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Clean air– healthier living
Greenhighlights
Better breathing
Unilever’s CEOspeaks out
«If we pollute the air, water and soil that keep us alive and well, no amount of money will save us»
It’s time to improve the
health and well-being of people
everywhere
CLOUDCITIES
Artist and architect Tomás Saraceno is convinced that our future is up among
the clouds
Let’s clear the air!
BLU
EAIR
LIFEB
LUEA
IR LIFE
NO 1 20
18
inside20 CLEAN AIR – HEALTHIER LIVINGIf you want to live longer, you should think carefully about where you live and what kind of air you breathe.
22 HIGHLIGHTS!The future belongs to green architecture that improves the quality of the air that we live and work in.
24 GLASS ACTEvery year thousands of tourists visit Jennie Olofsson’s glass studio on the Swedish island of Gotland.
28 MIND OVER PARTICULATE MATTERAir quality has a huge impact on children’s development. In Los Angeles the problem is being tackled in a way we can all learn from.
30 BLUE-SKY THINKINGArtist and architect Tomás Saraceno argues that we must leave the ground for a new age, floating in a sea of air.
34 A NEW WAYSara Alsén on Blueair’s Sustainable Living Plan – and the goal to give clean air to 50 million people.
04 FILTERThe people, trends and innovations that contribute to a better and more sustainable world.
12 SOMETHING IN THE AIRFragrance consultant Linda Landenberg explains nature’s mysteries.
14 HIGH DESIGNBlueair air purifiers combine the best of Swedish design and technology.
16 HOW IT ALL BEGANJohan Wennerström is the brains behind Blueair’s groundbreaking air purifier technology.
36 BIG AIRHuman beings have always been drawn to the mountains, usually the higher, the better.
38 AIR DE LUXEThe air at the Fairmont Beijing Hotel is always clean – all 222 rooms have been fitted with Blueair air purifiers.
44 AGENT OF CHANGEIn an exclusive interview with Blueair Life, Unilever’s CEO Paul Polman outlines how we can all contribute to a better world.
48 HOLY MOLY, A CATHEDRAL OF AIR!Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s striking artworks continue to amaze us.
50 TAKE A DEEP BREATHAre you stressed? The best way to get your thoughts in order is to learn how to breathe correctly.
52 BREATH OF LIFEPlants breathe pretty much the same way as we do.
54 TRANSPARENCYEveryone should have the right to clean air. Welcome to our world.
BLUEAIR LIFE
PUBLISHER: ANNIKA WALLER ● PRODUCTION MANAGER: CAROLINA DURHOFF ● PRODUCTION: KLINTBERG NILÉHN MEDIA AB ● EDITORS: GRAEME NADASY, MÅRTEN NILÉHN, PONTUS DAHLMAN ● ART DIRECTOR: KAI RISTILÄ ● DESIGN: JESSICA ERICSSON ● PROOFREADER: JULIA NEWCOMB ● FRONT COVER PHOTO: TOMÁS SARACENO BACK COVER PHOTO: TOBIAS HÄGG ● PRINTER: STIBO ● WEBSITE: BLUEAIR.COM
Yes, we can!
ANNIKA
WALLER
CMO BLUEAIR
«We live at the bottom of an ocean of air and the space above us is full of life»TOMÁS SARACENO, artist and architect, page 30.
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Is there anything more universal than air?
It moves freely across national borders, changes on a whim,
and doesn’t care whether you’re rich or poor. This makes it
everyone’s responsibility – and challenge. We’re infinitely
proud of the fact that our air purifiers are helping to create a
healthier world. But for us social responsibility is not
something that can, or should be, limited to our products.
As such we are engaged in a dialogue with academia, government
and industry to bring about real change. Just like we are calling on the
UN to make clean air a priority (page 59) or helping hospital patients in
Mumbai by handing out face masks (page 57).
The will to bring about and effect change is embedded in our DNA.
And we are determined to leave no stone unturned in our efforts to
improve the quality of the air that we breathe.
Recently we launched our Blueair Sustainable Living Plan, which
seeks to improve the living conditions and health of 50 million people
over the next three years. This will be achieved in part through our
products but also through education and raising awareness of the
positive health benefits of clean air.
The plan also sets out what kind of company we want to be,
underlining our commitment to social justice, and our policy of
making sure there are as many women as men in leadership positions,
as well as our goal of halving the energy use of our products by 2020.
All companies have a responsibility to the environment, and for us it
is vital to lead by example.
To show that change is possible.
05
Filter
People, trends and innovations that contribute to a better and more sustainable world.
FilterDANIEL HAGSTRÖM, PRESIDENT OF BLUEAIR CABIN AIR, EXPLAINS THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING CLEAN AIR INSIDE YOUR CAR
«For a device of this size, nothing else can come anywhere near it for efficiency and performance»
IF YOU THINK YOU’RE SAFE from air pollution as soon as you’ve closed your car door, you’re gravely mistaken. That was made very clear to us when we talked to Daniel Hagström, President of Blueair Cabin Air.
Hagström and his team recently launched an air purifier that you can use in your car, camper van or boat. Roughly the size of a couple of cartons of milk and operated using a controller plugged into the cigarette lighter socket, it connects to the Blueair Friend app to report on the air quality inside and outside the cabin. “For a device of this size, nothing else can come anywhere near it for efficiency and performance,” Hagström says.So what’s the difference between poor air in our homes and in our cars?
“Our homes and our cars are places where we live and breathe. As a rule, in both of these places the indoor air is often worse than the outdoor air because of, for instance, chemical emissions from textiles and exhaled air. When it comes to the cabin of a car, indoor air is up to 15 times more polluted than the air outside. And this is why,” says Hagström as he shows us a close-up of a car driving along a road.
He explains: “For a start, urban air pollution is
sucked into the car but in addition, and most importantly, you have the emissions from the exhaust pipe of the vehicle in front of you. If that’s an old truck, the emissions are very high and they are coming through your car’s ventilation intake.
“Then you have the particles from
the road that are torn up by traffic, as well as the exhaust fumes from your own car. There are also many hazardous chemical gases and particles being released inside the cabin. That new car smell is not good!”
In order to clean the air of all these pollutants, Blueair has developed a purification system and filters able to be fitted to a car’s climate control unit.
“We are supplying this solution to some of the world’s biggest car manu-facturers,” Hagström says.
A new freestanding air purifier is also available and can be bought by anyone and fitted inside the cabin. It will clean the air inside a car in 4-6 minutes, even in the most polluted towns or cities.On a personal note, what has driven your work in this field?
“I grew up with fresh air. My work has taken me to northern China and sometimes you can hardly see anything there because of the smog and the snow is black. Then you realise something is wrong. That makes me want to find a way to bring about cleaner air and a better environment. Moreover, I want to help to make the world a better place for my children.” ●
Daniel Hagström
Age: 45 Occupation: President of Blueair Cabin Air since autumn 2016. Long experience as an entrepreneur in the automotive and telecom industries.Hobbies: Skiing, sailing and mountain climbing. Has scaled three of the world’s Seven Summits: Aconcagua in Argentina, Elbrus in Russia and Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. «Standing on one of the highest mountain peaks in the world… You won’t find fresher air anywhere else.»
Clean drive
LEADERThe Cabin Air Purifier
is available in Standard or Premium. Depending on the model and size
of vehicle, the air is cleaned in
3-11 minutes.
Text Pontus DahlmanPhoto Karl Nordlund
Recent research proves that 72 per cent of
all car owners worry about the air quality in their car. The Cabin Air
Purifier will take care of that
06 07
Filter / New
ideas
Filter / Food
PERHAPS IT WAS the small tufts of cloud over the Mediterranean that provided inspiration? In any case, it was here at Cala Montjoi, out on the beautiful Cap de Creus promontory,180 kilometres north of Barcelona, that puffs of air entered the world of cooking in a big way. This is the home of molecular gastronomy and Ferran Adrià’s fabled restaurant El Bulli.
Air, they pondered. Foam...?Mixing in air when cooking is
hardly new. The humble whisk has long facilitated the making of cakes and desserts. Without air, whipped cream would not exist.
But this was the 2000s and El Bulli, which had practically subscribed to three Michelin stars for 20 years, had never been content with old culinary truths.
Frothing sauces was nothing new either, but innovative mixtures tended to curdle or dissolve into little puddles or lack flavour, and it was impossible to keep them.
Surely there had to be a way to make a tasty foam that would also last? Around 2010, videos from El Bulli’s kitchen began to appear on YouTube: Parmesan foam. Garlic froth. Clouds of frozen chocolate air. Foams created from every ingredient imaginable.
The secret? The common denominator? Lecithin powder. Water. A stick blender. And a freezer.
Nitrogenous lecithin is found naturally in egg yolk. Its main function is as an emulsifier, as any margarine manufacturer or baker knows. But El Bulli’s chefs demonstrated how a tiny sachet of lecithin, when added to the bowl, made it possible to get flavour into the stick-blended foam, while the heavy base (for example, Parmesan pulp) sank to the bottom. Then the airy foam was simply spooned into a container and frozen. Unbelievably simple, unbelievably tasty.
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Frozen air ......AND CULINARY TUFTS OF CLOUD
«Parmesan foam. Garlic froth. Clouds of frozen chocolate air. At El Bulli foams were created from every ingredient imaginable»
Flying skyscraper In what direction should a metropolis grow? Upwards? The architectural firm Clouds has turned conventional wisdom on its head with its latest proposal. Instead of building skyscrapers from the ground up, they want to turn things around and build from the top down. The Analemma Tower would hang down from the sky suspended by cables attached to an asteroid, giving its tenants a daily round-the-world trip for free. The building has three sections: workplaces at the bottom; apartments in the middle; and a place for “worship and funeral ceremonies” at the top. What about electricity? No problem! The solar panels mounted on the “roof” are above the atmosphere so there’s constant sunlight. And water will be collected from the condensation of clouds. But what if the residents miss their relatives and friends? Simple, they will just parachute to earth.
THE LEAF THAT NEVER WITHERSResearchers are learning how to imitate the natural process of photosynthesis using artifical leaves. By allowing sunlight to be absorbed by semiconductors on a membrane, positive and negative charges are created that are then separated – positive on one side and negative on the other. When the charges hit the catalysts on the membrane surface, chemical reactions take place which result in the water splitting into hydrogen gas and oxygen gas. Chlorophyll, quite simply. Further development is now underway at Nasa, the Design Academy in Eindhoven in the Netherlands and at Umeå University in Sweden.
