Air Quality Monitoring

Pilot Objective

To collect hyperlocal granular air quality readings in select Equity Investment Eligible Community (EIEC) neighborhoods across the city of Chicago. Target locations for this pilot include Pilsen, Little Village, and the Southeast side of Chicago. Monitoring will run throughout 2025 with data being accessible on a monthly basis. The goal is to identify where the need for electrification is greatest and where to prioritize investments to improve public health and quality of life.

Participant Characteristics

The Air Quality Pilot was led by RHP Risk Management Inc. (RHP), in collaboration with a team that included:

Sensor vendors Aclima, PurpleAir, and Clarity Movement (“Clarity”)
Environmental consultant Mostardi Platt
Researchers at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and from the University of Memphis, and
Community and environmental organizations from the pilot area, to support selection of monitoring locations for a total of 60 sensors and who will also lead the recruitment, selection and training of indoor monitoring participants. Community and environmental organizations include Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Neighbors for Environmental Justice, and Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization serving residents in the west side of Chicago, and Alliance of the Southeast, Southeast Environmental Taskforce, and People for Community Recovery serving residents in the south/southeast side of Chicago.

Pilot Status

The Air Quality Monitoring pilot has concluded, and the pilot team has delivered the final report. The executive summary is available here.

While the pilot has formally concluded, a team, led by UIC and the City of Chicago, is continuing work on building the public-facing dashboard centralizing pollutant, indoor, and outdoor air quality data collected through monitors installed through this pilot, along with data from a broader network of sensors installed across the city. Ongoing work also includes recruitment for hosting indoor air quality sensors, which is needed to begin baseline monitoring through community-based partners. Next steps for post-pilot work include increasing indoor host participation, securing Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, completing baseline data collection, finalizing the pilot’s comprehensive report, and hosting community and media events to share results and introduce the dashboard.

Pilot Outcomes

This pilot collected granular, localized air quality data in EIECs in order to inform ComEd’s BE strategies, align with environmental justice goals, and validate the anticipated air quality benefits of electrification. Additionally, this pilot offered:

Increased resolution of air quality measurements in targeted communities, through the utilization of mobile and fixed air quality sensors;
Increased awareness of the impact of beneficial electrification on indoor and outdoor air quality, specifically highlighting the potential benefits within EIECs;
Where feasible, ideation of potential integration of air quality monitoring to support ComEd Energy Efficiency customer programs and other BE pilots to demonstrate value;
Generation of data to identify areas where the need for electrification in these communities is greatest from an air quality perspective, and where to prioritize investments to improve public health and quality of life in EIECs.

Schedule

BE Pilot	Lead Vendor	Partners	Award Date	Pilot In-Field Start Date	Pilot In-Field End Date
Air Quality Monitoring	RHP Risk	Aclima, Clarity, Purple Air, UIC, UIUC, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Southeast Environmental Taskforce, Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization, Alliance of the Southeast	November 2024	February 2025	December 2025