#91 - Healthy Buildings India 2025 Part 2: With Researchers and Industry

Welcome back to Air Quality Matters as we continue our special series from Healthy Buildings 2025 in Hyderabad, India. In this second instalment, we dive deep into the perspectives of both emerging researchers and industry leaders who are shaping the future of indoor environmental quality in one of the world's most dynamic regions. The Next Generation of Research First, we hear from three exceptional young scientists tackling frontier challenges in air quality. Sachin Dhawan from IIT Delhi reveals groundbreaking work developing automated pollen samplers – technology that could finally help India understand why seasonal asthma peaks coincide with pollen seasons, despite having virtually no monitoring data. As he points out, while pollen allergies affect 50% of Europeans, India can't even quantify its problem without proper measurement tools. Sandeep Budde shares a deeply personal journey from watching his coal miner father cough through nights to investigating how pharmaceutical industries release toxic gases into neighbourhoods during 2-4 AM when atmospheric conditions mask their activities. His work creating digital twins of neighbourhoods reveals a shocking truth: wealthier residents in larger, partitioned homes face higher pollutant exposure than those in simpler dwellings due to negative pressure zones that concentrate contaminants. Aprisia Murran from Indonesia brings an architect's perspective on post-occupancy evaluation, driven by her own asthma that mysteriously disappeared during two years studying in the Netherlands. Her work with vulnerable communities reveals how creativity and collective action can overcome financial constraints in addressing overheating and ventilation challenges. Industry at the Frontlines The industry panel features three leaders tackling different aspects of India's air quality challenge. Karthikeyan Elumalai from Testo India emphasises the critical gap in validation – buildings are commissioned but rarely verified to perform as designed. Kapil Kapoor from Vayugard Climate Tech highlights the shift from reactive HEPA filtration to predictive, IoT-enabled solutions that address the reality that we breathe 11,000 liters of air daily. Rahul Kappor from Camfil India champions the concept of total cost of ownership, noting that while filters represent only 15% of lifecycle costs, energy consumption accounts for 80%. The Road Ahead All participants converge on key themes: the desperate need for continuous monitoring rather than intermittent testing, the importance of maintenance as a professional discipline, and the power of regulation to drive change. As India's disposable income rises and awareness grows, the next five years promise a transformation from cost-sensitive to solution-sensitive markets. The conversation reveals both universal challenges – the disconnect between design and operation, the invisibility of air quality problems – and uniquely regional ones, from Delhi's seasonal pollution crises to the challenge of serving 1.4 billion people across diverse climates and cultures. Yet what emerges most powerfully is the passion and innovation driving change, whether through cutting-edge pollen detection, community-based retrofits, or reimagining filtration as a health investment rather than a maintenance cost. This episode offers a rare window into how the world's most populous nation is tackling its air quality crisis through a powerful combination of grassroots innovation, scientific advancement, and industry evolution. The Air Quality Matters Podcast in Partnership with Zehnder Group - Farmwood - Eurovent- Aico - Aereco - Ultra Protect - The One Take Podcast in Partnership with SafeTraces and Inbiot Do check them out in the links and on the Air Quality Matters Website. If you haven't checked out the YouTube channel its here. Do subscribe if you can, lots more content is coming soon.