According to the World Health Organisation, air pollution is now the single biggest environmental health risk in the world. And even if the world has woken up, don’t hold your breath waiting for better air. You still need to eat. Studies conducted at Fudan University in China have
shown that a diet rich in omega 3 and vitamin C and E rapidly improves our resistance to the types of illness and chronic inflammations that are caused by particles in the lungs. Salmon, vegetable oils, nuts and fruit will help you breathe more easily and live longer.
«In tough times, some of us see protecting the climate as a luxury, but that’s an outdated view from a time when we thought industrialization was the end goal and wealth meant a thick haze of air pollution» Alex Steffen, American futurist.
Suits you, sir!The BB.Suit is a world first: a one-piece suit that purifies the air around the person wearing it. Using “cold plasma technology”, electrical threads woven into the garment transform oxygen and water into free radicals which in turn bind toxic gases, bacteria, viruses and dust, creating a bubble of clean air around the wearer. It also boasts Wi-Fi and GPS capabilities. The suit has been created by an industrial design team at Eindhoven Technical University. However, they still have one problem to resolve – how to wash it.
Apart from clean air, the BB.Suit can also provide Wi-Fi and GPS
SALMON IS GOOD FOR YOUR BREATHING
08 09
Filter / Design
The CO2 factoryCLIMEWORKS FINDS A COMMERCIAL UPSIDE TO SUCKING DOWN CO2
VELVET REVOLUTIONThe world’s first hydrogen-powered passenger train is set to start rolling in Germany this year. Developed by French high-speed train maker Alstom, the Coradia iLint will replace far less environmentally friendly diesel engines, eliminating carbon emissions while making the trains much quieter. First up are the German states of Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Baden-Württemberg and Hessen.
«If we pollute the air, water and soil that keep us alive and
well, no amount of money will save us»
– David Suzuki, Canadian science broadcaster and environmental activist.
Filter / Innovation
THE AIR REALLY IS CLEANER in Switzerland – and if the world’s first plant for capturing carbon dioxide directly from the air and selling it commercially takes off, it could be for the rest of us too.
The Climeworks plant in Zurich has been in operation since last summer and is already feeding carbon dioxide to a nearby greenhouse, where it helps grow bigger vegetables.
But the company has more ambitious plans up its sleeve. It is planning to sell its technology all over the world, with the carbon dioxide its specially designed “collectors” (which look a lot like aircraft turbines) suck out of the air being used to make fizzy drinks or even fuel.
Climeworks’ vision is “to process 1 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions by 2025”. Our comment? Go for it!
CO2-BUSTERS: Climeworks’ founders, engineers Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher.
VerticalfarmingINDOOR FARMING start-up Plenty has developed a vertical greenhouse with a difference. Unlike most other vertical-farming companies, Plenty grows its plants on vertical towers instead of shelves. The towers are made of recycled plastic bottles, with water and nutrients fed to the plants from the top down as gravity takes care of the rest. All of the water is collected and recycled, while LED lamps bathe the plants in light. The company says its farms can get 350 times more produce out of an acre of land than conventional farming on just 1 per cent of the water.
EXCUSE ME. WHAT IS THE BLOOD OXYGEN LEVEL, PLEASE? Unlike many smartwatches out there, Fitbit’s is more fitness-first than fashion-first. Yes, you can sync it with your favorite apps, streaming services and text messages. But fitness is where it really flexes its muscle (and where it could really be an Apple Watch killer). As you’d expect from the world leader in fitness trackers, Fitbit has loaded the Ionic with all sorts of handy extras including a workout assistant, heart rate sensor, and perhaps most important of all, a blood oxygen sensor.
«There are no walls in the atmosphere!»– Kimberly Prather, distinguished professor and distinguished chair in atmospheric chemistry at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego.
OFO WHEELS OUT SMOG-FILTERING BIKESFirst there was the smog-free tower, which sucks in dirty air like a giant vaccum and turns carbon into diamonds. Now Dutch designer and artist Daan Roosegaarde has teamed up with Ofo, China’s Uber for bikes, to turn its 20 million-strong fleet into mobile air purifiers. The bikes inhale polluted air, clean it and then release it around the cyclists.
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Filter / Art
Filter / Oxygen
Air freight 2.0Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut has attracted a lot of attention for his seaweed-powered airships, which are obviously still at the drawing table stage. The futuristic jumbo jets resemble giant seed pods. At 400 metres high and 180 metres wide, they can carry 200 tons of cargo and fly at a height of 2,000 metres. Which might explain why they are not particularly fast. Cruising speed is 175 km/h. But after slow food and slow TV, perhaps the world is ready for slow air travel too.
«Environment is no one’s property
to destroy; it’s everyone’s
responsibility to protect»
– Mohith Agadi, philanthropist, author and film producer.
Amazing air facts
– did you know…
… that oxygen melts at minus 218.79 degrees Celsius (minus 361.82 degrees Fahrenheit).
—During the past 50 years,
85 billion tons of oxygen have disappeared from the world’s
oceans because of global warming. That is equivalent to
an area the size of the EU.
—
47 %of the earth’s crust consists of
oxygen.
—We should be thankful that the
level of oxygen in the atmosphere today is 21 per
cent. Some 300 million years ago, when it was 35 per cent, a
dragonfly could have the wingspan of an eagle...
—Your body is made up of
two-thirds oxygen.
—2.4 billion years
- that’s how long we have had oxygen on earth.
—
In the entire history of aviation, the oxygen masks on planes have never saved
a single person.
Shimmering in the wind Irish 3D printing design company Love & Robots has come up with the world’s first wind-sculpted jewellery, a line of necklaces that give new meaning to the expression “love is in the air”. The company has compiled weather data from the past 50 years so that customers can see which way the wind was blowing at a particular time and place, and freeze it in metal for eternity. They can pause the movement of the virtual material at any time before printing their personalised pendant in gold, silver or gold-plated brass.
SHIRT ALERT! Environmental awareness in the fashion industry is increasing rapidly as regards materials, manufacturing and recycling. Now for the next step: clothes that respond to their environment. Nikolas Bentel, a designer based in New York, has developed a range of patterned shirts that change colour when they are exposed to polluted air.
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Up in the cloudsTHE SKY IS NOT THE LIMIT FOR GEIR FLØDE
REALITY IS NOT SO INTERESTING for Norwegian artist and photographer Geir Fløde.
“I like to play around with people’s senses so they don’t really know what it is they’re looking at,” he says.
The technology that Fløde uses is similarly high-flown.
“Every image actually consists of 5-10 images which I put together in Photoshop.”
He often gets inspiration for his pictures from nature.
“I have always had the feeling that nature talks to me. It’s almost as if we are in symbiosis with each other. Much of that interplay is reflected in my pictures. I want to get people to think about how much nature does for us, not least the air. My pictures can be viewed as a message about a more sustainable and cleaner world.”
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Welcome to Geir Fløde’s fantasy world!
«I like to play around with
people’s senses so they
don’t really know what it
is they’re looking at»
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The power of sm
ell
Fragrances are all around us and affect us deeply. Yet it is so hard to describe them in words. Fragrance consultant Linda Landenberg knows why
«Our sense of smell is our most powerful sense because it is so closely tied to our emotions»
something in the air
WHEN WE SAY there’s something in the air, we are usually talking about tension, a feeling of unease that is almost palpable. Or we could mean rain or snow. But a lot of what we consciously register is to do with smell.
With every intake of breath, tiny molecules of odour flood our systems. We smell. The human nose is capable of recognising thousands of odours, but nearly all of the odour categories are borrowed from a much more limited selection of taste terms. Smells are otherwise designated by reference from the object they stem from – grass, coffee, cinnamon. Our limited olfactory language hinders our ability to describe in detail what we can smell and how it smells.
If the connection between smell and words is weak, the connection between smell and memory is so much stronger. In fact, our sense of smell is the one sense that goes straight into our limbic system, bypassing the cognitive parts
of the brain. Our ancestors used their noses to find food in the vast pantry provided by nature. Seasons still change and the scents with them.
Each season has its own olfactory energy, explains Swedish perfumer and fragrance consultant Linda Landenberg. “Spring stands for innocence, rebirth and hope. Life starts over, bursting with buds. Summer dances exuberantly, and its scents are sweet and a bit powdery, while autumn is calmer and quieter. Winter is still, collecting energy for the spring to come.”
All living matter gives off a scent. And the scents differ depending on where in the life cycle the matter is. Close your eyes and think of the
smell from the first drops of rain in a summer shower. This scent actually has a name, petrichor, derived from the Greek words for “stone” and “the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods”. The distinct smell occurs when the rain hits dry ground, releasing plant oils that have been absorbed by clay and rocks. Geosmin, a byproduct of certain bacteria, is also released into the air from the wet soil. For city dwellers, these odorants rise up from concrete and asphalt, too. Combine that with ozone if there’s lightning. We can smell the sweet yet pungent zing even before it starts raining. The word ozone, a form of oxygen, is also derived from Greek: ozein literally means ”to smell”. It emanates from fertilisers and pollutants, as well as natural sources.
“Our sense of smell is our most powerful sense because it is so closely tied to our emotions,” Landenberg says.
The subtle scent of decaying leaves in the crisp autumn air is delightful to some, depressing to others. Once again, psychology comes into play.
“A lot of people associate the musky smell with the end of summer,” Landenberg says. “It’s back to reality, less daylight and more work. How we perceive scents is a lot about expectations. The shirt we wore on our summer vacation smells not only of the sun, but also of sun protection, sweat, hormones and different detergents. By sniffing the shirt, we’re magically transported back.”
