FutureAir

Author: Simone Rothman

The Keys to Innovation

March 2016

On Tuesday, April 5, Simone Rothman, Founder & CEO of FutureAir, will be joining innovation leaders for a Manhattan Chamber of Commerce (MCC) panel to discuss the key elements of innovation and how to apply these elements to benefit your own business and impact your bottom line.

Don’t miss what will certainly be a thought-provoking discussion on how to spark and harness innovation. More details can be found below, and registration is open here.

MCC Innovation Showcase: The Keys to Innovation: Using Them to Unlock the Potential of Your Business
Tuesday, April 05, 2016 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Microsoft
11 Times Square 
New York, NY 10036
(Entrance is on 8th Ave between W 41st St & W 42nd St)

Innovation has been a huge buzzword in business for many years – and continues to be a prominent concern today. Most companies know they need it – but what’s the smartest way to build a plan for your company?  What do innovation and reinvention have in common and how do they differ? Leaders from both Innovation and Advanced Development offices form a panel to help attendees understand the key elements of innovation and how to apply them to benefit their own longer term success and bottom line. The panel will explore ideas for adapting big ideas for smaller and mid-sized companies, mapping out innovation plans and methods for adhering to them, and the importance of employee buy-in and participation in the process.

Moderator:

Speakers:

*$10 surcharge at the door for both members and non members, if you are not preregistered.

All cancellations and requests for refunds for MCC Events must be received 48 hours before the event. After that time MCC will be unable to honor such requests. Please send any requests to events@manhattancc.org.

Corps. Take on Environmental Sensors

March 2016

As large corporations explore the environmental sensor technology space, growing interest in the ability to measure ambient surroundings is becoming increasingly evident.

Late last year, Apple was granted a patent for its environmental sensor package which could eventually allow Apple users to detect temperature, humidity, sound, and pressure in their everyday environment. The sensor could be integrated with existing microphone, speaker ports, or buttons to capture information directly from air flow. Many android devices already have environmental sensors that measure ambient air temperature and humidity.

Mitsubishi also recently announced that they have developed a high precision air quality sensor. The sensor is groundbreaking because it can detect and distinguish between all fine particles [or particulate matter (PM) 2.5, with a diameter equal to or less than 2.5um], including dust and pollen. To put this into perspective, particles smaller than PM2.5 can pose serious health risks ranging from irritation to respiratory and cardiovascular problems because their small size can travel into the lungs and even the bloodstream.

Clearly, the desire to learn more about invisible environmental threats is rising. And with the Internet of Things, the possibilities for environmental monitoring will also increase and make strides towards improving health and environmental sustainability.

Resources:
http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/24/apple-working-on-new-environmental-sensors-for-mobile-devices/
http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/10/20/apple-patents-magnetic-multi-use-ipad-stand-embedded-environmental-sensor-tech
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/sensors/sensors_environment.html
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160207005063/en/Mitsubishi-Electric-Develops-High-precision-Air-quality-Sensor-PM2.5
https://www3.epa.gov/pm/

Photo: Prototype of Mitsubishi air quality sensor

How Does Indoor Air Quality Affect You?

March 2016

3,000 gallons.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), that’s how much air we each breathe in a day. You would think that taking in that much of anything into your body would be worth pausing to consider. And yet, even though breathing is one of the most vital and fundamental functions of life, we rarely give much thought to the air that envelops us.

When people do stop to think about air pollution, what comes to mind is outdoor pollution, acid rain, or images of the Beijing skyline hidden beneath smog. However, air pollution also manifests indoors through wood, oil, household cleaners, and building materials, and can be anywhere from 2 to up to 100 times the outdoor level. And since we spend 90% of our time indoors, could this potentially have a major effect on our health and productivity?

This is what Aclima, an environmental health startup, aims to measure and discover. In 2015, Aclima announced a partnership with Google to monitor not only outdoor but also indoor environmental air quality using a network of sensors. 500 sensors are connected across 21 global Google offices in order to measure 500 million data points a day including temperature, humidity, noise, light and air pollutants. The data collected can update and monitor real­time air quality information through backend software. The ability to measure these factors can lead to decision useful information in designing workspace and promoting the comfort, welfare and productivity of employees.

