Richmond Marauders

Inspiration

Richmond has a long standing history with increased incidents of asthma and other respiratory diseases among long-income residence. In 2014, the number of richmond adults with asthma was 12.7% and congregated in the areas with low-income residence, specifically Highland Park and Southside. Both areas have experienced poor housing conditions, traffic pollution, secondhand smoke, and poor air quality. Low income areas in richmond are situated and siloed between major highways, increasing the incidence of particulate matter and CO2, as well as next to manufacturing plants that produce lung irritants such as hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, and ammonia. Asthma is a condition in which a person’s air passages become inflamed and the narrowing of the respiratory passages makes it difficult to breath. Symptoms are brought on by exposure to allergens, which include: dust, pollen, mold, cigarette smoke, animal dander, and exertion or stress. Asthma has no cure, and environmental factors are well known to increase incidence of asthma and sensitize individuals with asthma, causing life threatening asthma attacks and other respiratory complications. As well, Richmond has some of the highest indicators of poor physical environment meaning they experience high daily fine particulate matter, high drinking water violations, and high levels of driving alone to work commute times.

Our inspiration came from a roundtable discussion of the current problem, assessment of data, and analysis of the affected community. After and ideation phase, we came up with an environmentally friendly moss based air filter.

What it does

Our innovative solution, takes the benefits of moss and combines it with small free-standing structures that can be easily moved around areas with poor air quality. The moss eliminates particulate matter, ammonia, and CO2 through its own physiological processes. Each 3.5 meters squared of moss does the work of 275 trees. Moss spores are not said to cause more allergic reactions in asthma suffers either. What this will do is filter the natural air flow of low-income communities, improving air quality, and quality of life.

How I built it

The structures will be built out of stainless steel, with one side as an open panel of moss. The bottom will be hollow to allow for water filtration and natural irrigation of the moss. This set up is a low maintenance solution and would not require Richmond Department of Public Works to hire any new individuals to maintain the structures. Additionally, stainless steel is durable , able to be temperature probed, and allows for accurate gauging of contaminant levels of the moss. Cost analysis for the structures is to be completed in a prototyping phase, but the EPA shows that the economic benefits for city growth and city productivity vastly outweigh the costs to implement better air quality because it creates a better health for the community. Overall, the United State’s Clean Air Act has aided in overall GDP growth, productivity, and quality of life.

Challenges I ran into

Some of the challenges faced included what types of materials to use, what is cost-effective and how levels of success will be measured and determined. As well, we struggled with making sure our solution was effective and that it actually helped make an impact on those low-income individuals affected by asthma. We know low-income residence are facing other pressing problems and want to make sure our solution is tailored to them, and that it brings value and real change to their community.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

We are proud of finding solutions to urban air quality, of working on a team of individuals that did not know each other before we began, and of participating in this event. We are proud of our ability to pivot an idea when needed and of our initial idea creation phase, and that the idea is a low-tech, high impact solution. We utilized a variety of skills and knowledge sets to address this issue.

What I learned

We learned that real world solutions need community engagement and ideas from those living in the areas. We also learned that the more knowledge you have the better you can innovate a solution. As well, we learned alot about urban planning, environmental racism, low-income communities, and richmond’s problems and efforts around pollution.

What's next for Test

Our next step will be to develop a dual community and product study. The first test will serve as a baseline to gage the levels of CO2 and pollutant emissions in the community and how much the moss has absorbed in that time period. The second test will work to assess those with asthma and determine whether their symptoms have improved compared to the control community without the structure. Dependent upon the amount of CO2 and pollutants collected by the moss will determine how many, and where the structures must be placed in the community to receive the most effectiveness.