WO2019130255A1

WO2019130255A1 - Multi-sensor device for monitoring environment and system comprising the device

Info

Publication number: WO2019130255A1
Application number: PCT/IB2018/060681
Authority: WO
Inventors: Leopoldo BUSA
Original assignee: Tecnova Group S.R.L.
Priority date: 2017-12-29
Filing date: 2018-12-28
Publication date: 2019-07-04

Abstract

A multi- sensor device for monitoring environments comprises a box (2) adapted to be fixed inside an environment to be monitored, a plurality of environmental sensors (3) housed in said box (2) to detect respective environmental parameters in said environment, means (4) for audible and/or visible signaling to signal the level of said environmental parameters detected by said sensors (3), wherein the environmental sensors (3) are selected from the group comprising the sensors for VOC, for particulate, C02, temperature and humidity.

Description

MULTISENSOR DEVICE FOR MONITORING ENVIRONMENTS AND SYSTEM COMPRISING THE DEVICE

Description

Technical Field

The present invention finds application in the technical sector of buildings and has particularly for object a multisensor device for monitoring environments inside buildings, in particular of the type having high healthiness and high environmental compatibility. The invention also relates to a system for managing buildings with high health and high environmental compatibility.

State of the art

As known, in the building sector, both public and private, there is a growing focus on environmental issues and, in particular, on solutions that are as environmentally friendly as possible and that make housing and premises in general healthier and more efficient from an energy point of view.

Moreover, it has now been demonstrated that the presence of chemical substances deriving from human synthesis in everyday life environments is closely connected to the increase in allergies, intolerances and chemical sensitivities.

It is also recognized that the quality of the air inside the buildings is influenced by multiple polluting factors, both internal and external, determined, as well as by the normal metabolic activities of plants and animals, by the introduction of new products into the atmosphere and increase of all combustion processes, even natural.

The increase in indoor pollution recorded compared to previous periods is mainly due to the significant increase in airborne chemical concentration in environments.

The vast majority of substances that threaten the healthiness of a room belongs to the consistent category of volatile organic compounds (VOC), i.e, molecules very differentiated by degree of harmfulness and organoleptic impact that, easily evaporable from the surfaces of the building envelope or furnishings thereinside, are dispersed in the air at room temperature.

VOCs can derive from anthropogenic chemical synthesis (aldehydes, phthalates, acids, etc.) or have biogenic origin (especially terpenes). Such chemical vapors, released and accumulated within an environment, can be toxic or irritating.

Up to now, more than 900 different VOCs have been identified and in a confined domestic environment it can be detected from 50 to around 300, with an environmental impact that can occur in different forms and not only affect the air, but also drinking water and, through dust deposits, food, furniture and furnishings.

Many of these compounds are emitted and diffused in places confined by the building materials used during construction (insulating, waterproofing, wall paints, varnishes and impregnation).

Other compounds are contained in furniture and cleaning products, such as perfumes and detergents.

The structural features and aggregation complexity of the VOCs allows these substances to be assimilated by the human body both by cutaneous absorption and by ingestion or inhalation.

In fact, these compounds can interfere with human synthesis, secretion, reception and metabolism processes until they cause various serious and degenerative multisystem diseases over time.

However, with the introduction in building sector of new insulating materials and the improvement of building systems, the concrete possibility of designing and constructing highly efficient buildings characterized by low air permeability has been strengthened in recent years.

In this way the concentrations of chemical substances inside the built-in enclosures risk reaching considerably higher levels compared to the outside (up to 5 times as much).

Furthermore, the wholesomeness of the materials is usually assessed individually, while the possibility that the use of different materials can lead to an overall value for the polluting substances above the threshold values imposed by the regulations is not considered.

Last but not least, the common design methodologies in the building sector do not aim at an integrated design of the buildings, i.e. the entire building process is not involved from its design phase, nor is it implemented to implement solutions that allow environmental healthiness to be preserved over time, or that provide for the continuous monitoring of the building in order to guarantee over time the starting features of healthiness and environmental compatibility.

Systems are not even provided that allow to maintain at fully operational the conditions of healthiness or in any case to maintain optimal environmental conditions, constantly monitoring all the most important environmental parameters, such as temperature, humidity, VOC, fine dust, C02.