Resources:

Environmental Sensor Startup Aclima Is Studying The Air Googlers Breathe


https://aclima.io/blog/posts/aclima-google-map-air-quality/
http://www3.epa.gov/air/basic.html

Photo credit: TechCrunch

Taking on Indoor Air

February 2016

From a short visit to a remote village in South America emerged the seed of an idea.

In an otherwise exquisitely designed yet simple home, I experienced the unexpected and fantastic feeling of no temperature at all, of perfect comfort. A combination of natural airflow and a simple ceiling fan made this happen.

Nevertheless, the conventional ceiling fan above was a visual eyesore in contrast with surrounding well-designed interior space. The ceiling fan, still a basic propeller form, was dated and old-fashioned.

At FutureAir, we are reimagining indoor air. Our mission is to improve indoor air quality comfort and energy efficiency.

On the FutureAir blog we will share a collection of ideas, news and research to keep you informed on all things air related to design, science, technology and the environment. We’ll also give you an inside look into what we are working on and thinking about at FutureAir.

If you want more information, have a question or there’s something you’d like us to write about, just leave a comment on one of our posts. We’d love to hear from you.

What We’re Reading

February 2016

For your reading pleasure, a round up of some informative and thought-provoking articles — about the Internet of Things, the air Googlers breath, and green chemistry — that we are reading here at FutureAir.

Business Insider: Here’s how the Internet of Things will explode by 2020

The Internet of Things (IoT) has been labeled as “the next Industrial Revolution” because of the way it will change the way people live, work, entertain, and travel, as well as how governments and businesses interact with the world. In fact, the revolution is already starting.

TechCrunch: Environmental Sensor Startup Aclima Is Studying The Air Googlers Breathe

Environmental sensor startup Aclima has been studying the indoor air quality on Google’s Mountain View campus and several other Google buildings throughout the world for the last several years.

GreenBiz: The real key to remaking manufacturing: chemistry

Green energy pioneer, and president and CTO of Massachusetts-based “green chemistry-based innovation factory” the Warner Babcock Institute, John Warner talks matching brands with sound science, seeking safer alternatives to well-known chemical ingredients and how Six Sigma dogma has convoluted global supply chains.

Enjoy!

Forbes 30 Under 30: Michael Wang

January 2016

We are pleased to share that our very own Michael Wang, co-founder of FutureAir, was recently named one of the 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 in manufacturing and industry.

From an initial screening list of more than 15,000 of the best of the best, the Forbes 30 Under 30 is a list of 600 women and men who represent America’s most important young entrepreneurs, creative leaders and brightest stars.

Michael was honored for both his work with FutureAir, and his role as an adjunct assistant professor of electrical engineering at Columbia University, where he helped develop the engineering school’s internet-of-things curriculum.

We sat down with Michael to ask him a few questions, which we thought we’d share with you:

What does being named one of Forbes 30 Under 30 mean to you? I have wanted to pursue technology entrepreneurship since high school. After completing my PhD in September 2014, I tried many things, some with great success, and others that did not take off. From creating a 3200-member IoT meetup group and developing and teaching an IoT curriculum at Columbia to starting up FutureAir, I have had a very challenging and fulfilling 15 months. Being named to the Forbes list is a real honor and validates all of my hard work.

It is imperative that I mention that I only made this list because Columbia nominated me. There are many many folks far more talented who simply were not nominated by their respective firm or institution or were not exposed to this opportunity.

Who is your idol? Or who most inspires you? I am a third generation electrical engineering PhD. As a result, both my father and grandfather have been my biggest influences.

My passion for technology was cultivated early on as a child by my role models. My father, who has worked at Bell Labs for 16 years and holds 26 patents, has taught me that a good engineer is not simply good at building things, but also has the vision to know what to build. My main motivation for pursuing a Ph.D. was to help me construct that vision. My grandfather, who was the president of the Beijing Institute of Technology and who continues to teach undergraduate engineering courses at 84 years old, has taught me the virtue of hard work and building useful products.