In winter, our indoor air is scented with candles, Christmas trees and cinnamon – perhaps to make up for the lack of smells outside. “Molecules move slower, our capillaries shrink, our bodies focus on something else when it’s really cold. Nature is resting and there’s less to smell.” ●
LindaLandenberg
Lives: Out in the country near Sigtuna, just north of Stockholm.Grew up: On Lidingö, an island in Stockholm. “Memories of rocks and the lapping of waves constantly echo inside me.”What does a fragrance consultant do? “That’s a title that I have thought up to describe how I work with fragrances. I put together courses, give lectures, work with concept development, and I also have my own perfume series: Linda Landenberg Parfums.” Earliest memory of a fragrance: “It must have been something out in nature. Warm rocks. Spring. The smell of oak and water.”Favourite fragrance: “The fragrance of the person who warms my heart, and of course nature.”
Text Hedvig von Mentzer
SCENT OF DANGER
One of the quirks of human nature is wanting to bring or recreate enticing scents indoors. But mimicking Mother Nature may not always be a good idea. According to research from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and University of Colorado Boulder, products that contain compounds refined from petroleum, like household cleaners, pesticides, paints and perfumes, now rival motor vehicle emissions as the top source of urban air pollution – at least in Los Angeles, where the study was made. Car emissions have got progressively cleaner due to regulation and, as a result, household products now make up a greater proportion of volatile organic compounds. Choosing water-based paints and using cleaning sprays sparingly could help reduce emissions, while indoor plants make great natural filters and could help keep our homes smelling fresh for years to come.
Clean up the w
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Clean up the w
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Photo Philip Karlberg
Blueair air purifiers combine the best that Swedish design and technology have to offer: cool contemporary minimalism, hassle-free maintenance and outstanding performance
high design
HEALTH BOOSTKeep yourself and your
family healthy by choosing an air purifier
that can eliminate bacteria and viruses from
the air in your home.Bless you!
INDOOR SERVICEDid you know that exposure to air pollution increases the stress levels in our bodies? An air purifier from Blueair
removes airborne pollutants silently and efficiently.
Blue Pure 411
Blueair Aware
Blueair Classic 280i
Blueair Sense+
Blue Pure 221
Blueair FaceOne Go
Blueair Pro M
Blueair Classic 680i
16
Mr A
ir Purifier
17
Mr A
ir Purifier
Johan Wennerström is the brains behind Blueair’s groundbreaking air purifier technology. And it all started off with a chance meeting
Text Niklas WahllöfPhoto Karl Nordlund
how it all began
Technology in Stockholm, where he had graduated as a civil engineer after specialising in heating and ventilation technology.
One day, a certain Bengt Rittri came to visit. At that time, Rittri was working for Electrolux, the Swedish home appliance maker, which wanted to collaborate with the university on an air purifier it was developing. With his background in anything and everything to do with filters, Wennerström was the perfect man for the job. However, it all came to nothing and the years went by. After completing his licentiate degree, Wennerström joined the Stockholm office of a German company with active carbon filters for ventilation systems and protective suits for decontamination after CBRN
(chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) warfare. But then the company decided to close down its operations in Sweden.
“On the very day that I was informed about the closure and I was on my way home, I met Bengt in the doorway. He had decided to start up his own company in air purification and he was going around meeting lots of different people who could be potential partners. And, well, I was only unemployed for half a day!” Wennerström says.
THAT WAS WHEN BLUEAIR was founded, a two-man operation with Wennerström as production developer and Rittri as managing director. So started an inten-sive period of researching and testing for Wennerström who wanted to develop a filter system and purifier for the consumer market.
“It took about six months but then I discovered what is now known as HEPASilent™ technology and it is still being used today,” Wennerström says.
The combination of mechanical filtration and an encapsulated ion particle charging chamber meant that the air from Blueair purifiers has as much as 99.97 per cent of its airborne particles removed, or even more when it comes to larger particles such as pollen. It is thanks to this technology that Blueair has grown to become the company it is today. Yet Wennerström is nothing if not humble and unassuming. While he admits that he’s “not bad at filtration”, at the same time he sees his role in Blueair’s expansion and success as mostly down to chance.
“I just sort of stumbled over this
Johan Wennerström
Born: 1962.Lives: Sollentuna, north of Stockholm.Family: Wife, two adult children, and his dogs.Heroes/role models: “No. But Bodil Jönsson [Professor Emeritus of Physics] is a very wise woman! I also really liked Hans Rosling [Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institute] who sadly died last year.”
“LOOK! THIS HAS ONLY been in Addis Ababa for one week!”
Johan Wennerström from Blueair points at a pitch-black filter on his computer screen. The filter has been inside an indoor air purifier in the Ethopian capital. It shows both how bad air pollution can be in some parts of the world and how committed Wennerström is to improving the air that we breathe. Almost all of Blueair’s air purifiers have been invented by him.
But let’s start from the beginning, because Wennerström was with Blueair right from the beginning. As is often the case, this story started off with a random meeting.
During the early 1990s, Wenner-ström was working as a researcher and teacher at the KTH Royal Institute of
19
Mr A
ir Purifier
Mr A
ir Purifier
really. My degree project was about particle filters and my licentiate thesis was about gas filters, and then I just happened to meet Bengt.”
His main interest is everything that is linked to buildings, especially indoor climate: from heating systems to windows, incoming sunlight, wind, ventilation and purification. Everything is connected to the air.
“My fundamental idea has always been that an air purifier must do precisely that, purify air. Not add anything to it. Quite simply, our indoor air must become cleaner. Some companies make machines that add aroma, that spray things into the air to improve it, but to me that is not an air purifier. For me, it’s all about dirty air in and clean air out. That’s it!”
When Wennerström starts to explain his reasoning, it becomes obvious how consumer-focused his product development philosophy is.
He is adamant that all of Blueair’s air purifiers must meet four criteria: they must have a low noise level; low energy consumption; be designed so that people will want to have an air purifier in their living rooms; and then, the thing that other engineers would perhaps have bragged about first, they must have as high a clean air delivery rate (CADR) as possible.
“Another fundamental idea that is getting stronger and stronger over time is that every new air purifier we develop must have its own story,” Wennerström says.
Blueair Sense is a good example. It has a glass top and instead of press-ing buttons, you just move your hand over it.
“It has attracted a lot of attention and also won prizes for its design. No one else has an air purifier like it.”
Clean breathing air is Wenner-ström’s driving force. He remembers
the contrast between the first time he was in Beijing in 1990, when everyone cycled and almost nobody drove a car, and the terrible year of 2013. That was when air pollution rocketed and people could see how bad it was. The American embassy started to take its own readings and pronounced it “crazy bad”.
“The way the situation was then, the only thing you could do was buy an air purifier. That was when things really took off for us,” Wennerström says.
EVERYTHING WE DO produces pollutants and when there are a lot of people in a small area more pollutants are created. But even in “clean” environments, an air purifier is beneficial. A good particle filter does not distinguish between different particles and can therefore reduce the spread of infectious agents in, for example, healthcare settings.
“So an air purifier is not only good for your health; it’s also good for hygiene,” says Wennerström who loves fresh air of any kind. “For my part, the air in Stockholm’s archipelago is unbeatable.” ●
«Some companies make machines that add aroma, that spray things into the air to improve it, but to me that is not an air purifier»
It took Johan Wennerström six months to develop Blueair’s groundbreaking HEPASilent™ technology
INVENTORJohan
Wennerström has constructed
almost all of Blueair’s air
purifiers.
SIMPLE TRUTH
«Dirty air in and clean air out.
That’s it!»
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70 per cent of houses and buildings in the West have
problems with poor air quality due to building
materials and construction methods.
It’s a fact
It’s a fact
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clean air – healthier living
We take 6 million breaths every year. Make every one of them count
62,000 Half of America’s schools have problems linked to indoor air quality, which in turn negatively affects student performance.
50/50 Emissions from common household and industrial products, such as perfumes, pesticides and paint, are as big a source of air pollution in Los Angeles as traffic.
20%Your brain needs 20 per cent of your body’s oxygen. More oxygen brings greater clarity to the brain, improves your concentration, helps you to think more clearly and has a positive effect on your energy level.
20,000 Every day we breathe in up to 20,000 litres of air. With air purifiers we can control the air we breathe.
7 AM
3,800,000 people a year die prematurely from illness attributable to household air pollution.
40,000The silent killer in your home: Scented candles and air fresheners are adding to pollution inside homes that kills 40,000 people a year in the UK.
Earth Day was introduced in 1970. Richard Nixon, the US president at the time, introduced a Clean Air Act that was rapidly followed by a Clean Water Act. Those interventions have increased the lifespan of millions of people, which actually makes Nixon one of the most important environmental players in history.
2,5 μm
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The most dangerous air particles are no bigger than 2.5 micrometres (a millionth of a metre). The particles (PM 2.5) accumulate in the lungs and can lead to serious respiratory disorders. Research has shown that when particle pollution decreases, life expectancy immediately increases.
Indoor air is up to five times dirtier than outdoor air. This is due to chemicals in paints and other household products, as well as emissions from plastics. But remember, it’s up to you to do something about it.
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NB!
670,000In terms of their impact on human health, trees in urban areas are real lifesavers. In America alone it’s estimated that trees prevent 670,000 incidences of acute respiratory symptoms.
Rise and shine! One of the best reasons to run in the morning is that the air is cleaner. Pollution is low, air quality is high, and you’re feeling great.
22
Green room
Text Marc Johnson
This green office building in the smog-afflicted Vietnamese metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City has been designed with an outer “skin” of steel rings and planters for trees and plants, providing protection from the sun and rain while creating a feeling of energising greenery both indoors and outdoors.
Where: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.Eco profile: The plant facade of this office building provides protection against sun and rain and brings the forest to the middle of the city. Architect: Inrestudio.
When this 90 metre tall hotel opens in São Paulo, it is not only the “caviar lounge” that will catch the eye; numerous plants will penetrate the chequered facade of the building and grow inside the hotel complex. Architecture that truly “speaks to the future”.
Where: São Paulo, Brazil.Eco profile: Hotel and culture complex covered with the same vegetation as the surrounding park.Architect: Ateliers Jean Nouvel.
Hotel complex with a facade, terraces and suspended gardens that could have been designed by a cubist sculptor. Greenery everywhere, right in the city centre. The architectural firm’s explanation: “We felt the need to create a green lung for the city.” We are eagerly awaiting the inauguration in 2022.
Where: Paris, France. Eco profile: Hotel complex that creates a “green lung” in the heart of the city through extensive vegetation on facades and roofs. Architect: Marci Architects.
