There is a demand for Green Buildings lately, which focus on the comfort and health of the building’s occupants. Energy efficiency was the original target for most of the green buildings certifications programs, but they have evolved, and they now focus on many more aspects of the indoor environments. Indoor Air Quality has become the number one priority for many green building certifications, and in order to be certified, there are strict rules for ventilation and AQ monitoring.

Here comes Kaiterra Sensedge Mini, which is a RESET certified indoor air quality monitor. The Sensedge Mini is a calibrated real-time monitor that has to be placed in buildings that wish to obtain a Green Buildings certification.

The Sensedge Mini uses two removable sensor modules to replace the traditional, costly calibration processes for long-term accuracy with minimal maintenance.

Technical Specifications

• Calibrated PM2.5 Sensor
• Calibrated VOCs Sensor
• Calibrated Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Sensor
• Calibrated Temperature Sensor
• Calibrated Relative Humidity Sensor
• USB Type-C
• Wi-Fi
• RS-485 4-pin port (low voltage direct wiring for power, or for communication)
• Ethernet (Power over Ethernet POE Coming soon)
• BACnet (Coming soon)
• Cloud Storage and 1-h Local Storage

Hardware

As I have mentioned before the removable sensor modules are calibrated and they come with a lab certification where you can read the test results between a reference monitor and your particular modules.

I didn’t disassemble the device but the PM sensor looks similar to the Plantower PMS5003. However, I think they use the Plantower PMSA003. They are almost identical with different airflow holes and size as the PMSA003 is smaller.

From the calibration sheet, I can see that the CO2 sensor is very accurate and it is placed in the main unit rather than in a module. I don’t know which brand/model is as it is hard to see inside.

The VOC sensor module in comparison tests that I did against other VOC sensors makes me believe that it uses the Sensirion SGP30, again this is a speculation of mine. Interestingly, the module has a fan to draw air inside the sensor, something uncommon but good.

Dashboard

The web dashboard is available for all devices Desktops/Tablets/Phones, and it is divided into three categories.

My Devices where users can see with a glance all the available devices and their corresponding AQ index.

Compare where users can compare different devices between them. For example, you can compare the AQ information between rooms or floors if the building is big.

Kiosk View where users can create public URLs in order to display air quality information in buildings, for example, in the lobby of a hotel or at the front desk of an office building as it is required by some Green Building certifications. You can merge all available monitors or have separate AQ information for each monitor. Finally, there is an option to include the outdoor AQ information too, which is quite handy. Feel free to browse the image gallery below with all the combinations.

My Experience

The installation process of the device is easy if you choose the Ethernet route, which is plug and play. If you wish to connect the device to the cloud via the WiFi then you have to download a special software called “Kaiterra Configuration Tool” from Kaiterra’s website in order to introduce the WiFi network information like SSID and password. The software is available for macOS and Windows, and it offers more device settings.

At first, I though it uses an eCO2, which means equivalent CO2 from the VOC sensor via an algorithm, but I ruled out that hypothesis after many tests. I tested the device against many other indoor AQ monitors and I am happy with the accuracy of the measurements for all the sensors.

Although the device has some LEDs for system status indications, they are hidden once you place the cover. I wish it had one small Air Quality LED available and visible. In Kiosk View, I wish all the URLs the users had created were saved in a list for access later.

Conclusion

The Sensedge Mini is a great and accessible choice for those that wish to get or not air quality certification by RESET, LEED, WELL, and others. The removable sensor modules reduce maintenance costs and ensure accuracy, something really important when you want to offer comfort and health to the building’s occupants. Nowadays, and due to the pandemic of COVID-19, it is important to keep ventilation rates optimal in indoor environments by checking CO2 concentrations, the Sensedge Mini can solve this problem.

Watch Virtual Demo Video (2 min) here