Scope of the invention

The object of the present invention is to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks by providing a multisensor device for monitoring environments that is characterized by considerable efficiency and relative cost-effectiveness.

A particular purpose is to realize a multisensor device for monitoring environments that allows to monitor all the main indicators of air health in an environment, immediately detecting any overruns of threshold values.

Another object is to provide a multisensor device for monitoring environments that can be integrated into a system for the design and construction of high-quality buildings, assisting the user of the environments in preserving the initial state of healthiness of the building environment.

Another object is to provide a multisensor device for monitoring environments that can communicate with the most common environmental conditioning equipment, such as CMV ( Controlled Mechanical Ventilation) and AHU ( Air Handler Unit), to allow the maintenance of healthy conditions in the environment.

These objects, as well as others that will become clearer hereinafter, are achieved by a multisensor device for environmental monitoring according with claim 1, to which reference should be made for more concise exposure.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are obtained according to the dependent claims.

Brief disclosure of the drawings

Further features and advantages of the invention will become clearer in the light of the detailed description of a preferred but not exclusive configuration of a device according to the present invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example with the aid of the drawing table, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematical view of the device.

Best mode of carrying out the invention

With reference to Fig. 1, a device according to the invention is shown schematically, indicated globally by 1, which will essentially be a data logger having a box-like casing 2 adapted to be fixed inside an environment to be monitored, preferably inside a special compartment made inside a wall suitably selected according to the features of the environment, and a plurality of environmental sensors, generally indicated with 3, housed inside the box 2 to detect respective environmental parameters in the monitored environment.

The sensors 3 are associated with sound and/or visual signalling means 4 adapted to signal the level of the detected environmental parameters.

The environmental sensors 3 are selected from the group comprising the sensors for VOC, for fine dust, C02, temperature, humidity and in particular one of these sensors is a sensor adapted to detect the overall content of VOC in the monitored environment. The signalling means 4 comprise one or more light emitters 5 associated with the sensors 3 and suitable for signalling the level of pollutants from time to time indicated by the sensors 3.

The emitters 5 are adapted to pass between at least two, preferably three, different states as a function of corresponding levels detected for the environmental parameters by the corresponding sensor 3.

In an exemplary manner, the signalling means 4 will comprise a display 6, for example of the backlit LCD type in RGB, which may change the color of the light emitted according to the level detected for each of the parameters.

For example, the display 6 may have three different colors to indicate three levels of the relative parameter (normal, critical, over threshold) so as to give immediate feedback to the user present in the monitored environment regarding the overall quality of the air, allowing to intervene only to change the parameters out of limits.

According to an alternative variant, the display 6 may be divided into several zones, each associated with a respective light emitter 5 and one of the sensors 3, to provide feedback on the level of the respective parameter.

The device 1 may also comprise a thermostat 7 for temperature regulation.

The device 1 is connected or may be connected to a domotic system of data acquisition and processing with an "RS-232" type port and, through a LAN connection and a router, it may download all the parameters inside a dedicated Webserver.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the device 1 may be integrated into a system for monitoring environments comprising one or more devices connected to the multisensor device and suitable for being installed in the environment to intervene on the environmental parameters measured subsequently upon detection of a value greater than a predetermined threshold value for each parameter.

In particular, the equipment may be plants for controlled mechanical ventilation (CMV) or air handling units (AHU) and similar, such as humidifiers/dehumidifiers and cold plasma sanitizing devices.

Such equipment may be selected from those commonly found on the market and therefore will not be described or illustrated in greater detail.

Their connection to the sensors 3 of the device 1 may be achieved either by direct wiring or wirelessly.

For example, the device 1 may be suitably wired so that it can communicate at plant level with the local thermo-valves relative to the heating system, with the CMV system and with the planned and/or possible AHUs.

The device 1 may be used in a protocol for the design and construction of buildings with high health and environmental compatibility, which includes first a step a) of definition of a database containing the materials adapted to be used for the construction of a building to which the pollutants to be monitored and that these materials will potentially emit once in place will be associated (step b).

The protocol will then provide that each of these substances is associated (step c) with a threshold value below which it will be possible to consider the monitored environment as being healthy, at least for that specific substance.

The threshold values may can be parameterised by evaluating in part the synergistic effects of the substances on the human organism.