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ROSEWOOD TOWERSão Paulo
TROPICAL OFFICE Ho Chi Minh City
LIUZHOU FOREST CITYChina
The first thing you notice about this French housing project is the leafy trees growing in metal pipes on the balconies of the high-rise building. Your own piece of forest, even if you live in a flat – a form of eco-luxury that everyone should have.
Where: Nantes, France.Eco profile: Trees growing on balconies in steel pipes provide cleaner air and constitute a valuable biotope for insects and birds.Architect: Edouard François.
2 PLANTED TOWER OF NANTES
highlights!The future belongs to architecture that improves air quality instead of ruining it SÃO
PAULOThe future of architecture.
“A really smart city is not one that is dominated by technology; it’s one where biological diversity and multiculturalism continue to exist,” says architect Stefano Boeri of his latest creation – Liuzhou Forest City. This Chinese town is being constructed right now, with the facades of its buildings covered in trees and plants that will absorb almost 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 57 tons of air pollutants every year and in return produce 900 tons of oxygen. Oh, we forgot to mention the residents... When construction is completed in 2020, 30,000 people will be able to live and breathe easily in the green city.
“These vertical forests can be replicated anywhere,” Boeri says. “I have absolutely no problem with this idea being copied or replicated elsewhere. I hope that what we have done can be useful for other kinds of experiments.”
Where: Liuzhou Forest City, China. Eco profile: The city will have all the characteristics of an energy self-sufficient urban establishment: geothermal energy for interior air-conditioning and solar panels over the roofs for collecting renewable energy. Plants and trees of all sizes will cover every building.Architect: Stefano Boeri.
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Vertical forestItalian architect Stefano Boeri is best known for his tree-clad Bosco Verticale skyscraper project in Milan, technology that he has now brought with him to China.
24
Interview
Every year thousands of tourists visit Jennie Olofsson’s glass studio on the Swedish island of Gotland to buy a piece of handblown art – and to eat five-course dinners cooked on white-hot glass
Text Niklas WahllöfPhoto Bruno Ehrs
glass act
CRYSTAL CLEAR
Jennie Olofsson was lying in a hammock in
Laos when she suddenly realised she wanted to be a glassblower.
experience, not only local farmers but representatives from fancy restaurants in New York would want to come here.”
Sweden has a proud tradition of handblown glass and now it is becoming trendy again, with a new generation of glassblowers breathing life into the industry. However, Olofsson originally wanted to be a photographer. She was working as an assistant at a successful agency in Stockholm at the time photography went digital, but when the darkroom became Photoshop the craft aspect of the job all but disappeared and she became disillusioned. So she decided to travel instead. She would go away for months on end, come back home to work and save money, and then take off again. And then, 10 years ago, she had an epiphany.
“I was lying in a hammock in Laos and it suddenly came to me: ‘I’m going to be a glassblower!’ ”
loaded. Olofsson called it Big Pink because she wanted it to be a creative hub, just like the upstate New York house where Bob Dylan and the Band’s Basement Tapes sessions took place (apparently The Band’s music is perfect for blowing glass to); she chose an English name because it’s more international than Swedish; and because the colour pink can be associated with girl power.
SUMMER IS WHEN all the tourists come. Last summer, 3,000 visitors came to the studio over a period of five weeks. And Olofsson chatted to every single one of them.
“I want people to come. When I set up here in 2015 people would say to me, ‘But Jennie are you going to sit in out-of-the-way Norrlanda and blow glass? How will anyone find you there?’ But I knew that if you had an open workshop that offered people a genuine and vibrant cultural
Jennie Olofsson
Age: 34.Lives: Norrlanda, Gotland.Occupation: In 2015 Olofsson opened her own glass studio, Big Pink, where she makes a wide range of ornamental glass and utility glassware. Her best-selling wineglass, Martall, has appeared on TV in the Swedish celebrity singing show Så mycket bättre. Big Pink also has its own restau-rant, Rot, under the management of Luqaz Ottoson.
WINTER ON THE EAST COAST of Gotland is an altogether different proposition from summer, when this island in the middle of the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Finland is drenched in sunlight. It’s dark even though it’s lunchtime, the wind is howling and there’s driving horizontal rain. You can feel the snow in the air that will come any day now, covering the island in a huge white blanket.
However, inside an old whitewashed barn in Norrlanda it’s dry and warm, with the shrieking wind replaced by the soothing whirr of the propeller fan gently spinning on the ceiling. Jennie Olofsson is walking around among rods and pipes, annealing in the orange glow of an enormous furnace. We’re inside her glass studio/cultural centre/restaurant...
“That’s why I wear a hat! To keep all my ideas inside my head!” she says laughing.
The name of her studio is similarly
26
Interview
Olofsson’s face lights up like the furnace behind her. She describes her long apprenticeship: glass college in Sweden, university abroad, work placements, jobs and the blowing, blowing, blowing. She describes how her competitive nature drove her on to start her own glassworks. She even goes into the ins and outs of being self-employed, the bank loans and running costs.
But above all she talks about her passion for glass.
“For me, glass is so many things; it’s hard, dangerous, dirty, hot, sweaty work. And yet when it’s finished, you’re left with something delicate, fragile, nice to the touch, luxurious... I think that’s why I’m so fascinated by glass.”
It takes months if not years to study the manufacture and production of
different types of glass and the history behind it. But at its most basic glass is made of sand, soda and lime. And air.
“The interesting thing about air is that once you have added it there’s no going back. You can’t suck it out again. That’s why the blowing is the real art: it’s about seeing, understanding, judging, continuously watching and regulating the air you add. That’s the cool thing about air. When children come here on a study visit and they have a go at blowing a glass ball, I say to them, ‘Now we’re going to shut in your air! It will stay inside this ball forever. It’s inside here like a little piece of treasure.’”
ALWAYS OPEN TO NEW IDEAS, Olofsson’s passion for glass has taken her in unexpected directions. Last winter a friend of her husband, chef Luqaz Ottosson, came to visit. He had a go at blowing glass, they started to talk and then he asked her if glass could be used for cooking.
“We had a go at frying eggs,” Olofsson laughs. “It wasn’t until the twelfth egg that we got the temperature right and the egg was perfect. So we kept going, learning how to cook more and more ingredients, and that’s how we ended up doing five-course dinners with all the food cooked on 750C glass. The evenings then turned into a mixture of dinner and performance where, among other things, I smashed glass with my bare feet. That’s what’s so special about glassblowing: you can never touch your material while you are working with it, only afterwards.”
Despite the heat from the glass furnaces which the propeller fan above our heads is pushing back down to floor level, now and again gusts of cold winter air burst into the room. Olofsson says it’s a never-ending job going around sealing the old walls.
“Air is never-ending; it always finds its way in.” ●
«The interesting thing about air is that once you have added it there’s no going back. You can’t suck it out again»
‘That’s why I wear a hat, so I can keep all my ideas inside my head’
When children visit Olofsson’s studio she teaches them how to blow glass: ‘Now we are going to shut in your air. It will stay inside this ball forever. It’s inside here like a piece of treasure’
HOT CUISINE
The food at Rot is cooked on
750 C glass
ABSOLUT GLASS
Glass was manufactured in Sweden as early as the fifth century AD, but then it was in the form of pearls melted and recycled using crushed glass from imported Roman goblets.
In the 1200s, glass was blown mainly for stained-glass windows.
Large-scale manufacturing of glass started in the 1500s, when King Gustav Vasa ordered wineglasses for the royal court.
Since then, Sweden has be come world famous for both its utility glassware and ornamental glass with internationally renowned brands like Kosta Boda, Orrefors, Rejmyre and Skruf.
Founded in 1740, the glassworks in Limmared is the oldest in Sweden and where the bottles for Absolut Vodka are made.
mind overparticulatematter
Based on his research, among other things, the local authorities in Los Angeles imposed stringent rules to clamp down on emissions and pollution. They focused primarily on road traffic and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the biggest cargo-shipping complex in the US. The authorities also banned the burning of wood when the air in Los Angeles was particularly bad. Ten years later, the proportion of children with asthma in areas with heavy air pollution had gone down by 30-40 per cent.
“Asthma is associated with many other problems for children. It leads to them exercising less, which increases the risk of pathogenic obesity. In turn, a lack of exercise leads to them learning less and developing more slowly. It also increases the risk of diabetes,” Gilliland says.
“Moreover, the poor air makes them ill and children learn less if they are ill. We have seen that there is a link between poor air and more children staying home from school. This is detrimental both to children and their parents who have to stay home from work. Additionally, there is more and more research that has shown poor air and pollutants increase the risk of neurological problems and autism. A young brain is extremely sensitive and poor air damages children across the whole spectrum, from the brain to the lungs, and it is hard to recover from
FRANK GILLILAND IS a researcher of medicine and air pollutants at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, an idyllic campus surrounded by leafy forest and tall palm trees. However, just a few blocks away, you are hemmed in by the freeways typical of southern California.
For a long time, Los Angeles was the city with the worst air pollution in the US. A thick blanket of yellow-brown smog often settled over the city in the afternoons, which meant that disappointed tourists could not even see the famous Hollywood sign high above the city. But over the past two decades, the city has really got to grips with pollution. One of the driving forces was to protect the millions of children who grow up in the metropolitan area of Los Angeles.
“Many children had respiratory problems and stinging eyes but, above all, our research showed that air pollution affects children’s long-term development. It increased the risk of asthma and had a negative effect on their mental capacity,” Gilliland says.
harmful effects on the brain at that age. You don’t get a second chance.”
When it comes to road traffic, Gilliland says there’s reason to be optimistic and notes the trend towards more eco-friendly cars.
“We succeeded in reducing pollution in Los Angeles at the same time as road traffic increased dramatically, by almost 80 per cent. That was partly because we controlled other emissions, partly because we are moving towards more eco-friendly cars and lorries.”What should parents keen for their children to breathe air that’s as clean as possible do?
“All pollutants caused by road traffic are particularly harmful so parents with small children should try to stay away from major roads. Above all, parents must play an active role in local politics and push for changes to improve air quality. There must be more political pressure. In the short term, they can also use air purifiers in their children’s bedrooms and keep
windows closed on days when the air quality is poor.”
