Keeping abreast of the latest technology to address air pollution

Olly Johnson
25 January 2017

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After severe air pollution warnings in London this week, Olly Johnson discusses how we should be thinking about air quality.

As with all health crises, emotions run especially high when some of those most effected are children. Air quality is an issue that has come into greater focus for the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who on the back of the most recent episode of severe air pollution exceedance has pledged to commission environmental audits on schools in the areas most at risk in order to identify strategies that will reduce the toxicity of the air. A press release from the mayor’s office cites "no engine idling schemes" and moving school entrances as possible solutions. These ideas seem practical, but not particularly inspired.

Of course, there is always a place for this kind of ‘dumb’ solution to environmental problems – there is little point reinventing the wheel - though rubber particles from cars and lorries can contribute to particulate matter levels, so perhaps some wheels could be reinvented! An effective proven solution is always preferable to a technologically pioneering product that lacks proper credentials and pushing for innovation for its own sake, where more traditional approaches would deliver the right outcomes, should be avoided. However, the "experienced transport and environmental consultancy" that wins the mayor’s commission should be encouraged to consider the wealth of innovation that is currently underway in the field, including photocatalytic treatment of road surfaces and rigorous biophilic design (incorporating specific plant life into cities that decreases air pollution as well as creating a more nature-filled cityscape deriving psychological benefits to urban dwellers).

Air quality improvement is such a pressing issue that consultants feel not only a strong social requirement to ensure that their knowledge of the latest technology in this area is well up to scratch, they also feel an equally strong obligation from their clients. However, like all humans, we can get stuck in habits, repeating methods that achieved results in the past. There is a need for continual knowledge sharing between those that give clients' recommendations and those that implement their products and efforts that decrease environmental risk.

So, how can the ‘proven route’ be avoided? What can engineering and environmental consultancies do to understand the latest developments in products and services so that their recommendations appropriately combine the pragmatic bread-and-butter solutions and the new innovations?

One key technique is to build effective networks instead of complacent ones. Sharing best practice among similar organisations can be useful but commercial competitiveness and a closeness in outlook might inhibit innovative thinking. Creating an effective network to ensure that you have the latest tech knowledge, in turn enabling the delivery of the best service to clients, is certainly a challenge and there is a hierarchy of proactivity to be considered.

Trade fairs for product manufacturers and service providers is an obvious starting point. In the environmental sector, the new Contamination Expo, RWM as well as events that Brownfield Briefing and Edie run are good examples. Consultants often bring a fresh perspective to panel sessions at these kinds of event – get a slot and tell product developers what your needs are. Keeping up to date with relevant trade media is also a low-hanging fruit. Both practices should be considered bottom of the hierarchy – more passive but essential activities.

The middle rung on the proactivity hierarchy includes engaged involvement in proactive trade associations. Environmental products and services organisation EIC and consultancy and engineering body ACE have recently opted to bring their members into far greater contact in the water management field, inviting both technology developers and consultants to come into close contact to build these kinds of networks. All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs), such as the APPG on air quality, also provide the opportunity to get to grips with the latest thinking and product development in the field.

On the tertiary level of proactivity is setting up bodies whose explicit aim is to link up consultants with product and service firms. Organisations like the UK Flood Partnership have been formed by a diverse mix of companies that all have a role to play in their field. In the case of the UK Flood Partnership, each have recognised that the solutions to flood management are multi-faceted and complimentary. A complete offer that thinks holistically about these solutions (from flood mapping to building design; temporary barriers to utility resilience) at the outset is a much more attractive business offering to a client, as well as a better way to prevent flooding.

The way to deliver for our clients is to ensure that we can make the right recommendations to their environmental or engineering problems, but also to make the right recommendations we need to have a close understanding of the latest technology and act to include them in our offering. To achieve this, consultants can be more or less proactive as suits a broader strategy, but ignoring productive offerings from other parts of the industry may come at our peril.

Olly Johnson is a Policy Executive at the Environmental Industries Commission (EIC).