Introduction

Optimal Monitoring is collaborating with Lightricity to offer customers a new, flexible way to monitor indoor environments: 4EverAirSense.

This compact device captures important environmental data, including carbon dioxide (CO₂), temperature, humidity and light levels. It gives organisations greater visibility of conditions across their buildings, helping them identify spaces that may be uncomfortable, poorly ventilated or operating inefficiently.

Automated energy management - A vintage black mechanical electricity meter with a rectangular display showing amp, kWh, and voltage, mounted on a wall with a label below indicating manufacturing details.

Why indoor air quality matters

People spend a significant amount of time indoors. Air quality can be affected by pollutants such as CO₂, VOCs, fine particulates, mould spores, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide.

Indoor conditions vary depending on the weather, season, occupancy, occupant behaviour and building design.

However, many organisations have limited data on CO₂, temperature, humidity and ventilation. Longer-term averages can also hide short periods of poor ventilation, overheating or high humidity.

Continuous monitoring reveals how conditions change throughout the day and across different spaces. It can help facilities teams:

      • Identify poor ventilation or elevated CO₂
      • Detect overheating and temperature variations
      • Highlight humidity levels that could contribute to condensation or mould
      • Understand how occupancy affects indoor conditions
      • Balance comfort, ventilation and energy consumption
      • Measure the impact of operational improvements

 

Powered by innovative solar technology

4EverAirSense is powered by Lightricity’s world record-breaking photovoltaic cell technology. According to Lightricity, its PV cell is six times more efficient than other cells on the market and can operate in indoor light levels below 100 lux.

This low-light performance makes the device well suited to indoor environments where natural light may be limited.

Small, lightweight and easy to install

With the miniaturised device measuring less than 10cm², 4EverAirSense has been designed to make installation simple and unobtrusive. Its lightweight construction means it can be mounted using double-sided tape, avoiding complex installation work and minimising disruption.

Short and long-range versions are available, allowing the solution to be adapted for individual rooms, entire buildings and larger multi-site estates.

Monitoring the conditions that matter

4EverAirSense monitors the following as standard:

      • CO₂
      • Temperature
      • Humidity
      • Light levels

Pressure and magnetic-field sensors can also be included where required. Lightricity can work with customers to develop additional sensors for specific buildings, equipment or operational challenges.

 

Automated energy management - A vintage black mechanical electricity meter with a rectangular display showing amp, kWh, and voltage, mounted on a wall with a label below indicating manufacturing details.

Image of the 4EverAirSense sensor hardware and the environmental conditions that it can monitor.

Turning environmental data into action

Collecting data is only valuable when it leads to meaningful action. By combining Lightricity’s innovative sensing technology with Optimal Monitoring’s expertise in energy and building performance, customers can gain a more complete understanding of how their spaces are operating.

The data can help organisations:

      • Identify areas with consistently high CO₂ levels
      • Understand temperature and humidity variations
      • Highlight underused or unnecessarily lit spaces
      • Support improvements to comfort and indoor environmental quality
      • Strengthen maintenance and operational decision-making
      • Explore relationships between indoor conditions, occupancy and energy consumption

A flexible solution for different environments

Its compact size and flexible sensor options make 4EverAirSense suitable for a wide variety of environments, including offices, healthcare buildings, schools, universities, retail sites and other multi-building estates.

Our collaboration with Lightricity brings together innovative sensing technology and Optimal Monitoring’s data-led approach to building performance. The result is a practical way for organisations to collect richer environmental data, understand their buildings more clearly and make better-informed decisions.

Automated energy management - Five electricity meters from different eras are shown in a row, from left to right: a late 1800s mechanical meter, early 1900s analogue meter, mid-1900s electric meter, late 1900s digital meter, and a modern smart meter.

A 7-day graph example of 4EverAirSense Temperature Sensor output in the Emma Platform.

From data to actionable insights

The graph above highlights repeated temperature peaks and daily fluctuations that could easily go unnoticed without continuous monitoring. By revealing when and how often these changes occur, 4EverAirSense helps facilities teams investigate overheating, adjust heating or cooling schedules, improve occupant comfort and reduce unnecessary energy consumption.

Conclusion

4EverAirSense represents a significant step forward in indoor environmental monitoring, combining advanced low-light energy harvesting with compact, flexible sensing technology. By delivering reliable, real-time insights into the conditions that affect comfort, wellbeing and energy use, it enables organisations to move from reactive management to proactive optimisation of their spaces.

To learn more about 4EverAirSense and how it could support your buildings, contact the Optimal Monitoring team.

Successfully trialled at Blenheim Palace

4EverAirSense has already been trialled in a real-world environment at Blenheim Palace.

The trial successfully demonstrated the device’s performance in everyday operating conditions. It also showed that the collected data could be integrated into both bespoke and third-party dashboards.

Both objectives were achieved, demonstrating the flexibility of 4EverAirSense and its ability to support existing building-monitoring systems.

image credits: Blenheim Palace

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Find out more

EMMA AI is a unique Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform that measures energy consumption across your individual sites, pinpointing exactly where money is being wasted and taking proactive measures to reduce the waste – all without having to install a single piece of equipment!