California is home to a lot of this sort of technical innovation. Another area where Gilliland sees a promising trend is technology for measuring pollutants and air quality in our everyday lives.
“It is becoming cheaper and easier for people to measure air quality in their own homes,” he says. “New products connected to the internet can help generate data on pollutants in a whole housing area, in real time. When we have access to more information and better data on pollutants and their effects, it will hopefully lead to more preventive measures and more local activism to improve air quality. It should be a human right to breathe healthy air.” ●
VOICE OF REASON
Doctor Gilliland is one of the world’s
leading experts in air pollution
research.
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Science
Air quality has a huge impact on children’s development. In Los Angeles, one of the most polluted cities in the West, the problem is being tackled in a way that other cities can learn fromText Martin GelinPhoto Ann Johansson
«A young brain is extremely sensitive and poor air damages children across the whole spectrum»
Frank Gilliland
Age: 67.Career: Dr. Gilliland is a leading investigator in air pollution research, respiratory health and cancer epidemiology, and gene-environment interaction. Environmental accomplishments: “Demonstrating that air pollution regulation has been successful in reducing concentrations of pollutants in the air and improving children’s respiratory health.”
CLEAN AIR FOR CHILDRENClean Air for Children is Blueair’s initiative to promote the health and well-being of the most vulnerable members of society – children. Children are extra sensitive to air pollution as their lungs and brains are still developing. And because they breathe more air in relation to their body weight.
To help children lead healthier lives, Blueair is donating air purifiers and face masks to schools, nurseries and children’s hospitals around the world. So far, it has touched the lives of 20,000 children.
blue-sky thinking
The installation is called In Orbit and it has been created by the visionary Argentinian artist and architect Tomás Saraceno. In numerous projects, installations, films and cross-disciplinary collaborations, Saraceno has investigated how human beings can create a sustainable future among the clouds. He says that we live at the bottom of an ocean of air and that the space above us is full of life.
SARACENO LIVES and works in Berlin but he was born in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina. Before studying to become an artist, he did a degree in architecture at the University of
Buenos Aires. Many of his projects call utopian architects such as Buckminster Fuller to mind. Like Fuller, Saraceno has devoted his life to studying how nature’s constructions can be used for the good of humankind. He owns the world’s only collection of three-dimensional spider webs and was the first person to make large-scale models that emulate their silky habitats. One of them is In Orbit in Düsseldorf.
“When we were thinking about how we could portray floating towns and create a new kind of urban infrastructure, we looked at how spiders have developed their own method of colonisation and migration. It is a very simple technique but it could provide radical, new opportunities for life on earth and perhaps on other planets too, for both humans and non-humans,” he says.
FOR HIS CLOUD CITIES project, which has been exhibited widely since the mid-2000s, he has concentrated on how floating, modular towns will be created in the future.
One of his best-known works, Aerocene, was unveiled at the UN climate change summit in Paris and then launched among the dunes of New Mexico’s White Sands Monument. As the sun rose over the Chihuahuan Desert on 8 November 2015, a floating ball of lightweight black cloth warmed by the sun rose up to the sky as one
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SUSPENDED 25 METRES above the piazza of the K21 art gallery, the former federal state parliament building in Düsseldorf, a surreal installation of ropes, nets and floating spheres hangs like a giant cobweb between the walls of the building. Visitors can move freely between the different spheres via wire tunnels and a dozen or so people are climbing around the swaying construction with varying degrees of nervousness.
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Flying high
Artist and architect Tomás Saraceno predicts that one day we will live among the clouds. Offering a model for the utopian cities of the future, complete with floating ecosystems and fossil-free transport, he argues that we must leave the ground for a new age, floating in a sea of air. He calls it Aerocene
Text Anders BergmarkPhoto Tomás Saraceno
«We live at the bottom of an ocean of air
and the space above us is full
of life»
AeroceneFor the past 10 years, Tomás Saraceno has imagined and proposed different prototypes for how to live in the air. Cloud Cities, a long-term research project, aims to develop a modular and transnational city in the clouds.
to create a garden big enough for us to live there permanently? Can we create an entire ecosystem floating among the clouds? Solving these questions is not just a technical challenge. It is also a way of investigating freedom of movement among countries and bridging the political, social, cultural and military restrictions in today’s society. The air belongs to everyone, not to any government.”
We’re not able to build floating towns like Saraceno’s yet, but he says that’s besides the point. The important
thing is that we dare to ask ourselves how we want to live.
“We humans are lazy; it’s easy to hand over the future to someone else. But it’s important to get involved and imagine new possibilities.”
In the In Orbit installation at K21, one visitor dares to jump in the net, causing a young man at the other end to wobble a little. As Saraceno puts it, “The world we live in may seem to be boundless but in actual fact we are mutually and irrevocably dependent on one another.” ●
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ground. Together with scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Saraceno has developed software that maps out trajectories based on atmospheric conditions and wind currents.
As we know, air currents do not care for national boundaries. For Saraceno, flying is a metaphor for freedom. He calls his floating towns “transnational places”.
“The larger the sculptures we build, the higher they can rise. We can build gardens in the air. Would we be able
“This is an age of ecological awareness where we will learn how to float together and once again live in harmony with the atmosphere and the earth,” he says.
Today, the Aerocene project has grown to become an open platform that engages researchers and activists all over the world. This has led to the development of the Aerocene Explorer, a starter kit for exploring the skies that fits into a black rucksack and is powered by the heat of the sun and infrared radiation from the
of Saraceno’s co-workers hitched a ride in a harness below it. It was the world’s first fully solar-powered, non-fossil flight. Seventy years earlier, the detonation of the first nuclear bomb had sent up a mushroom-shaped cloud over the same area, an incident regarded by many scholars as the starting shot of the Anthropocene age. With his solar-powered floating sculpture, Saraceno wanted to mark the start of a new era that is not characterised by violence and environmental pollution.
IN ORBITWhat’s it like to live among the clouds?
Tomás Saraceno challenges us to free
our minds.
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Flying high
«Would we be able to create a
garden big enough for us to live there
permanently?»
HEAVEN CAN’T WAITTomás Saraceno is convinced that we will be able to build cities in the air.
SARA ALSÉN TAKES a light bulb out of her desk drawer, one of those old-fashioned ones with a filament, and turns it slowly between her fingers.
“Here’s a good example that shows change is possible. When, a few years ago, governments banned incandescent light bulbs to reduce the energy use of lighting, business quickly responded with energy efficient LED lights,” says Alsén, Global Sustainable Business & Communications Director at Blueair.
It proved an effective move. In the EU alone, carbon emissions have gone down by 15 million tons a year.
“That gives me hope. Now we simply must reach similar agreements about air quality because it is the most pressing health issue the world is facing at the moment,” she says.
In February, Alsén was invited to the UN’s headquarters in New York for the inaugural United Nations Global Medical Health & Environment Forum.
“One of the things I talked about was the need for a Sustainable Development Goal [SDG] on clean air, just like there are SDGs for clean water and clean energy. This would spur cross-sector action, investment, research and new technologies. I also called for international standards on indoor air quality. Few people realise that indoor air is on average five times more polluted than outdoor air. Governments have so far focused on outdoor air pollution. This must change.”
In the same way that Elon Musk wants to liberate the world from petrol and diesel engines, Blueair is driven by its founder Bengt Rittri’s vision of a world with clean air for everyone.
“We have a clear purpose that goes beyond selling products and services,” Alsén says.
Sustainability is deeply embedded in the Blueair business model. That is what makes Blueair unique.
“In addition to investing in R&D to develop innovative air purification solutions that improve the health and well-being of people everywhere, we’re devoting time and resources to increasing awareness of the positive health benefits of breathing clean air. Our target is to reach 50 million people over the next three years.
“And through our CSR programme Clean Air for Children we’re helping the most vulnerable in society. Last year we provided clean air to schools and nurseries in China, Korea, India and the US. This is important because children are particularly vulnerable to air pollution as their lungs are still developing – and they are more active physically.
“Our approach to sustainability is so much more than just hitting environmental targets. The Blueair Sustainable Living Plan has ambitious goals to reduce our environmental footprint by halving the energy use of our products over the next three years, cutting back on employee travel, shipping, and waste. But we also want to drive societal change, so having as many women as men in leadership positions is just as important.”What are your hopes for the future?
“Our vision is for a world where everyone can breathe clean air. Blueair is ready to take the lead, and if govern-ments, business, academia and civil society join us, I am convinced that we can achieve our goal. We did it with light bulbs. We must be able to do it with air as well.” ●
Sara Alsén
Role model: Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, who coined the concept of performance with purpose. Proud of: “I have a long-term commitment to children’s rights so I’m happy to launch the Clean Air for Children programme, intended to improve the health and well-being of kids around the world.Hidden talent: Pâtissière.
TAKING A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY
«We have a clear purpose that goes beyond selling products and services»
IMPROVE PEOPLE’S HEALTH AND WELL-BEING 1. Reach 50 million people2. Improve the health and well-being of people everywhere with best-in-class products3. Inform and educate about the health benefits of clean air4. Advocate for clean air standards5. Raise awareness about the prevalence and dangers of air pollution
REDUCE BLUEAIR’S ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT1. Reduce product energy use by 50 per cent2. Reduce environmental impact of materials used in our products3. FSC certified printing and packaging 4. Reduce shipping of products/components/materials5. Reduce employee travel
ENHANCE PEOPLE’S QUALITY OF LIFE1. Ensure a gender-balanced organisation with clear diversity and inclusion policies and health and safety standards2. Ensure fair compensation for all employees3. Ensure responsible sourcing4. Clean Air for Children programme
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Sara says
Sara says
a new way
Sara Alsén is convinced businesses can do well by doing good. She is at the forefront of ambitious plans to give clean air to 50 million people while halving the energy use of Blueair products and ensuring a 50/50 gender balance in top management
Text Mårten NiléhnPhoto Andreas Lundberg
big airHUMAN BEINGS have always been drawn to mountains, often the higher the better – inaccessible places where the air is at its thinnest and every breath is an effort – usually to prove something to themselves. You don’t get any closer to nature than climbing up a frozen waterfall or hiking across a glacier. Swedish skiing legend Ingemar Stenmark was once grilled by a journalist about his training regime.
