The SmartAir System developed by Safetyline Jalousie in collaboration with Blue Squared Window Automation has received an Australian Good Design Award.
The highest honour for design and innovation in the country, the annual Australian Good Design Awards program rewards projects across 11 design disciplines covering more than 30 categories and sub-categories. SmartAir received the prestigious accolade in the Product Design category for outstanding design and innovation.
This innovative collaboration has revolutionised education infrastructure, highlighting the importance of ventilation in learning spaces in terms of academic performance and health of students.
“It is an honour to accept this award on behalf of the entire Safetyline Jalousie team,” says co-founder and CEO, Leigh Rust.
“We will continue to do our best to create better, safer learning environments for our children to thrive in.”
The SmartAir system is a complete turnkey natural ventilation solution that couples Safetyline Jalousie’s high performance and high free air louvre windows, with sensor and control equipment specifically developed for window automation.
Founder and director of Blue Squared Window Automation, Stephen Van de Gevel is thrilled about the collaboration and achievement in winning the Good Design Award.
“We believe the award strengthens our partnership with Safetyline Jalousie and highlights the benefits of an excellent product combined with in-depth technical knowledge regarding natural ventilation,” he said.
“It is an acknowledgement of the growing significance and importance of a properly ventilated building, how automated ventilation and monitoring of air quality can not only improve the health of the building’s occupants but also – given the current economic climate and energy crisis – lower costs and increase the energy efficiency of a building.”
Unfortunately, ventilation is not a current primary focus in designing learning spaces in Australia. Air conditioning (AC) is the go-to solution to keep classrooms cool, but without ventilation, students are exposed to many health risks.
In a full classroom, levels of CO2 spike up to four times the optimal amount (from 1,000 ppm to 4,000 ppm). And when there is more CO2 present in classrooms, students can suffer from a lack of oxygen, leaving them unable to concentrate.
Students can also suffer from headaches and nausea, and constantly feel tired and sleepy from lower oxygen levels. Some of the less common but serious effects also include eye irritations, allergies, breathing difficulty, and developing asthma, and chronic lung conditions.
Projects recognised with an Australian Good Design Award demonstrate excellence in professional design and highlight the impact a design-led approach has on business success and social and environmental outcomes.
The Good Design Awards Jury commented: “SmartAir is a unique system that allows natural ventilation in buildings through an honest, smart design. It provides a great solution for architects who want to combine comfortable living with beautiful unapologetic design.”
Safetyline Jalousie understands the direct correlation between student academic performance and health and indoor air quality in learning spaces. By providing a pre-programmable, fully automated, tried and tested, complete turnkey air quality solution, it is possible to monitor the temperature, CO2 and humidity levels of any learning space.
Automation allows louvre windows to respond to the conditions of the environment without the need for human intervention – essentially enabling the building to breathe for itself. SmartAir measures and monitors CO2, temperature and humidity, and before reaching hazardous levels, will inform and operate a classroom’s louvre windows to open and provide fresh air while flushing out polluted air.
Not only is this air quality solution relevant to student health and performance, but it is also vital in Australia’s recovery from COVID-19. With the SmartAir System, Safetyline Jalousie contributes to safeguarding the health and wellbeing of kids and adults alike across Australia.
Dr Brandon Gien, CEO of Good Design Australia and Chair of the Australian Good Design Awards said: “To be recognised with an Australian Good Design Award is a significant achievement, given the incredibly high standard of projects submitted in this year’s Awards. The Good Design Award is a valuable independent endorsement of professional design quality. It tells the world this project not only represents design excellence, but it also surpasses the criteria for design innovation and design impact.”
