricci : «IThere is noneed to compromise on indoor air quality. The objective is obviously to avoid the caricatured situation of offices where, admittedly, the CO₂ level is at 600 ppm (editor’s note: for an average threshold value set at 800 ppm), but if it is the middle of winter, the windows are open… and it is cold inside whilst heating the outside.»

If the Air Coach signal light changes from blue (indicating that everything is fine) to orange (alert)… you must intervene: slightly increasing ventilation, opening a window… or even activating purification if necessary. When the indicator turns blue again, Air Coach is indicating that the air has returned to normal: you can reduce ventilation or close the window. Via the messages it provides, on a case-by-case basis (a rise in CO₂, too many VOCs, rising concentration of fine particles, etc.), the device has a true educational dimension. Like a coach, it both advises and educates you in order to improve your understanding and management of indoor air quality.

Everyone is thereby able to regain control of the air they breathe on a daily basis! In this respect, AirCoach is a true revolution in the approach and control of indoor air quality. It incorporates and distils NatéoSanté’s 14 years of experience to make IAQ accessible to everyone, beyond the mere CO₂ level, even without technical or scientific knowledge. The innovation is both technological and behavioural.

By focusing on simplicity and education, is your ambition also to familiarise and instil the need to monitor indoor air quality?

As far as indoor air quality is concerned, the first obstacle to be removed is that of ignorance, in short “What am I going to discover?” Then, immediately thereafter, the inability to deal with the problem. Often, we prefer not to know because we don’t know how to cope with it! With AirCoach, NatéoSanté wants to guide you by the hand so that you can approach indoor air quality in complete peace of mind. The device does not send aggressive messages but positive affirmations to improve things and aspire to excellence.