In particular, the polluting substances will be selected in the group comprising the volatile organic compounds (VOC), the fine powders, the C02. Together with these substances it will also be possible to monitor temperature and/or humidity.

At this point, a plurality of materials suitable for the construction of the building is selected (step d).

In this planning step all the materials that may be used in the construction will be examined and checked according to the respective emission quality certifications.

If non-certified products are presented, they will be examined in advance through official laboratories to include them in the building process if they are considered suitable. Each material used in the construction must respond to precise emissivity performance requirements based on the synthesis of the most authoritative and most updated regulations/certifications from the medical-scientific and toxicological point of view.

By way of example and without limitation, the threshold values may be defined on the basis of the following certifications and regulations:

CLP“Classification, Labelling and Packaging”

REACH“Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals” EC Directive 42/2004

EC Decision 544/2009

EU Decision 312/2014

GPP“Green Public Procurement” (Communication 302/2003)

Decret n° 2011-321 (France)

Trademark“FT” (Germany)

Project 568/2012 (Belgium)

GEV emicode (Germany)

RTS-M1 (Finland)

D.M. 10/10/2008 (Italy)

D.M. 11/04/2008 (Italy)

The protocol also refers to a series of influential protocols and non-binding certification marks developed by private bodies and/or specific institutes such as IBR (Institut firr Baubiologie Rosenheim), "Der Blaue Angel", IBO (Institut firr Bauen und Okologie) and "Nature Plus".

Preferably, if the different regulations and/or certifications should provide different threshold values for the same substance, the lowest value will be considered and therefore adapted to guarantee greater wholesomeness.

If, on the other hand, these certifications should continue in using limits outmoded by the international scientific community, the same limits would be promptly updated by the method under examination.

After selecting the materials considered suitable, we will proceed (step e) to the prediction of a theoretical measure of the total pollution level generated by each of the selected materials, as well as their sum, so as to have a future exhibition scenario for each polluting substance.

Appropriately, this prediction step e) will be carried out by means of a dedicated software application.

Should this theoretical measure be higher than the respective threshold value, the material will be reformulated already during the planning step and/or the project ventilation rates will be redefined.

Once the selected materials will be adapted to guarantee the defined quality standards already in the planning step, it will be possible to proceed with the construction work. To ensure that during the operational step there are no elements that could affect environmental healthiness, the method will provide a management and cleaning protocol for the construction site that provides for the adoption of a series of prohibitions and regulations aimed at maintaining the quality standards required by the project.

By way of example, it will be possible to adopt regulations for the behavior of workers on site, such as the ban on smoking, the prohibition of the start of any fossil combustion process suitable for the disposal of waste or the preparation of work, prohibition for staff, after the laying of internal plasters, of using perfumes or detergents inside the sealed casing.

At the same time, it will be possible to adopt rules for the preservation and storage of materials on site, such as the prohibition of storage of construction material in damp or unprotected areas, the obligation to store waste materials on site in suitable sealed bags, if not otherwise prescribed, a ban on the construction of waste materials for a period longer than 48 hours.

Also for work on site, there may be one or more prescriptions such as the ban on the use of rotating mechanical tools, such as cutters, coring machines, saws, circular saws, in closed environments and without the aid of suitable suction systems, prohibition use of polyurethane or silicone sealing foams not expressly authorized, prohibition of the use of silicone sealants in the laying of the elements of tinsmithing that must be fixed and joined with rivets and welds, prohibition of the use of spray paint, sprayer, the use of nebulizers of water during cutting, demolition, burglary or milling of building materials, prohibition of the use in the internal environment of bituminous elastoplastomeric waterproofing membranes to be spread with a flame process. Furthermore, there may be one or more requirements on the control and management of the building site, as an obligation for any company or worker employed on site to previously report the features of their activity and the purpose of its presence during construction, obligation, after the step of drafting of the internal plasters, sealing the built volume (even with temporary sheets) and keeping it lightly over-pressure for the entire duration of the construction site.

Further, criteria for acceptance of materials at the construction site can be established: for example, it may be envisaged that for the wooden building material there will be a single impregnation treatment in the plant, carried out under vacuum in an autoclave, with the prohibition of any painting on site or further conservation or protection treatments and the prohibition, for the composition of internal colors, the use of acrylic, vinyl resins, biocides and / or the use of toxic substances in general.

