GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Air quality in Grand Rapids is monitored with one federally funded station at the Coldbrook Pumping Station on Monroe Avenue NW near the Leonard Street bridge. With this Grand Rapids to invest in air quality monitoring.
By this fall, as many as 25 additional monitoring stations will be in place throughout neighborhoods and commercial areas beyond downtown as a part of a local pilot project the city is joining.
“We will collect data to better define air quality in Grand Rapids,” said Mike Lunn, the city’s environmental services manager.
The city will be paying $40,000 to Open Systems Technologies (OST) so the Grand Rapids company can develop sensors and software to read the wireless devices. OST will be matching the city’s contribution with $40,000 of labor.
The pilot program is a collaboration between StartGarden, Seamless -the accelerator for Internet of Things ventures – and OST. StartGarden is the venture capital and startup ecosystem in downtown Grand Rapids started by ArtPrize founder Rick DeVos.
In addition to the city, businesses including Amway and Faurecia are also on board as they monitor air quality inside homes and cars.
The sensors will be placed on city light poles in neighborhoods, near highways and in certain areas where the city is preparing to add more green landscaping and trees, Lunn said.
Read more: Grand Rapids to invest in air quality monitoring led by biz accelerators
