Research News Last updated 10 October
A pioneering Digital Twin developed by Birmingham City University (BCU) is helping families in Walsall monitor and improve indoor air quality - making a life-changing difference for children living with asthma.
The project, led by researchers from BCU’s School of the Built Environment, has created a virtual replica of a real-life home that uses live sensor data to track pollutant levels such as dust and carbon dioxide.
The system provides residents with easy-to-understand alerts and tailored advice on how to improve air quality in real time.
One Walsall family has already seen the benefits.
Julie, a mum whose 10-year-old daughter lives with asthma, volunteered her home for the project.
“Before the sensors were installed, I did think about the air quality in my home,” said Julie. “But these sensors can show what needs doing to make it better.
“When you get an alert, you know that you can do things to prevent anything happening with the asthma.
“The researchers at BCU have helped me improve my life standards in the house and it would be great to keep the sensors so I can know more about air quality in the future.”
Currently, 7.2 million people in the UK have asthma - and the condition remains in the top 10 causes of emergency hospital admissions for children and young people.
In the UK, we spend up to 90% of our time indoors, but every year 3.2 million people across the world die prematurely from household air pollution.
“Indoor air quality affects us all, so it was very important for us to find a case study for this digital twin where it was a real problem already,” said lead researcher, Negin Khosh Amadi.
“Users receive real-time data on their phone or laptop as well as proactive intervention advice to prevent air quality getting to a potentially dangerous level.
“The advice they get will also be relevant to a particular activity, such as cooking or ventilation, so they can make small, simple changes to create a big impact.
“I hope we can keep developing this platform so occupants and learn how to improve their indoor environments by themselves.”
This data will help to reduce GP visits and hospital admissions for respiratory issues and give tenants are stronger voice in how their homes are managed through Digital Twin data.
“It’s incredibly rewarding to see our work leave the lab and make a real difference for a family,” said Dr Saeed Talebi, Associate Professor in the Built Environment at BCU.
“This is about using technology to protect children’s health and support those who need it most.
“That’s what Create Knowledge for Good looks like.”
The next stage is to grow this pilot into an estate-wide programme and share the open-source toolkit with other social-housing landlords and organisations, as well as work with local authority public health teams to track health and cost savings.
“We are delighted to be part of this important research,” said Fay Shanahan, Corporate Director of Operations and IT at whg, which manages Julie’s home.
“This project demonstrates how data and technology can create safer, healthier homes and help prevent conditions like asthma from escalating.
“As a landlord, we are uniquely placed to work with partners to address the social and economic factors that drive poor health outcomes.
“We are proud to be delivering this through our Social Justice Strategy, which prioritises collaboration with health partners to tackle these inequalities and support stronger, fairer communities.”