Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Strives for Carbon-Neutral Legacy

North appointed as Smart Environments Provider to help city achieve ambition

As the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games gets underway, smart environmental air quality monitoring technology has been deployed across the host city as the Games aims to become the first to achieve a carbon-neutral legacy.

The UK’s leading IoT solutions and services provider, North, has designed and deployed smart technology at key locations around event venues and across the wider city which will precisely measure, monitor and capture data on air quality conditions before, during and after the event.

As the official Smart Environments Provider for the Games, North will use its low-powered, long-range network and air quality sensor-based managed service to record factors including CO2, temperature, pressure and relative humidity, which will be analysed to calculate an air quality index (AQI).

Once the data capture is complete, North will share the insights with the University of Birmingham WM-Air team who are researching the impact of the Games on air quality in the city. Spectators are being encouraged to use active travel and public transport, which is included within spectator tickets and will reduce the emissions of air pollutants.

As thousands of people visit the city over the next two weeks, the sensors have been installed at areas of high footfall including at main traffic routes and motorways, key marathon milestones, public transport stops, and at the entrances and exits of the University of Birmingham campus which is the main Athlete Village.

North’s smart technology forms part of wider efforts to create a carbon-neutral legacy for the Games, with sustainability measures woven into every part of its organisation and execution. This comes after Birmingham 2022 set out a comprehensive sustainability pledge in 2020 to deliver the most-sustainable Commonwealth Games yet.

Glen Williams, CEO at North, said: “Birmingham 2022 has an exciting and forward-thinking agenda to create an event that will leave both a sporting and sustainability legacy in the city.

“Through our smart technology, North is incredibly proud to play an important role in striving towards this goal. We are looking forward to seeing the impact the data collected has on future decision-making in a bid to improve air quality, subsequently aiding the health and wellbeing of residents and visitors.

“It is fantastic to see IoT technology deployed at a global event. IoT has the proven ability to change how human beings engage with the environment, whilst creating healthier, greener and more sustainable communities.”