How would you describe your solution in a few words?

With the Smart E-Filter technology from Clean Air Enterprise AG, existing ventilation systems can produce room air that is virtually free of fine dust and ozone. Bacteria and viruses are rendered harmless in the 8,000-volt zone and fungal spores and yeast are filtered in the function of the degree of separation. An existing ventilation system can be converted in about 2.5 hours. The investment has an ROI of four to eight years.

Some sustainability points: No annual burning of plastic, fibreglass and wood, 80% energy saving on the fan compared to conventional two-stage bag filter combinations. According to LCA, this means a saving of 3.5 tonnes of CO2 or external costs, i.e. environmental damage of CHF 1,000.

The building owner receives, in the function of the energy-saving, subsidies through the ProELA2 programme of Pro Kilowatt. The room users experience an increase in efficiency and a reduction in sick days. The Smart E-Filter technology is already protected by a European patent (patent no. 355712).

Who are your customers?

Real estate owners such as SwissRe, AXA, Implenia and CS who responsibly incorporate environmental aspects into the facility management process landscape.

What are the environmental benefits of your solution?

• We substitute a disposable product (linear technology) with a product with closed-loop technology. Our product saves 80% energy compared to mainstream technology.
• We do not burn wood, plastic and fibreglass. We reduce health costs and have an excellent life cycle assessment (LCA).
• A large ventilation system is converted in two hours so that the indoor air quality meets the highest building label WELL.
• The ROI for the building owner is four to six years with a simultaneous increase in employee productivity.

The comparisons of the real scenario – operation for 20 years in terms of environmental impact (left) and CO2 footprint (right) show that the electrostatic precipitator clearly performs better. The main reason for the reduction is the significantly lower power consumption of the electrostatic precipitator during operation.

How do you manage to survive in the market?

Innovations are born in pain. In sync with the change in society’s environmental awareness, we are working on a market breakthrough in Switzerland. After that, we will tackle the European market, for which we are going through the technical due diligence at Solarimpuls, among other things. To get a feeling for the Chinese market, we are going through the technical due diligence at the Bluetech Award in Beijing.

Nominated Solution: Smart E-Filter

Company: Clean Air Enterprise

Further information: www.clean-air-enterprise.com

Patrick Pahl, Board of Directors, Christoph Vonplon, Board of Directors and Adrian Peterhans, Chairman of the Board of Directors © Clean Air Enterprise