- Aura System has developed Sphera, a modular green wall that cleans the air and absorbs VOCs and particulate matter in minutes.<\/li>
- Sphera uses phytoremediation and a unique substrate of coconut fiber and clay to filter pollutants from the air.<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s how Aura System<\/a> started. The company designed a modular green wall using plants to clean the air. Some of them can ingest air pollutants \u2013 valuable nutrients for them \u2013 improving the overall air quality of an indoor space. Sphera is their first product, targeting business spaces. Being a modular solution, a square meter of the breathing wall can purify a 25m\u00b2 room. Carloni spoke to Innovation Origins for this installment of the Start-up of the Day series<\/a> to talk about his company and the science behind their innovations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How does Sphera work? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSphera is a plug-and-play breathing wall. It is made of modules with 16 installed plants, which grow on our patented substrate. Behind each module is a fan, forcing air to pass through the substratum, retaining and eliminating pollutants. To keep the correct moisture levels, Sphera features a hydroponic system, which distributes water to all modules. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our natural substrate \u2013 we are currently patenting it \u2013 has high purifying qualities and sets us apart from other technologies. It can retain volatile organic compounds (VOC), common gases that paint and other materials release in the air. Sphera can absorb 80 percent of VOC in less than two minutes and all fine dust in less than fifteen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does your substratum contain? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt has coconut fiber and two selected kinds of clay. It matches well with water, ensuring plants have the right moisture level. This way, the air that comes out is also fresh. So far, only one study showed that this kind of system could make the air fresher in indoor spaces \u2013 the wall needs to be big enough to generate that effect. I like to say that breathing green walls might be the future air conditioners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What plants are we talking about? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe mostly use Pothos, Calathea, and Philodendron, indoor plants that can all ingest VOC through phytoremediation. Moreover, they don\u2019t need much care and sunlight to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a><\/div><\/div>A healthier living space with the Skogluft plant wall<\/div>The vast majority of Dutch people (83%) would like to spend more time in nature. But in practice, this is easier said than done. <\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\nWhat\u2019s phytoremediation? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPhytoremediation \u2013 or biofiltration \u2013 is the plants\u2019 ability to purify the air with their roots. It has already been used to clear freshwater and soil. NASA itself researched the topic, selecting about twenty plants with purifying properties. Some air pollutants \u2013 such as sulfates and nitrates \u2013 are nutrients for plants, which absorb them through their roots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are there any other advantages of having a breathing wall? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes. The first one has to do with biophilia. In other words, nature’s positive effects on people\u2019s mental and psychophysical conditions. Productivity increases by ten percent and cognitive capabilities are boosted by 100 percent. These effects are even more significant on children, whose immune systems can significantly benefit from plants. Plants emit many natural microorganisms that cannot be found indoors. When environments are too sanitized, these kinds of bacteria are killed, but they help our bodies to work better. For instance, poor air quality can lead to dermatitis, whereas maintaining contact with plants helps skin stay healthier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Secondly, plants help to fight the so-called sick building syndrome<\/a>. Roughly one out of two people is affected by it in Italy, causing nausea, headaches, and eye or throat irritations. Plants establish the right balance of microorganisms level in the air. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/archive.ioplus.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/1668157268339-1004x753.jpeg\")
Aura’s team. – \u00a9 Aura System<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n How are things going for Aura? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a good moment for us. We\u2019ll hit the market next month after getting the required European certifications. In addition, we won the Mars Habitat Challenge<\/a>, a prestigious technology contest, a few weeks ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Besides making an impact by scaling up and installing more Sphera, we will be the first ones in Europe to connect our green wall to the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. A study found that having plants as a pre-filter to the ventilation system can cut down maintenance and energy costs by 60 percent. HVAC uses the most power in buildings \u2013 while being the highest source of pollution. We plan to recycle indoor air without inserting it from outdoors. HVAC cleans the outside air before emitting it inside, using lots of energy. Biofiltration uses less power, is sustainable, and generates fewer byproducts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a>![](\"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/app\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cropped-Hexagon-Innovation-Origins_small_square_512.png\")
<\/div><\/div>Tag: Start-up of the day<\/div>Spread all over Europe, thousands of young companies are working hard every day to make our world a lot better tomorrow. <\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\nAre you fundraising? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes, we are conducting a \u20ac500.000 seed round to scale production.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you plan to launch a home version of Sphera?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are already developing a home version of Sphera. Since it\u2019s a modular system, we are scaling the current version to a two-module one. It will be called Sphera Mini. The wall will have an app to make it smart and controllable. To support it, we might launch a Kickstarter campaign later this year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, we all got more familiar with the importance of breathing clean air. As the pandemic started, freshly graduated Pietro Carloni planned to leave Italy to work abroad. The virus changed it all for him too, and not necessarily in a bad way. Following months of job applications, he reached out to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2084,"featured_media":494999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"views\/single-startup.blade.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3009],"tags":[78545,78547,69279,35348],"location":[47626],"article_type":[6758],"serie":[],"archives":[],"internal_archives":[],"reboot-archive":[],"class_list":["post-447922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-startup","tag-aura-system","tag-binnenlucht","tag-indoor-air","tag-start-up-of-the-day","location-italy","article_type-interview"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":{"subtitle":"Aura System\u2019s green wall purifies indoor spaces' air, leveraging the plants\u2019 ability to capture and eliminate pollutants. ","text_display_homepage":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Mauro Mereu","author_link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/author\/mauro-mereu\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/SpheraSpheraPlusV1.0_CompositeOffice9_White.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Start-ups<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Start-ups<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Aura System<\/a>","binnenlucht<\/a>","indoor air<\/a>","Start-up of the day<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Aura System<\/span>","binnenlucht<\/span>","indoor air<\/span>","Start-up of the day<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 3 years ago","modified":"Updated 3 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on June 5, 2023","modified":"Updated on June 5, 2023"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on June 5, 2023 4:00 pm","modified":"Updated on June 5, 2023 4:00 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2084"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447922\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447922"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=447922"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=447922"},{"taxonomy":"serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/serie?post=447922"},{"taxonomy":"archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archives?post=447922"},{"taxonomy":"internal_archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_archives?post=447922"},{"taxonomy":"reboot-archive","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reboot-archive?post=447922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}