“In the morning, I usually cycle up a mountain. I always have to carry my bike the last bit. And then I run back.”
“So what do you do in the afternoon?” the reporter asked.
“Then I go and get the bike,” came the reply.It’s what’s on the inside that’s interesting – when
there is total silence and all you can hear is the wind and the sound of your own breathing. ●
THIN AIRAltitude sickness
occurs at heights over 3,500 metres and is caused by chemical changes in the body.
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Big A
ir
PURE FACTSBig Air is a competition where snowboarders and freeskiers perform as many tricks as possible after launching themselves from a steep ramp. Big Air snowboarding made its Olympic debut in Pyeongchang this winter, with Anna Gasser of Austria winning the first-ever gold medal.
Acrobatics on snow!
Text Ann Johnson
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Blueair Zone
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Blueair Zone
Even in one of the most polluted cities in the world, the air at the Fairmont Beijing hotel is always clean – all 222 rooms have been fitted with Blueair air purifiersText Hedvig von Mentzer
Photo Thomas Engström
air de luxe
AIR SERVICEFairmont Beijing is a trendsetter when it comes to providing
clean air.
number of returning guests and the Blueair Zone is a big contributing factor alongside the outstanding service we offer at Fairmont Beijing. Furthermore, our guest satisfaction keeps rising and our TripAdvisor ranking is improving. We see ourselves as trendsetters. In the future, clean air will be a basic expectation for guests at luxury hotels.”
Not only does better air quality mean fully booked conference centres and a superior dining experience, it also means a better workout. “You’re
Blueair air purifiers. First-time visitors to Beijing will notice the poor air quality immediately. “If you’re sensitive to it, it’s like hay fever. When you come back to the hotel, you can feel the difference. It’s a sanctuary from the outside,” Ganster says. “Guests are extremely positive towards the Blueair Zone.” In the world of luxury hotels, where high-tech gadgets, elegant interiors and excellent service is paramount, it seems that clean air can also go a long way in attracting guests.
“We are already seeing a high
CLEAN AIR IS A PRECIOUS commodity in many parts of the world. On a bad day in Beijing, the air quality index may well be over 300 PM 2.5, which is downright hazardous. Inside the Fairmont Beijing hotel, however, it’s seldom above 20. In fact, it’s often in the single digits, according to Michael Ganster, general manager at the luxury hotel.
Under AccorHotels’ sustainable development programme Planet 21, the partnership with Blueair aims to enhance the experience and well-being of guests at Fairmont Beijing. The 222-room hotel is in the Central Business District, which means a lot of corporate customers who expect a high standard of comfort and service. All of the rooms and public spaces have
«We are already seeing a high number of returning guests and the Blueair Zone is a big contributing factor»
WHAT IS A BLUEAIR ZONE?Blueair Zone offers hotels worldwide the opportunity to boost guest and employee health and well-being by providing clean air environments. Research shows that clean air is key to both physical and mental well-being. Performance is enhanced, sleep improved and the transfer of bacteria and viruses reduced.
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Blueair Zone
expanding your lungs, getting as much air in there as possible, and it has to be good quality. Our guests are willing to pay about 10 times more for a gym membership here,” Ganster says.
ACCORDING TO Ganster, several hotels in Beijing have air purifiers, but they are connected to the air conditioning. Equipping rooms with their own air purifiers was a conscious decision by the hotel, so guests could see for themselves the green light indicating that the filters are working.
Beijing’s notoriously poor air quality may be improving. Ganster has been the general manager at Fairmont Beijing since 2012 and he’s noticed a difference. “My personal assessment is a 180-degree turnaround. The Chinese government has worked hard to
improve air quality, including moving a lot of factories out of the city. In 2012 there were at least 20 days when you couldn’t even see the sky. Now it’s blue. Of course, that doesn’t mean there’s no pollution, but at least it’s improved.”
AS FOR DESIGN TRENDS, Ganster says the emphasis is still on sleek, minimalist interiors. The open-room concept continues to be popular as a way to maximise space for guests. “For example, you pass through the dressing room to get to the bathroom. The aim is to create an airy feeling. But as much as hotels see the importance of design for the well-being and comfort of their guests, few actually offer the clean indoor air that might be expected of them.”
Ganster knows from personal experience how important an air purifier is for a rejuvenating stay in Beijing. “I have a Blueair air purifier in my bedroom at home – and I get a very good night’s sleep.” ●
«In the future, clean air will be a basic expectation for guests at luxury hotels»
5-STARIn a hotel that
has everything, clean air
is a given.
FAIRMONT BEIJING
Stars: 5.Rooms: 222.Location: Right in the heart of Beijing’s Central Business District. Sustainability: Fairmont Beijing is dedicated to improving the overall well-being of its guests. Since opening in 2010, the hotel has won several awards for its services. Leisure facilities: The hotel has a luxurious spa, a state-of-the-art gym, several bars and restaurants.
Even though the air quality in Beijing is better now than a few years ago, the city still has many bad days
All of the rooms and common areas have been fitted with air purifiers Michael Ganster, general manager of Fairmont Beijing, was so pleased with
Blueair’s air purifiers that he installed one in his own bedroom at home
It only takes a few minutes for an air purifier to clean the air in a room
IN THE AIR
Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) is an air pollutant that’s a concern for people’s health when levels in the air are high. The name refers to the size of the particles: 2.5 microns in diameter or less. The width of larger particles in the PM 2.5 size range are about 30 times smaller than a single human hair.
Art
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Art
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Jim Denevan’s art has a short lifespan of anything from 15 minutes to an hour before wind and water erase it again
gone with the wind
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King of sandThe shapes and patterns drawn by Denevan recall the language of nature. Spirals, circles and their complex organic intersections all follow the same golden ratio: the Fibonacci sequence, the most commonly occurring law of proportion in nature.
JIM DENEVAN IS ONE of the world’s leading land artists. A typical drawing takes about seven hours. If the lines in one of his geometric patterns were joined together, it would create a line almost 40 kilometres long. Denevan works according to the tide’s ebb and flow. His only tools are driftwood and a rake. He drew his first sand pattern in the early 1990s and has done another 400 drawings since then. None of his works of art are permanent. They have a short lifespan of anything from 15 minutes up to one hour before wind and water erase them again. Denevan usually works alone. He draws his circles freehand and has also experimented with 3D optical illusions. In addition to drawing in sand, Denevan has also worked with ice and snow, one of his largest canvases being Lake Baikal in Siberia.
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Interview
Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, is one of the world’s most influential businessmen. Here he talks exclusively to Blueair Life about the need for a more sustainable society and why we must all learn to think like statesmen and stateswomen to save the planet
«Mi, velitium re vel esedit lab int rem reptate quat et modi ut re eos etur magnis re offic temodi ut preptatem. Ut omnihil et»
You have made Unilever into a model of a responsible business – what’s your driver for change?
The driver is to show that a responsible business model benefiting a broad set of stakeholders is key to securing long-term, sustainable growth. We’ve always believed that the purpose of business is not to take from society, but to serve it. After all, businesses cannot succeed in societies that fail. Yet, as the 2007 financial crisis showed, our current economic growth model is leaving too many people behind. No wonder trust in business has reached an all-time low. If we put serving society squarely back in the middle, we will create better longer term sustainable business models and the shareholder will ultimately be rewarded as well.
This is how we approach what we do at Unilever. We take inspiration from our founder Lord William Lever, who built a business around the sale of Lifebuoy soap that helped transform the health of the poor in Victorian Britain through the simple act of handwashing. Today our purpose is clear - to make sustainable living commonplace. In 2010, we launched the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) which decouples our growth from our environmental footprint and increases our overall social impact. We take responsibility across the total value chain – from farm to fork - addressing external issues such as climate change, food security, deforestation, human rights and sanitation.
The business case is clear. We’re seeing that consumers are increasingly demanding this different kind of business model. Our most sustainable
brands account for 60% of our growth and are growing at twice the rate of the rest of our portfolio. Addressing global challenges also represents an enormous economic opportunity. If we help harness markets – and all the financial, human and innovative capital they represent – to deliver the UN Sustainable Development Goals, it comes with a minimum $12 trillion opportunity, the creation of 380 million more jobs and an opportunity to rebuild trust with society.
Unilever was founded during the 1880s London crisis of epidemics and poverty. Today, WHO identify air pollution being the single biggest threat to human health. How can Unilever help address that?
The issue of air pollution is
becoming increasingly critical, and while the toll on individual countries varies, no country is untouched by its effects. Today, nine out of ten people in the world breathe polluted air, taking the lives of 7 million people every year. It’s simply unacceptable. And the costs of indoor and outdoor air pollution are estimated at US$5.3 trillion, which is equivalent to 7.2% of the global economic output. The numbers are telling. Urgent action is desperately needed, at local, national and international levels.
Blueair has helped millions of people around the world to feel the benefits of breathing cleaner air. The brand is clearly a natural fit with our company values, with its purpose-driven mission to improve the health and well-being of people everywhere. Using our scale, reach and expertise, we are working with Blueair not only to expand its operations and reach more people with air purifiers for home, office and on-the-go, but also to increase awareness about air pollution
agent of change
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Interview
Text Mårten NiléhnIllustration Elisabeth MarttalaPhoto Tobias Hägg
«Blueair has helped millions of people around the world to feel the benefits of breathing cleaner air»
This is what we are fighting for ... ’At Unilever we know that we have a clear responsibility to act.’ (Picture of the Icelandic Highland)
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Interview
Interview
and show that change is possible and necessary.
From an environmental point of view, what is the worst that you have seen or experienced?
There are many challenges and they are all interconnected. Take illegal deforestation - a major contributor to climate change. Sadly, last year the planet lost 73 million acres of forest, equal to the size of New Zealand, and an increase of 51% compared to 2015. The good news is that new research from The Nature Conservancy shows that smarter ways of protecting forests and producing food can deliver 37% of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions needed by 2030 to avoid dangerous climate change. Around the world governments, businesses and civil society organisations are
working harder than ever to address this challenge. At Unilever we know that we have a clear responsibility to act. That’s why we’re using out scale and influence to drive transformational change, for example through the Global Consumer Goods Forum, where retail and consumer goods companies with combined sales of $2.5 trillion have committed to mobilise their collective resources in pursuit of zero net deforestation by 2020.
