U.S. EPA Installs Air Monitoring Park Benches in 5 Cities

Throughout 2015, U.S. EPA will be installing solar-powered air quality monitoring systems that are integrated with park benches.  This air quality monitoring/park bench system will monitor air quality in real time in five (5) cities across the United States.  The project, called the Village Green Project, began with a pilot station in Durham, North Carolina installed in June 2013.  The integrated benches monitor temperature, wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity, ozone, and particulate matter less than 25 microns (fine particulate matter or PM_2.5).  The benches are made out of recycled materials and the monitoring system is powered using solar energy (some will be powered with wind energy, too), and transmit the monitored data wirelessly and in near real time.

The stations have already been installed in three (3) cities so far this year, and installation in the other two (2) should be complete by the end of the summer.  The cities include:

• Philadelphia, PA;
• Washington DC;
• Kansas City, KS;
• Oklahoma City, OK (summer 2015); and
• Hartford, CT (summer 2015).

The minute-by-minute data for each site can be viewed in near real time on the air now Village Green website.  The website also includes line graphs and tables displaying the minute, hourly, and daily averages of ozone, PM_2.5, temperature, humidity, and wind speed.

The purpose of the Village Green Project is to provide the public with information about local air quality and to raise awareness of air pollution.  US EPA cautions that these air quality measurements of ozone and PM_2.5 cannot be directly compared to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).  The instruments are of low cost, and the data will be used for research, like understanding how air pollution trends change with time and weather.

Read US EPA’s press release for more information, or visit the Village Green Project site to see the current weather and air quality monitoring at the active sites.  Since the Philadelphia monitoring site is local to ALL4’s corporate headquarters, and the Washington DC monitoring site (located in the National Zoo) is just a short drive away from ALL4’s new Washington DC office, you can be sure that ALL4 will be watching these monitors and the trends in air quality.

Have you sat on one of these benches in a city?  Be the first person to take a “selfie” at one of these sites and email Sarah (smccall@all4inc.com) or tweet (@ALL4INC) us your picture using the hashtag #ALL4gear – we will send you some ALL4 gear!