When regulations become real citizen benefits

Proven regulatory-grade accuracy of the digital method of measuring air quality opens up new opportunities for public services

Hawa Dawa has been confirmed by TÜV Süd to apply a digital measurement method, which is suitable for carrying out measurements according to the German Federal Immission Control Act (39th BImSchV – the German national legislation enforcing EU Directive 2008/50/EC). TÜV Süd evaluated the Hawa Dawa method based on a comparison with suitability-tested measuring equipment.

Hawa Dawa is the first provider of so-called low-cost measurement methods confirmed to carry out measurements according to regulatory standards. This is particularly important because the application of low-cost sensors for measuring air pollution is new. There are still no guidelines for quality requirements, quality assurance and application. The scope of testing for the qualification of air quality measuring instruments based on electrochemical sensors is currently still being discussed and coordinated in VDI committees. Here, too, Hawa Dawa is involved.

Sentience Measurement Device mounted on lamp post.

Municipalities can now introduce a digital method for orienting air quality measurements instead of the previous analogue method (passive collector) with the Hawa Dawa approach, making the data available in real-time and continuously. The Hawa Dawa measurement network provides municipalities with comprehensive information on air quality with regulatory accuracy and in the required granularity that the city can define.

This opens up new and cross-divisional or cross-departmental opportunities to secure and improve air quality with (pro-) active management and fact-based planning, thus increasing citizens’ quality of life and the attractiveness of the location. Since the data can now be used continuously, close to real-time and comprehensively, the possibilities range from protecting risk groups and avoiding critical situations to introducing efficient and dynamic measures. The examples range from relevant citizen information to eco-sensitive traffic management and environment-related urban planning. Approaches to urban zero-emission zones and efforts to achieve greater environmental justice are thus significantly supported.

Since the data is available as “open data” and can be integrated into existing applications via interfaces (APIs) without media discontinuity, this results in a further increase in efficiency for municipalities.

Karim Tarraf, Managing Director and co-founder, explains: “From our discussions with municipalities, we know that air quality is an important issue. So far, however, it has been difficult for our customers to understand the quality of our measurement method. We decided to commission TÜV Süd to evaluate our approach: Our data were compared with data from public measurements for a year. We are proud that TÜV confirms that our measurement method for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) according to the 39th BImSchV is suitable for orienting measurements and for PM10 even for stationary measurements.”