Technology

Air quality startup founder on modern tech fighting germs & viruses in buildings (podcast episode)

Indoor air quality has a huge impact on our health and well-being, yet it is often overlooked. According to the WHO, roughly 3.8 million people a year die from indoor air pollution. This is a staggeringly high number, but the good news is modern tech can help us end this hidden pandemic of poor air quality. 

In today’s episode, we speak with John Bohlmann, Founder & CEO of HawkenAQ, a company that tracks and scores the air quality of commercial buildings in real-time.

Listen to this podcast on SpotifyAnchorApple PodcastsBreakerGoogle PodcastsStitcherOvercastListen NotesPodBean, and Radio Public.

Bohlmann shares how the company established its service back in 2019 initially as a company that focused on energy-saving technology for buildings but then moved on to the mission of improving air quality after seeing how overlooked it was by the tech and construction industries. He also shares the story behind the name HawkenAQ.

Bohlmann also discusses the current state of air purification technology and talks about bipolar ionization, which uses ultraviolet purification to kill viruses in the air.

We also discuss how good air quality positively affects our health and the drawbacks of poor air quality on our health.

Additionally, Bohlmann shares what steps can be taken to improve air quality if a building identifies poor air quality inside, and he goes into detail about what we mean when we say poor air quality. 

And finally, Bohlmann shares details about what is next on the horizon for HawkenAQ as it returns back to its roots of helping buildings become more energy efficient. 

Disclosure: This episode includes a client of an Espacio portfolio company

Sam Brake Guia

Sam is an energetic and passionate writer/presenter, always looking for the next adventure. In August 2016 he donated all of his possessions to charity, quit his job, and left the UK. Since then he has been on the road travelling through North, Central and South America searching for new adventures and amazing stories.

View Comments

Recent Posts

AI reasoning and the infinite puzzle of Borges’ Library of Babel

Many people have the intuition that an LLM (Large Language Model, e.g. ChatGPT) doesn't really understand…

14 hours ago

UK’s DARPA-inspired ARIA opens ‘Engineering Ecosystem Resilience’ research opportunity

ARIA's opportunity space for engineering ecosystem resilience follows a global trend of public and private…

19 hours ago

Healthcare providers now have unprecedented data insights into the patient journey as PurpleLab® acquires KAID Health

In the U.S., we’re seeing an incredible growth of the healthcare analytics market, with the…

2 days ago

First Financial Federal Credit Union prioritizes empathy with Ribbon partnership for inheritance claims 

When our loved ones pass on, it can be one of the most traumatic events…

2 days ago

Tackling antimicrobial resistance with new cleaning protocols

When we hear the word pandemic, our mind is likely to jump to the events…

2 days ago

Peru makes history: defeats Japan to claim Pokémon Unite World Championship title

Team Peru Unite made history in Anaheim, California by defeating Japan’s powerhouse Zeta Division 3-1…

2 days ago