Realcomm IBCon 2021: Part 2 Air Quality Results For In-Person Event

Senseware shares air quality results from Realcomm IBCon 2021

Last week we shared our involvement in monitoring air quality in real-time at Realcomm IBCon 2021. Realcomm IBCon is a yearly commercial real estate and technology event that brings together innovators in the space to learn and collaborate. Today, you'll be hearing from Chase Youngblood, our Sales Engineer, on the air quality results from the two-day conference.

Results of Air Quality Monitoring at Realcomm IBCon 2021

Background
Realcomm IBCon 2021 was held at The Westin Kierland in Scottsdale, AZ. There were over 250 people in attendance. Senseware IAQ units were placed all over the conference hall including the registration area, expo hall, coffee bar, info desk, restrooms, and more. Shown here is our floor map view within the Senseware Dashboard. Each green circle indicates the location of an IAQ unit.


Our units were measuring temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, VOCs, and particulate matter (PM0.3-1.0, PM2.5, and PM10). All that data was sent in real-time to our IoT platform which analyzes it and spits out a few key metrics about the air in the overall space that gets shared via QR code to a public dashboard. Attendees scanned the QR code over 200+ times throughout the conference. 

Air Quality Lessons For In-Person Events:

1. Ventilation is crucial to healthy air quality! Check if the space you're using has access to the outside via windows or an open air deck. If not, ask the venue if they are monitoring IAQ and can share the data. 

2. Adding real-time IAQ monitoring throughout your venue will help attendees feel at ease and it's the only way to be certain the air is safe during your event. Give attendees access to the data via a QR code so they can check it anytime. 

3. To keep CO₂  down you'll want to control the number of people in the space. If in pre-COVID times the space could fit 100 people, reduce the capacity by 25%.

4. Place air purifiers in high traffic areas as an added measure.

Air Quality At A Glance

Overall the indoor air quality was great throughout the entire conference. A key part of having healthy air quality is ventilation. Realcomm conference organizers made the smart decision of opening the grand doors of the Expo Hall that led outside. This meant that outdoor air was constantly circulating in the space. The commitment to safety was evident and a number of exhibitors booths were placed outside to keep the number of exhibitors inside to a reasonable amount. There were also portable air purifiers installed throughout the space. Both of these contributed to excellent ventilation that kept CO₂ levels below 600 ppm for the majority of the conference. 

Impacts of Busy Breakout Sessions

We did notice a CO₂ increase in the Powell room (black line in image) to around 800 ppm. This increase corresponds to the COVID IAQ panel that was hosted on Tuesday evening in the Lab. With around 50 people attending, this increase is expected. To put it in perspective, ASHRAE recommends CO₂ levels to be below 1,000 ppm so this is still within that limit. With only a 200 ppm increase in CO₂ levels this indicates the ventilation was exceptional to begin with. Both doors to the space stayed open during the panel which also helped the flow of air.

Particulate matter levels were kept very low during the operating hours of the conference. The only increases occurred late at night, this is due to HVAC systems cycling off. The levels were still well within acceptable limits. 

Hosting in-person events again?

Schedule a quick chat with our team and learn how we are helping companies implement IAQ monitoring.