We face a similar challenge coming down the track on ocean plastics. We know that if we don’t take immediate action to change the way we live, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean. Many of us have seen the devastating scenes of plastic-sullied oceans on the BBC’s Blue Planet II programme, which shed even more light on the impact of human activity
on marine life. We need a radical transition away from the linear take-make-dispose model of consumption, to one which is truly circular by design. This is a shared responsibility, but FMCG companies have a clear duty to address this issue. That’s why last year we pledged to ensure that 100% of our plastic packaging is fully reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. But addressing the issue of ocean plastic is a shared responsibility. We are at a critical juncture and we need the whole consumer goods industry on board.
Greed or green… Do you think world leaders are doing enough to save the planet?
2015 was a historic year that offered us hope for two reasons. First, 190 governments came together to adopt the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - 17 goals to irreversibly eradicate poverty in a sustainable and equitable way. Then just a few months later 193 countries signed an ambitious agreement to limit rising temperatures and pull us back from the brink of catastrophic climate change.
Despite seeing remarkable progress in some areas and regions to implement the SDGs and the Paris Agreement, world leaders need to do more. The estimated cost of implementing the SDGs is put at between US$2-3 trillion, yet the total budget for overseas development aid (ODA) is only about US$140 billion - barely 7% of what is needed. Setting ambitious commitments and delivering them will require longer-term mindsets and greater cooperation and partnership with others, especially at a time of increasing isolation and rising populism.
We are already 20% of the way down the runway, and we must work with more speed and scalability for impact. We can all do more - governments, business and civil society. It was once said that a statesman thinks about
the next generation, rather than the next election. So, we must all think about how we can be statesmen and stateswomen.
There are still many climate-sceptics in the world – what do you say to them?
We certainly have a job to do to convince a remaining group of sceptics, despite overwhelming evidence of the dangers. The cost of not addressing climate change is increasingly higher than the cost of taking action. Indeed, the World Bank estimates that, if we do nothing, climate change could push more than 100 million people into poverty by 2030, wiping out development gains of the last century in little more than a generation.
Fortunately, the economic case for renewable energy is becoming increasingly clear. In many parts of the world, including Brazil, Mexico and Australia, solar energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels. And by 2020, renewable energy will be consistently cheaper everywhere. Many countries are already leading the way. Denmark, for example, has just installed the world’s first revolutionary green energy facility, following an 11% increase in renewable energy generation and a fall in emissions in 2017.
Business also has a clear responsibility to act. And it is in its own interest to do so. If the FMCG industry doesn’t move to more sustainable model to secure supply, most of profits could be wiped out in 30-50 years, even earlier in foods. Fortunately, many CEOs, companies and investors are coming together to make the case for climate action. At Unilever, we will become carbon positive in our operations by 2030, giving back more renewable energy than we use, and we’ve also committed to moving all our vehicles to electric power. Over 1,200 businesses have committed to an internal price of
carbon and many, including Unilever, are setting targets to be 100% powered by renewable energy. And over 400 investors with over US$25 trillion in assets have joined the Investor Platform for Climate Actions, declaring their commitment to increasing low carbon and climate resilient investments.
So, it’s clear we’ve reached a tipping point. Moving towards green energy is not simply an environmentally conscious decision, it is now – overwhelmingly – a smart economic one.
Is it too late…? What do you think the world will look like in 40 years from now?
In the next 40 years we have a unique opportunity to be the first generation to live in a world without extreme poverty, and the last to have to deal with the consequences of climate change. To build a more sustainable world, while leaving no one behind. The UN Millennium Development Goals took us halfway there. Now we must finish the job - for everyone
- including future generations to come. We owe it to them.
It won’t be easy, but I’m optimistic that we can succeed. I see many amazing people working on the sustainable development agenda, which gives me a lot of energy and optimism. Indeed, we see that the next generation is driven by a deeper sense of purpose and awareness. 84% of millennials say it is their duty to help make the world a better place. And they already are, by harnessing technology, innovation and disruption to challenge old models. They want to make a difference and shape their own futures, and in many ways, they are leading.
To achieve this, above all, we need human willpower. Leaders who can put the interest of others ahead of their own. Driven by a stronger purpose and guided by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship. The world needs this kind of leadership if we are to truly create a more inclusive and sustainable society for generations to come. ●
«Smarter ways of protecting forests and producing food can deliver 37 per cent of the greenhouse gas emisssions reductions needed by 2030»
«If we don’t take immediate action to change the way we live, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean»
And to those who doubt ... ’Moving towards green energy is an environmentally conscious decision – and a smart economic one.’(Picture of Malibu)
Going green ... ’At Unilever, we will become carbon positive in our operations by 2030.’ (Picture of the Stockholm archipelago)
holy moly, a cathedral of air!
THE ARTIST DUO Christo and Jeanne-Claude are best known for “wrapping” monuments and buildings. For example, they wrapped the entire Reichstag, the seat of the German parliament in Berlin, in 100,000 square metres of aluminium-covered polypropylene fabric and 15,600 metres of blue rope. But they are not averse to wrapping nature either, including covering 180 trees in Switzerland with polyester.
The wrapping simultaneously conceals the monument or geographical landmark in question, but it also makes it more visible. Suddenly its contours become much more apparent. “Revelation through concealment” as one art critic put it.
And then there are their huge air
sculptures. The first was realised in 1968: a 70-metre-tall inflated cylindrical fabric sculpture that was erected with the assistance of “the tallest cranes Europe had to offer”. An empty box? Not at all! This time it was air that was suddenly made visible. The air that we have so much of but which we should take much better care of.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude met at the end of the 1950s. They got married and worked together until Jeanne-Claude died in 2009. Christo has continued to work on his own since then even if many hands were needed to realise his first solo project without his wife: a colossal work of air housed inside a former gas storage facility in Oberhausen, Germany. The massive inflated envelope – Big Air Package – made from just over 20,000 square metres of semi-transparent shimmering polyester cloth was both a radical play of space and light, and the world’s largest self-supporting sculpture.
Visitors would lie flat on their backs on the floor like exhausted but thrilled pilgrims who had reached their desti-nation. A gesture of worship worthy of a cathedral of air. ●
13 JUNE Christo and Jeanne-
Claude were born on the same day
in 1935.
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HIGH AIRStanding at 90 metres tall and 50 metres wide, with a volume of 177,000 cubic metres, Big Air Package pushed the limits of scale for a temporary installation.
Wrapping the Reichstag in Berlin is one thing. But making monumental sculptures out of thin air is another. It was also the artist duo Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s greatest trick
Text Pontus DahlmanPhoto Wolfgang Volz
«Visitors would lie flat on their backs on the floor like exhausted but thrilled pilgrims who had reached their destination»
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Breathing
Breathing
Are you stressed? The best way to get your thoughts in order is to learn how to breathe correctly. Mind coach and author Kjell Enhager explains how
Text Sofia EdgrenPhoto Håkan Ludwigson
take a deep breath “In tense situations a person’s
breathing becomes slightly forced and nervous, which the body interprets as meaning danger,” Enhager explains. “This in turn triggers the body’s primeval fight-or-flight reaction, with adrenaline pumped through our bodies in response to a perceived threat. Because that hormone has a smell, the horse will be able to smell that the rider is nervous. Now, some nervousness and adrenaline is good in a competitive context; it provides mental focus and increases our endurance and ability to perform. However, it is very important to be able to control your breathing so that the brain stays alert and the body calm.
“When you are nervous, you tend to focus on things outside of yourself – things you can’t control. If you focus on your breathing, you can keep your mind and body functioning at their best, and that gives you a feeling of control." ●
Kjell Enhager
Lives: Lerum, Sweden.Occupation: Leadership consultant, mind coach, lecturer and author.Current projects: The highly successful and sell-out lecture Jag AB 2,0
Kjell Enhager has coached several sporting greats,
including golfers Nick Faldo and Annika Sörenstam
KJELL ENHAGER IS fascinated by breath-ing. Not just the act of breathing itself but, above all, how it can improve our well-being. As a leadership consultant and practitioner of meditation for 40 years, he uses breathing techniques both in his work and his private life.
“If you want to be able to calm yourself whenever you want, you need to be in control of your thoughts and your breathing. If you breathe from the abdomen, it is almost impossible to feel stressed,” says Enhager over the phone after touching down at Landvetter airport in Gothenburg.
He spends a lot of time on planes in his job as a mind coach to executives, elite athletes and artists. Up in the sky, he often takes the opportunity to focus on his breathing and to meditate.
“Then I turn all my attention inwards by using conscious breathing. When thoughts come into my mind, I register them as thoughts and then let them glide away like clouds in the sky. Then I focus once again on my breathing,” says Enhager, who tries to meditate for 20 minutes each day.
In high pressure situations, focusing on our breathing can help us retain our composure and perform better, says Enhager whose clients include the Swedish national dressage team.
Using his breathing techniques, many of the riders have noticed an improvement in communication with their horse and in their performance.
In equestrian sports the emotional interaction between horse and rider is critical. If the rider is nervous, the horse will pick up on it. Nervousness is most easily addressed through breathing.
FOUR TIPS FOR BETTER BREATHING
KJELL ENHAGER’S BEST ADVICE.
1 Close your mouth! Breathing through
your nose is essential.
2 Extend exhalation. Exhaling is linked to relaxation, like breathing out when the danger has passed. Take a conscious
breath by lengthening the exhalation: you will slow down your tempo, and fill the
lower parts of your lungs.
3 Try to exercise – running, for example –
with your mouth closed. You will breathe more easily and this will give you more
energy and a feeling of balance.
4 If you want, you can try to tape your
mouth at night. It sounds strange but it works wonders. When we breathe
through our mouths, we can begin to hyperventilate and deprive the body of
oxygen and vital recovery.
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Photo Helene Schmitz Text Steven Gold
breath of life
At school, we learn all about photosynthesis.
It is the process by which plants use the energy from sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen.
And – abracadabra! – you have one of the prerequisites for life, whether it’s from a plant in the office or the rainforests of South America.
But did you know that plants also need oxygen and breathe pretty much the same way we do? The process is called cellular respiration and occurs in all living organisms.
The stunning shots you see here are from photographer Helene Schmitz’s Carnivores series. That’s right, these are the tough guys of the plant kingdom – the meat eaters.
