EarthSense Turns 4!
We have officially been providing leading air quality services for 4 years, and what a great 4 years it has been! The first Zephyr® prototypes and MappAir® developments began back in 2013 and since we first began trading in 2016, we’ve come such a long way. Here’s a look back at some of the things we’ve achieved this year.
Company Growth & Working Through A Pandemic
We’ve grown… a lot! We’ve continued to grow the EarthSense team throughout the year and during the Coronavirus pandemic. Since the company formed we have scaled from 0 to 28 people, doubled turnover year on year, and continue to generate a healthy profit which is continually being re-invested to further expand our talented EarthSense family, 2020 has been no exception, and we are on course for our best ever year at EarthSense continuing our financial and technical growth.
We welcomed 6 new members to the Product Engineering team, including Software Developers, Data Analysts, Front End Developer, Air Quality Consultant and Firmware Developer. Bringing in new people with expertise allows us to continually work on providing the best air quality services for businesses and ensures we’re ahead of the game when it comes to product development.
Our commercial team also expanded – with 3 new members of the team in sales and marketing roles who have helped raise awareness of our products and services and established new distribution channels as well as management the day to day relationship with our partners. It doesn’t end there, we’re still on the lookout for talented individuals in both the product engineering and commercial team so if you think you’ve got the skills to work for us then head to our careers page!
Being a technology driven company, we’re able to continue working as usual and even expanding despite the Coronavirus pandemic. Our team has worked from home with a skeleton staff in and out of the office as needed to ensure our customers receive deliveries as usual. It’s been an interesting time to provide pollution data as air quality levels have fluctuated due to the national and localised lockdowns as a result of the virus. We wrote a blog about the changes in air quality from March – June 2020 and you can read our take on it in case you missed it!
Established New Partnerships
This year, we secured some exciting projects with some great businesses in construction, occupational health, education and more! We’ve also made new partnerships with distributors so we can provide our air quality services to businesses across the world in specialised sectors.
If you’re interested in becoming a Zephyr® distributor – get in touch!
We partnered up with Siemens Mobility who have integrated the Zephyr® into their Stratos hosted traffic management and working with local authorities, so transport-based air quality initiatives can be identified and implemented, such as using the Zephyr® sensor to inform and identify meaningful and timely traffic flow interventions through use of integrated air quality data.
Access to the Zephyr is now available globally with our recently established partnerships with Sedulitas in South Africa and Tevet, who will distribute the sensor to the occupational health and hygiene sector in Israel.
We really love seeing all the innovative ways that people use Zephyr® hardware and software to measure air quality. There are some new Zephyr® developments currently underway which will be announced later this year, so be sure to check back for more soon…
Won Industry Awards
This year we were awarded the Environmental Award for MyAir® at the Federation of Small Business Awards as part of the regional finals. We won the award just after launching our innovative bespoke web app, which we were awarded for being a green business with an environmental product that helps to drive environmental and sustainability improvements. It’s been rewarding to be recognised as a small but rapidly growing company in the environmental sector and we’re looking forward to the national finals which have been postponed this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic but we’re keeping our fingers crossed for a win!
We also entered the prestigious Queens Award for Enterprise this year and waiting to hear of we made the shortlist in November so wish us luck!
Presence in the Media
More recently, our Technical Director Dr. Roland Leigh featured on Channel 4 Dispatches, Coronavirus: How Britain is Changing to discuss how lockdown has had an impact on air quality. Using Zephyr® and MappAir® meant we were able to inform Dispatches of how the absence of traffic on the roads has had an impact on NO2 levels, and what we can do to keep pollution at safe levels post-lockdown.
We also featured on ITV Wales This Week, where our Data Scientist, Dr. Jordan White took a trip down to Wales and helped producers with understanding children’s pollution exposure during school trips. Using mobile Zephyr® sensors to measure air quality throughout journeys taken via cycling, walking, bus and car, Jordan analysed collated gas and particulate data and helped to uncover which journey experienced the least and most amount of air pollution. You can watch the full programme here.
We’ve been on the radio too, and since the introduction of the coronavirus lockdown measures we’ve featured on BBC Radio on multiple occasions discussing air quality. At the start of the year, Roland was live on BBC Radio Wales and talked about congestion charges in Cardiff, and Jordan also appeared and discussed the rapid improvement of air pollution in Wales, China and Venice since the outbreak of the pandemic. More recently, we were live on BBC Radio Leicester talking about how air quality has improved whilst people have started working from home and how we can maintain this post lockdown.
The Launch of MyAir®
In early 2020, we launched our bespoke web app, MyAir® as part of the standard Zephyr® subscription. The highly intuitive web app provides users with their measured data available to view, analyse, and download through a fresh interface. We worked with Leicester City Council and Shropshire County Council to develop the web app, allowing us to create the best possible version that catered to the needs of our customers. We offer MyAir® as part of the standard Zephyr® subscription, so anyone who wants to easily understand air quality levels can do so for the duration of their plan.
MyAir® now is available with even more features, such as up to 3-day forecasting capabilities to provide insight into pollution sources and hotspots, MappAir® model overlays to give measured Zephyr® data added context and reports available with the option to download in bulk. We’ve also created some tutorials which are available online for those wanting to learn about the features of MyAir® and what they can do.
The Zephyr Network Continues to Expand Around the Globe
The first Zephyr® sent to a customer outside of the UK was in Berlin in 2017 and since then, we’ve shipped over 500 units to every continent around the world, aside from Antarctica!
We’ve worked hard to develop the resilience of the sensor, so it can measure air quality in the most extreme temperatures meaning almost anybody, anywhere can
measure air quality and work towards clean air. We’ve also got some exciting new Zephyr® announcements to come soon so make sure you stay tuned!
We’ve continued our work with businesses including the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), who use mobile and static Zephyr® sensors to aid sustainable urban planning developments in Berlin, Germany and environmental consultants, EnvironQuest, who use their network of sensors to provide some of the first air quality measurements in Lagos, Nigeria, helping them work towards an Air Quality Management Plan and improved air quality levels for vulnerable communities. By integrating Zephyr® data to an easy to understand website, we’ve also been able to work alongside Trinity College Dublin in Ireland to help provide an educational air quality dashboard for students, lecturers and visitors of the University.
New MappAir® Functionality and Detailed Data
We’ve also recently announced an exciting new project, NEVFMA, that we’re working on with Oxfordshire County Council, Siemens Mobility and Aimsun. Using the MappAir® model and Aimsun’s traffic management model, we’ve developed a MappAir® product that captures real-time changes in traffic emissions. For example, as congestion occurs, the model adapts pollution levels and will also be able to provide a variety of modelled scenarios to aid response plans and optimise air pollution.
Over the Next 4 Years…
We want to continue improving our hardware and software systems so we can keep on providing the best possible air quality services! We want businesses from all around the world to be able to work towards evidenced, effective mitigation strategies.
We also want to carry on expanding as a business! By measuring and modelling air quality in additional locations and hiring new members of the team, we’ll be able to ensure local and central governments are working towards air quality action plans to provide residents with clean air and pave the way towards healthier lifestyles.
We also will be continuing to spread the word about the dangers of poor air quality and the small steps we can take that will lead to large changes. By informing members of the public about the threats of air pollution, we can encourage changes in behaviours, work towards WHO pollution limits and live in a greener, safer, more sustainable world.
We’re looking forward to seeing what the next 4 years brings us. Visit www.earthsense.co.uk to find out what we can do for you.