Having witnessed the growth and burst of the telecom bubble through my father, I observed his frustration as top-level management cancelled projects and shifted direction with little feedback from the engineering team. I came to realize that to make a real impact in the technology sector, I needed more than just solid engineering skills – I needed to systematically analyze a technology’s value to its various customer segments, and understand how to strategically position the product in the marketplace to give the highest return. By the early 2000s, as the telecom bubble was bursting, I knew that I wanted to become a tech entrepreneur and have the opportunity to the change the world.

Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give your 21-year-old self? Its good to be hungry and driven, but don’t stress out too much!

Congrats Michael, we’re honored to have you as a part of our team and look forward to what 2016 will bring.

COP21 Paris Round-Up

December 2015

After COP21, we wanted to take a moment to highlight key background information along with our recommendations on how to learn more and to get involved following the positive momentum from Paris.

Key COP 21 Leaders

    1. Laurent Fabius, COP President & French Foreign Minister – “Paris 2015 Climate deal must have legal force”
    2. General Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary – “calls on leaders to take drought seriously”
    3. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, India – “steered India’s elevation from spoiler to facilitator”
    4. Todd Stern, US Special Envoy for Climate Change – “formed climate consensus with China with hostile congress at his back”
    5. John Kerry, US Secretary of State – “world must seize chance to kill climate warming HFC’s”
    6. Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCC – “Turning Point is here. Join the wave of change”

Two of Our Favorite COP21 Articles

    1. Natural Resources Defense Council (Rhea Suh) – An Insider’s Journal from the Paris Climate Talks
    2. New York Times (Justin Gillis) – Climate Accord Is a Healing Step, if Not a Cure

Films To Watch

The Burden
300 Years of Fossil Fuels in 300 Seconds
Do The Math
Consumed
Racing Extinction
Time to Choose

Books to Read

    1. The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken
    2. Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes & Erik Conway
    3. End of Nature & Cradle to Cradle by Bill Mckibben
    4. Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
    5. This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein

Be Informed – Join the Movement

www.350.org
www.climaterealityproject.org
www.climatemama.com
http://www.climatechangenews.com/

Other Favorites

Climate Action
Circular Ecology
Climate Environment
Earth Justice
Nature
NRDC
Planet Green
Sierra Club

2°C – the Disegno No.9 roundtable

November 2015

Today marks the first day of this year’s Conference of Parties (COP) where the leaders of 196 nations will descend on Paris in an effort to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C. At FutureAir, we’ll be keeping a close eye on all things #COP21.

In the name of climate, at the end of September, our founders – Ross Lovegrove and Simone Rothman – were invited to London to participate in a Disegno No.9 roundtable titled 2°C. The roundtable brought together several designers who participated in a Disegno No.9 residency that examined the way in which climate change is communicated.

Roundtable participants: Hannah Carter Owers (Universal Design Studio), Jessica Charlesworth (Parsons & Charlesworth), Ilona Gaynor (The Department of No), Ross Lovegrove (FutureAir and Ross Lovegrove Studio), Tim Parsons (Parsons & Charlesworth), Luke Pearson (PearsonLloyd), Simone Rothman (FutureAir), Cathrin Walczyk (Universal Design Studio)

Disegno No.9 asked the twelve leading designers and participants the following question. Here are the FutureAir team’s answers.

What are the problems with how climate change is communicated at the moment?

Ross Lovegrove Climate change is not a fashion or a trend, it’s a fundamental part of life. When you work as a designer and visit all sorts of factories and fairs, you become very sensitive to the vast scale at which things are produced, which causes a dilemma. Industry is both good and evil. It’s there to improve life, but I still don’t know where all this stuff goes. But how can we influence the people we work with? Commerce and shares are often a big negative because they drive the wrong value system. A lot of the things we may talk about here don’t always go down well when you’re talking to producers who are not doing so well as to be able to invest in things that might affect their profitability. 

Simone Rothman I don’t think we can design our way out of this problem. Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth was released in 2006, which seems a while ago in the scheme of things and a lot more damage has been done since then. There is a lot of discussion right now in the U.S. about the root of the problem and how we got where we are today, a lot of which is political. There is an amazing book by Naomi Klein called This Changes Everything, which is really about how our climate problem could actually be the solution to the next wave of capitalism. There are solutions out there, but we’re stuck in a system that doesn’t allow them to be implemented. It’s a really scary time right now and I don’t think people fully realise how scary it is yet.

