The Story
Like many people during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, my family was scattered around the country and unable to be together. As it became clear that the pandemic was fueled by airborne transmission of the virus, I began looking for ways to reduce the risk of infection for family and friends. In the middle of all the uncertainty about COVID-19, my son in California was dealing with smoky air from numerous wildfires. The combination of COVID-19 and wildfire smoke drove home the idea that clean air is as essential to good health as eating right and exercising. There was no question HEPA filters were an important part of the solution for both issues and others like allergies.
In late summer 2020, with some limited return to the office, there was also a recognition that this involved some loss of control over the condition of the work environment. What was easy to control in the home was not so easy to control in an office environment, including the cleanliness of surfaces and air quality. The entire office is served by a single HVAC system with multiple vents distributed throughout the office. Whatever got into the system would be efficiently spread throughout the space. This was even worse for those who worked in cubicles. Without walls and a door, they couldn’t even create a defined space to maintain some element of control.
I’ve been a product development engineer and inventor for over 30 years. I quickly recognized the need for a product that would fit into the normal work environment and give people back control over the quality of the air they breathe. I developed AIRic to solve this problem, with the belief that breathing clean air is one of the healthiest things we can do.
– Eric