IT’S BUSINESS as usual at Blueair’s headquarters in Stockholm. Linnéa Holmgren is talking to a device on the table. She asks it to change the speed of the air purifier and also asks questions about the weather and air quality.
“We have already got used to talking to Siri on our iPhones. Why wouldn’t we talk to our home gadgets? It’s more human to use your voice than to stare at a screen,” she says.
THE DEVICE IN QUESTION is one of Amazon’s smart speakers, which has the Alexa voice assistant inside.
“Amazon has sold more than eight million of these so far and the market has exploded during the past year. Everyone wants to get on board,” says Holmgren, who also points to Google Home’s Google Assistant, Apple’s Siri-controlled HomePod, and a series of variations on the theme now being developed in China. Blueair products support Alibaba’s smart speaker Tmall Genie featuring the AliGenie voice
assistant, meaning Chinese users can speak Mandarin to their air purifiers.
BLUEAIR’S PRODUCTS have been connected since 2015 and can be controlled by the Blueair Friend app, which provides users with information about indoor and outdoor air. You can also control all your devices and your entire home from one platform, say iOS Home or Alexa Smart Home.
“With platforms like these users can automate their homes and create routines,” Holmgren says.
“Instead of controlling your products one at a time, you can say: ‘Alexa, start my day’ and Alexa will turn on your lights, start up your air purifier, give you the weather forecast – and describe the quality of the air outside your window.” And at the end of the working day?
“The assistant will never complain; it’s happy to keep working even if it’s late. The goal is to make your home smarter – and your life easier!” ●
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Transparency
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Everyone should have the right to clean air – welcom
e to our world!
Create a smarter home with talking virtual assistants
Text Pontus DahlmanPhoto Karl Nordlund
TALKING TO ME?
Linnéa Holmgren, Product Manager Connectivity at Blueair, with the Chinese smart speaker Tmall Genie
SMART ASSISTANCE
● Blueair products currently support Amazon Alexa voice control and Amazon Smart Home, making it possible to include an air purifier in your smart home routines.● In China, Blueair supports the Mandarin-speaking Tmall Genie and very soon also Apple’s Siri and iOS Home.● It is estimated that just over 50 million smart speakers will be sold during 2018.● Amazon’s Alexa currently has 25,000 skills. Two of the most popular are play a song and set a timer.
THAT’S SOME STATEMENT!Did you know that the Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association recommends not one but four Blueair air purifiers to people with asthma, allergies and respiratory problems: the Classic 405, Classic 480i, Classic 605 and Classic 680i. The Classic range is sold in more than 60 countries around the world.
BLUEAIR BEST IN TESTThe independent testing and research company Testfakta has rated Blueair’s Classic 405 air purifier “Best in Test” for its superior cleaning capability both at maximum speed and low noise (up to 37 dB). The Classic 405 has a user-friendly interface and LED button control for a simple and connected clean air experience. It is also compatible with the Blueair Friend app, which helps to keep you informed about air quality and what you can do to improve the air you and your loved ones breathe.
HAT-TRICK IN CHINABlueair scooped three awards, including “Most Popular Brand” and “High-End Smart Product”, for its Classic 580i air purifier at the China Household Appliances Online Summit in Beijing recently.
“Blueair is proud to be recognised for its premium, smart air purifiers and for being an industry-leading brand in terms of bringing health and well-being to Chinese consumers,” says Maggie Chan, General Manager Blueair China.
CLEAN SWEEP!
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FORGET CLUMSY face masks that are difficult to put on and embarrassing to wear. Based on patented technology, Blueair’s new particle respirator Face-One Go makes life easier for people who want to protect themselves from air pollution.
“We have put a lot of effort into developing a face mask that meets the highest technical and quality standards, but is also comfortable and easy to use. We were determined that it should look good too! FaceOne Go fulfils all those criteria,” says Cristina Anghel, Global Product Manager at Blueair.
“We call it ‘lifestyle compatibility’. The design, function and efficiency of the mask was tested on a large number of people during the development phase.”
Blueair has been working with indoor protection from harmful air particles for a long time. Now the company wants to help people protect themselves outdoors as well.
“FaceOne Go protects you throughout the day, from the moment you wake up in the purified air of your bedroom, through your day in the city, and then back home again.”
Anghel says the mask “provides unmatched comfort while ensuring protection on the go”, and shows us the patented 360-degree valve that lets out heat and moisture and stops the wearer’s glasses from steaming up.
“There is so much air pollution out there so we are very happy that we have been able to develop a product that enables people to move around freely outdoors,” she says. ●
BLUEAIR COMES TO MUMBAI’S AID
Eighteen million people and heavy, non-stop traffic. During winter, the air in Mumbai is particularly bad. Blueair is collaborating with Global Hospitals to educate people about the dangers of air pollution and the importance of clean air. The company has also donated 1,000 face masks to be given to people who visit the hospital because of respiratory problems.
WHAT’S IN A COLOUR?
What shines in royal blue, bold yellow and cherry red? Answer: the air purifier Sense+ with its three, carefully chosen colours.
“Sense+ is aimed at consumers who place high demands on their home decor and care about clean air. By expanding the range of colours, we have made sure that everyone can find their favourite,” says Justine Clerc, Global Product Marketing Manager at Blueair.Why did you go for these colours?
”After looking at trendspotters’ reports, we decided to go with blue and yellow, like the Swedish flag. We added red to please our Asian markets where red devices are sometimes given as wedding presents.”And how did you end up with these shades?
”We started off with nine shades of yellow, five shades of blue and four shades of red. We then asked 51 different stakeholders to grade them. And I have to say that we came up with the perfect colours!”
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Unrivalled comfort and uncompromising design make FaceOne Go the mask of the future
Facts FaceOne Go
Efficiency: FaceOne Go has been tested and certified to filtrate over 95 per cent of PM 2.5, dust, pollen, mould and industrial emissions. Recent third-party tests also revealed over 99 per cent bacteria filtration efficiency.Sizes: FaceOne Go is available in small, medium and large.
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Cristina Anghel, Global Product Manager at Blueair, models the new FaceOne Go mask.
BREATHE FREELY
Blueair has won global recognition for its range of Classic air purifiers
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Photo Bohman + Sjöstrand
Few sports are more destructive to the environment than Formula 1, but even motor racing is becoming more environmentally aware. Formula E is a potential game changer with zero emissions and quieter vehicles. Even the
generators used to charge the cars run on glycerine, a fuel that reduces emissions dramatically.
When the first race of the Formula E season took place in Hong Kong recently, Blueair was there. As the event’s “official clean air provider”,
Blueair organised a clean air zone in the corporate suites. Visitors were able to learn more about the technology behind cleaner air and how the clean transport of goods and people – including racing drivers – can become a global reality.
THERE ARE department stores... and then there’s Harrods of London. The world’s most famous department store still lives up to the same motto it had when it was founded more than 150 years ago: “All things for all people everywhere.”
Now you can also buy Blueair’s air purifiers there.
“We had a meeting with Harrods in 2017 and showed them our products. After that, it wasn’t long before our air purifiers were for sale both in-store and online. As a premium brand it’s only right that we should be there,” says Alexander Provins, Director of Europe at Blueair.
Blueair is already reaping the rewards of the tie-up.
“We have received a lot of media attention,” Provins says. “Vogue has
VROOM!
PERFECT MATCH
The future of motor racing is smoke-free Formula E
Blueair teams up with Harrods
written about us and GQ included one of our air purifiers in its list of the ‘10 coolest things in the world this week’.”
There are now plans in the pipeline for expansion.
“Sales have got going now and even though we are a small supplier they are still very pleased with us. During 2018, we are going to expand our sales area. We will have our own
Blueair section with a whole wall displaying our products,” Provins says.Who buys Blueair’s products?
“Up until now, it’s mostly been people seeking out a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle, not least because air quality is a big issue across the UK, especially in bigger cities. Everyone is talking about air pollution.”●
Blu
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BLUEAIR – POINT OF VIEWLet’s mobilise efforts to stop indoor and outdoor air pollution
REASONS WHY WE NEED TO ACT NOW
1 According to the World Health Organisation, air
pollution is the world’s single biggest health threat, causing more than 7 million premature deaths every year (more then 3.8 million are caused by poor indoor air quality).
2 The global cost of indoor and outdoor air pollution
is estimated at $5.3 trillion, equivalent to 7.2 per cent of global economic output.
3 G20 governments spend about $444 billion on oil,
gas and coal subsidies but $2.7 trillion on health costs related to fossil fuel use.
4 Poor indoor air quality costs employers about
$15 billion in sick leave and poor work performance every year in the US alone.
5 By 2060, 3.75 billion working days a year could
be lost due to the adverse health effects of dirty air.
6 By 2050, there will be a 13-43 per cent reduction
in staple crop yields due to ground-level ozone pollution and extreme temperatures.
7 Forecasts for 2060 indicate that air pollution
may reduce the size of China’s economy by up to 2.5 per cent due to crop losses, reduced productivity, more sick days and increased healthcare costs.
TIME FOR A CHANGE– make clean air a UN Sustainable Development Goal!
IN 2015, the United Nations adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals as part of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
However, air pollution has strangely been neglected. To encourage government and business to tackle indoor and outdoor air pollution, which affects 9 out of 10 people in the world, the UN must make clean air a Sustainable Development Goal.
● Blueair believes that the world needs an international agreement on air quality because air is shared by all and is the single most important resource to sustain life.
● Blueair supports the UN Environment Assembly declaration on “a pollution-free-planet”.
● Blueair agrees that the issue of pollution, especially air pollution, is neglected by funding agencies worldwide according to the 2017 report by the Lancet Commission on pollution and health.
● Blueair advocates the addition of a UN Sustainable Development Goal: clean air.
● Blueair supports the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution’s recommendations to stop air pollution. The first of these being to elevate pollution as a national and international priority, and to integrate it into urban planning processes.● Blueair calls on World Economic Forum leaders to prioritise air pollution at their next meeting in Davos.
CLEAN AIR
Make clean air goal 18
Write to the UN’s Division for Sustainable Development and tell them to add a Sustainable Development Goal for clean air. www.sustainabledevelopment.un.org/contact/
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