In collaboration with UH Green Building Components and Living Systems Inc.

Indoor air in offices or homes can often be far more polluted than outdoor air. These pollutants can result from a variety of common sources: from mold, off-gassing building materials, combustion sources like kerosene,gas, and tobacco; or from cleaning products. Since people on average spend up to 90% of their time indoors, the risk resulting from all of these pollutants is high.

The Botanica Bioregenerative Air Purifier is a living air purifier and filtration system that drastically decreases pollutants and VOCs in indoor air through biological means. The system can be installed along an existing wall or in the middle of a space like a screen. It uses a standard 24” module (based on a typical acoustical ceiling grid) into which one of three elements can be inserted in series: a plant component, a fan and sensor component, or a flat panel component. The planted component uses a growth medium of 50% perlite/50% pumice stabilized with a layer of sphagnum moss to grow Philodendrons and other high oxygenating plants. Air is drawn through the root structure of these plants using a fan, and is then pushed back into the room, fully cleansed and purified. Botanica is a “living machine” for cleaning indoor air.

TEAM: Matt Johnson, Jason Logan, Josh Robbins, Dr. Driss Benhaddou, Cord Bowen