More about the 2°C roundtable can be found here or in the Autumn/Winter 2015 issue on stands now.

What We’re Reading

November 2015

Ever since I created FutureAir I have immersed myself in literature, in educational research and in enlightening reads that have left a profound effect. They have impacted me, changed how I approach the world, and helped inform the direction of the company.

In an effort to share some of the FutureAir team’s favorites with you, we are launching an ongoing series to reveal our recommendations on noteworthy, impactful and important reads.

The first is a brilliant, honest and powerful book This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein, author of the international bestseller The Shock Doctrine. Let me start with this caveat: it is heavy, intense reading but well worth the effort.

“Underneath all of this is the real truth we have been avoiding: climate change isn’t an “issue” to add to the list of things to worry about, next to health care and taxes. It is a civilizational wake-up call. A powerful message–spoke in the language of fires, floods, droughts, and extinctions–telling us that we need an entirely new economic model and a new way of sharing this planet. Telling us that we need to evolve.”

The introduction alone is a wake-up call but Klein delivers the details, for both problems and solutions –her own personal why, when, where and how. All backed up with well-researched facts and figures, and articulately communicated.

Here are a few points that particularly surprised me:

  • The US has been the worst barrier to climate progress. In much the same way that financial institutions and big tobacco corporations used big money to stall the reforms needed, big oil interests have followed the same path, sowing doubt to sustain corporate profits.
  • ExxonMobil holds the record for the highest corporate profits of any US Corporation, but the costs of cleaning the mess they make is still on US tax payers, while they continue receiving government subsidies.
  • ExxonMobil’s excessive carbon emissions can also be attributed to the permanent harm exacted on our wildlife – the mass extinction of 40% of our nature’s species.
  • Organizations like the Nature Conservancy, WWF and Conservation International have strong ties with the fossil fuel industries (i.e. receiving funding from oil and gas companies).

And there are so much more. You need to read the book!

On the solution side, there is of course, the potential of expanding energy production from renewable sources such as wind and solar. Ultimately, Klein believes that reviving a massive grass roots movement is the route to taking on powerful polluters. That we need a “systems change, not a climate change.”

I wholeheartedly agree.

For a Cleaner Planet

October 2015

It’s been a busy few – climate focused – weeks here at FutureAir. On September 21st, during Climate Week NYC, I hosted a lively discussion alongside architect and wind farm entrepreneur, Matthew Baird. Taking place at Civic Hall, we discussed data and presented dramatic images that depict the state of our climate. Matthew spoke about the success he has found in developing and selling renewable energy, in addition to running his successful NYC-based architectural practice.

Directly following my Climate Talk in NY, I went to Miami where I was honored to be a mentor at Al Gore’s Climate Reality Leadership Training. Covering topics such as climate science and climate crisis solutions, the three-day conference was filled to capacity with individuals and thought leaders from around the globe who wanted to learn more and take action.

With December’s Conference of Parties (COP21) in Paris fast approaching, the conversation about our climate is heating up. I am pleased that this topic is getting more attention, with everyone from presidential candidates and the Pope, to businesses and policy makers getting involved.

Since the state of our climate is so top of mind, I thought I would briefly share an impactful life experience that provoked my concern for our planet and part of the inspiration behind FutureAir.

In 2014, I spent six transformative months living and working in Shanghai. I fell in love with the international metropolis and could not get enough of Chinese language and culture.

Despite my affection for the city, I simply could not understand how it could be commonplace for people to consult an outdoor air quality app, daily, to decide how much time they would spend outdoors. My disbelief was coupled with dismay at seeing so many facemasks as I explored the multicultural city. But what I grappled with most was witnessing the innocent kids who use them everyday, regardless of air quality, because they have grown so accustomed to wearing them.

Living in the United States, we are lucky that this is not our everyday reality. YET. It was from then on that I decided to take action and work to affect tangible change. My hope is for FutureAir to do its part to create a healthier home and cleaner planet.