New Delhi, 8th Jan 2018: While the conventional narrative on air pollution and ventilation has always been about particulate matter (PM 2.5) and carbon dioxide, VentConf 2018, held today at the India Habitat Centre (IHC), New Delhi, saw the city-based start-up Bonphul introduce a completely new perspective on air quality: oxygen-levels in indoor air.
Mountain air—or, more correctly, fresh air–has 21% oxygen (78% nitrogen, 1% other gases). However, the oxygen-level in Indian cities has fallen to about 18%; inside homes and offices even less, depending on the kind of ventilation one has. The decrease in oxygen-level causes all kinds of physiological problems: loss of vitality and concentration at lower-levels, and brain- or heart-stroke at higher-levels.
Bonphul maintains that this is a catastrophe that was bound to happen. Trees produce oxygen, and cities are increasingly becoming bereft of green cover. And modern lifestyles, which result in higher per-capita car ownership, burn up ten thousand litres of air with every litre of petrol or diesel (21% of that air is supposed to be oxygen).
While it is the government’s job to address larger environmental and developmental issues, Bonphul has come up with a product—an oxygen optimizer—that addresses the problem of indoor oxygen-levels. Branded, OxyMax, the oxygen optimizer harvests oxygen from outside air and pumps it inside, such that 21% indoor oxygen level is maintained at all times. Bonphul claims that this gives a building-occupant the Mountain Fresh feeling even while living in the most polluted of cities. This is significant because 90% of working people spend 90% of their life indoors: at home or at office.
The 7th Edition of VentConf (Ventilation for Health and Life) was organised by Indian Society of Heating Refrigerating & Air Conditioning Engineers (ISHARE).
Unveiling its range of products at VentConf, Narendra Bisht, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Bonphul said: “We hope to enlarge the narrative on indoor air quality beyond the very limited scope of particulate matter. While the problem of particulate matter—PM 1.0 or 2.5 or 10.0—is certainly important, what is equally important, if not more, is having the optimal oxygen levels in indoor air.