Participate in the Air Quality Pilot Project

Help Your Community Understand Its Indoor Air Quality

The City of Boulder, Boulder County Public Health and Boulder Housing Partners are piloting an air quality project at Canyon Pointe! As part of the pilot, partners will monitor your indoor air quality and provide you with free air purification devices that remove harmful particulates.

Representatives from the city and county and here to answer your questions, and will work with you to better understand the information collected. The program will help participants read and understand air quality data, while providing additional guidance on how to improve indoor air quality.

Boulder County, City of Boulder and Boulder Housing Partners logos

About the Project

We will be installing small air quality monitors and HEPA air filtration devices for free in participating units during the months of June and July.

Participating residents will have an air quality monitoring device in their home for 6 months. HEPA filtration devices, and a supply of replacement filters, will be yours to keep when the pilot is finished! Specific installation times and dates will be assigned to each participant.

During the six months, representatives from the city and county will work with you to better understand the information collected.

HEPA air filtration devices will be installed in half of participating units shortly after the monitors. These devices clean your air by removing dust, pollen, pet dander, dust mite debris, smoke and small amounts of pollution from gas-burning appliances. All participating units will receive filtration devices when the pilot is finished.

Understanding Air Quality and Filtration Devices

The monitors will help us determine air quality inside Canyon Pointe residences and understand how effective filtration devices are at cleaning indoor air – all while your air is purified by HEPA filters!

Other Ways to Sign Up:   

  • Add your information to the sign-up sheet on the entrance hallway bulletin board

  • Email Laurel Mattrey, mattreyl@bouldercolorado.gov, indicating that you’d like to participate.

We will send you more information regarding your participation once you sign up.

Timeline

When Step in the Project
May and June Sign up and learn more about the pilot
June and July Air Monitor installation
July HEPA Filtration Device installation
August through January Follow-up

Frequently Asked Questions

Representatives from City of Boulder and Boulder County will be attending monthly Residential Advisory Council Meetings and some of Amy’s office hours to answer any questions you might have. In the meantime, we have put together a number of frequently asked questions related to the project.

PurpleAir’s PA-I-Indoor PM2.5 sensor will be installed in the residential units. The sensor’s full-color LED glow indicates air quality at a glance from across the room. The PA-I-Indoor detector measures real-time PM2.5 concentrations. Its built-in WiFi enables the sensor to transmit data to the PurpleAir map, where it is stored and made available on any smart device.

The monitors measure tiny inhalable particles in our air, called PM2.5. These particles are two-and-one half microns or less in width, which is about 30 times smaller than a human hair.

Wildfire smoke and ash commonly register as PM2.5.

PM 2.5 to PM 10 visual diagram

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The monitors do not measure dust, pollen or mold particles in the air that are close to or larger than PM10. They also do not measure any gaseous pollutants such as ozone or volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

Not exactly. While cars emit some small particles, they also release volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOX), carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The monitors only measure PM2.5.

The pilot will provide Honeywell InSight™ Series Air Purifiers, which deliver powerful HEPA filtration for extra large rooms. They feature a Display At-a-Glance Clear Panel that provides valuable information, such as air quality and device settings visible from a distance. The units can circulate and filter room air up to 4.8 times per hour in a 500 square foot room.

HEPA filtration helps capture up to 99.97% of microscopic airborne allergens and particles, sizes PM2.5 and PM10. This could include dust, pollen, pet dander, dust mite debris, smoke and small amounts of PM2.5 from gas-burning appliances.

Additional questions? Contact us.

Email Laurel Mattrey at mattreyl@bouldercolorado.gov OR Grace Hood at ghood@bouldercounty.org.

Learn More About Air Quality

Poor air quality, whether from ground-level ozone or from wildfire smoke can pose serious health risks, particularly for vulnerable members of our community. The city has put together a Air Quality webpage to help our community stay healthy and informed on air quality issues.

Also be sure to check out Boulder County Public Health's air quality resources to learn more about ozone, wildfire smoke and household toxics.

The Flatirons cloaked in smoke

Help Protect Our Air

Personal Actions You Can Take