During construction it will be possible to proceed (step f) to one or more intermediate effective measurements of the pollutants emitted by the selected materials, so as to intervene with corrective actions and eventually carry out (step g) a new selection of one or more materials in the event that at least one of the measured values for the pollutants emitted is higher than the respective threshold value.

The measurements in question can be carried out with various methodologies regulated by UNI protocols and assisted by the analysis of the compounds in official and accredited laboratories.

This step is repeated until a combination of materials suitable for emitting pollutants having values lower than the respective threshold values, so as to proceed with the completion of the building (step h).

The completed site will proceed to step i) of effective measurement of the final value of the polluting substances emitted by the selected materials, in order to achieve a classification and certification of the building.

Suitably, we will proceed with a direct analysis of the air quality with standard methods (UNI-EN 14412) carried out by means of a radial symmetry diffusive sampler equipped with an adsorbent phial for thermal desorption, installed in the building to be monitored for a limited period of time, for example a week.

During the building management step, the protocol may provide that the main markers related to the possible pollutants measured at the end of the building process are continuously monitored through the multi-sensor data-logger, capable of detecting pollutant parameters in real time, temperature, humidity and return in real time a total parameter of indoor air quality that can be consulted from the web platform.

Optionally, a step could provide for of one or more air treatment units and/or forced mechanical ventilation, in communication with the data-logger 1 to be activated following the detection of one or more values beyond threshold for environmental parameters such as pollutants, temperature and/or humidity, so as to act on these parameters and reduce the value to a level below the respective threshold value.

The protocol may also provide for a step of dynamic review of the threshold values for polluting substances, so as to ensure that the health values of buildings are always related to the most technologically advanced solutions.

In particular, this dynamic revision step may provide that the threshold values are updated to the average of the values actually measured for certified buildings, i.e. those in which the pollutants effectively measured at the closure of the building site are all below the respective threshold values.

The protocol will also include a classification step of the buildings on the basis of the respective measured values, said classification step providing for the definition of a plurality of different classes on the basis of corresponding predefined percentiles.

By way of example, the 5th percentile may correspond to the highest classification level (for example class A +), for buildings potentially suitable also for allergic subjects and/or with asthmatic symptoms; the 20th percentile may correspond to a second classification level (for example class A), the 40th percentile to a third level (for example class B) while above the 40th percentile a fourth classification level will be assigned (for example class C), for buildings that only comply with the mandatory regulations without offering particular quality standards.

From above it is clear that the device and the system according to the invention achieve the predetermined purposes.

The device and the system according to the invention are susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the inventive concept expressed in the appended claims. All the details may be replaced by other technically equivalent elements, and the materials may be different according to requirements, without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A multi-sensor device for monitoring environments, comprising:

a box (2) adapted to be fixed inside an environment to be monitored;

a plurality of environmental sensors (3) housed in said box (2) to detect respective environmental parameters in said environment;

means (4) for audible and/or visible signaling to signal the level of said environmental parameters detected by said sensors (3);

wherein said environmental sensors (3) are selected from the group comprising the sensors for VOC, for particulate, C0₂, temperature and humidity.

2. Device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that one of said sensors (3) is a sensor suitable to detect the overall content of VOC in the monitored environment.

3. Device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said signaling means (4) comprise one or more light emitters (5) associated with said sensors (3).

4. Device as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that said one or more light emitters (5) are adapted to automatically signal the exceeding of a predetermined threshold value for one or more of said environmental parameters detected by said sensors (3).

5. Device as claimed in claim 3 or 4, characterized in that said one or more emitters (5) are adapted to pass between at least two, preferably three, different states as a function of corresponding levels detected for environmental parameters by the corresponding sensor (3).

6. Device as claimed in any preceding claim, characterized by comprising at least one port for connection to a domotic system for data collection and processing.

7. Device as claimed in any preceding claims, characterized by comprising a thermostat (7) for regulating the temperature.

8. A system for monitoring environments comprising a multi-sensor device (1) according to one or more of the previous claims and one or more equipment connected to said multi-sensor device and suitable for being installed in the environment to intervene on the environmental parameters measured upon the detection of a value exceeding a predetermined threshold value for each parameter.

9. System as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that said equipment are systems for controlled mechanical ventilation, air handling units and the like.