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Variable-air-volume HVAC systems using occupancy sensor control in commercial buildings can result in significant energy savings compared to typical HVAC systems in both new and retrofitted buildings. These are the results of a study published by the US Department of Energy titled, "Energy Savings for Occupancy-Based Control (OBC) of Variable-Air-Volume (VAV) Systems." The study showed that on average, commercial buildings using variable-air-volume (VAV) systems achieved a 17% to 23% energy savings over the life of the buildings. The energy savings were possible because typical HVAC control systems set air flow rates based on maximum occupancy for a given area to...

If you or your children are an indoor ice skater or hockey player, you should be aware of the potential danger of indoor ice arenas resurfaced with gas-powered ice resurfacing machines like Zambonis. Carbon monoxide fumes and micro-particles from Zamboni engine exhaust linger inside enclosed ice rinks, and can hurt those who inhale them. Unlike carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO) is potentially harmful at even small levels. OSHA limits carbon monoxide exposure to 25ppm both for short-term exposure limit (STEL) and time-weighted average (TWA) over an 8-hour workday. With an ice resurfacing machine only running for a few minutes...

A customer recently wrote us and asked, "I am testing a SenseAir K-30 CO2 Sensor next to a desktop CO2 meter. The K-30 is reading 778ppm, while the desktop meter shows 846ppm. Which one is correct?" The simple answer is that they are both correct! Yes, they are different, but both sensors are working within their rated accuracy. What does that mean? How is CO2 sensor accuracy defined? The accuracy of a CO2 sensor is defined as how close the measurement is to a reference gas, expressed as either a ± (plus-minus) value in parts-per-million (ppm) or as a percentage (%)...

Everyone knows that people breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, but how do you directly measure respiration at the cellular level? This was part of the problem faced by Dr. Nikolai Slavov and his team from the Departments of Physics and Biology and Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Using CO2Meter’s iSense CO2 and Oxygen Monitor and Data Logger, the team was able to accurately measure the absolute rates of O2 uptake and CO2 synthesis in yeast cells as they both respire and ferment simultaneously. The data lead to the discovery that cell metabolism and physiology can vary,...