IoT-based Air Pollution Monitoring System for Environmental Impact Assessment of Construction Operations

Construction operations are a major emission source of criteria air pollutants (CAPs), which include nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), lead, and sulfur... [ view full abstract ]

Construction operations are a major emission source of criteria air pollutants (CAPs), which include nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), lead, and sulfur oxides (SOx). CAPs are detrimental to the ambient air quality, and they can cause immediate and serious damage to the health of workforces. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the pollutant emission levels and assess the impacts on the air quality and the risks of workforces’ exposure. However, in current practices, the impacts caused by construction operations are significantly underestimated and neglected. This paper introduces a low-cost IoT (Internet of Things)-based air pollution monitoring system developed based on Arduino boards and micro sensors. The environment parameters selected to be monitored include the major CAPs, meteorological conditions as well as noises at the jobsite, which are transmitted to the server in real time. Accordingly, construction professionals can assess the environmental impacts of the ongoing construction operations and track what pollutants the workforce are exposed to and take actions to protect workers from harms in a timely manner. The proposed system has been tested on a real construction site in Canada. The results reveal that the system can provide an effective air quality monitoring and assessment tool for the construction industry.