Biotechnical approach for a continuous simultaneous increase of indoor and outdoor air quality

Abstract

Phytofiltration is the most sustainable way to achieve a better quality of inlet air in buildings in a polluted environment. But they don’t take into account the biorhythms of plants and pollute the inlet air with CO2 during breathing only time. We collected and analysed data about the biorhythms of plants. As a result, a new bi-directional phytofilter was offered for cleaning and oxygenation of the inlet ventilation air, and also to protect the environment by cleaning the exhaust air from different pollutants. The device has spaces with shifted illumination rhythms and a valve system. A controller directs the inlet air to the space(s), where plants release CO2. The outlet air runs through other spaces. Literature data show that in the less favourable case, the CO2 and oxygen emissions are balanced per day without overall CO2 gain to the environment. When plants are growing, they sequestrate CO2 to catch greenhouse gas emissions. Either natural light, artificial light, or a combination of the two can be used. While the second option simply demands one plant metabolism type, the first option needs a combination of CAM metabolism and other plants