Sean Koopmans grew up in the fresh air of Edmonton, in Alberta, Canada. He came to Beijing in 2002 in search of adventure, and found love. He and his wife have two daughters: Lucia aged 10, and Basilia, 4. Like all Beijing parents, he worries about the effects of air pollution on his children. Instead of buying an air purifier, however, Koopmans took things to a whole new level: he designed and built his own air fresh air system, the Airmazing!
“I’m an inventor,” Sean says. “As with most inventors, we were born to create and innovate in order to solve problems. In Canada, I used to develop modern conveniences for antique cars, such as putting a 12-volt modern stereo into a six-volt vehicle system. I also developed an innovative drip irrigation system for farms.”
This inventor spirit led to his breakthrough in air cleaning technology.
“As an automotive training consultant and teacher in China, I’ve always noticed how sealed windows and poor air circulation negatively impacted class performance. My rule when teaching was to open all the windows in order to mitigate CO2, which of course makes us sleepy. With outdoor air circulation, classroom performance transformed. Lower CO2 levels were demonstrably tied to increased energy and focus. When my wife became pregnant with our first daughter, I became extremely concerned with the polluted air we were breathing. My experience working on HVAC [heating, ventilation and air conditioning] systems in Canada, and my teaching experience, told me that recirculating filtered air in a room was not optimal. This is why I did not purchase an air purifier, as most people in China concerned with pollution do. Instead, I designed my own Airmazing Fresh Air Machine. This prototype took the pm2.5 in a 205sqm apartment from 200 micrograms per cubic meter to zero within 30 minutes, maintaining near-zero pm levels, with low electricity requirements. “
So, what is it that makes Airmazing fresh air machines more effective than air purifiers?
“Air purifiers can only reduce high pm atmospheres to lower levels,” says Koopmans. “You’ll notice on an above-200pm day, that an air purifier will still have a reading of 40-50. The Airmazing Fresh Air Machine takes levels to zero or just above. Also, the Airmazing brings in and filters outdoor air, where other machines recycle, producing a stale indoor-air environment with high CO2 levels.”
Koopmans lists other benefits of his machine, with the passion of a true inventor. “The Airmazing is so much more rugged than air purifiers or other fresh air machines,” he tells us. “The HEPA filters in our customers’ Airmazing Fresh Air Machines have lasted over one year! Also, because of its large diameter fan, it’s whisper quiet, especially compared to mass market purifiers. But most importantly, it can even overcome range hood extraction fans. ”
“Why are range fans an issue?” we ask. “Don’t forget that if you’re cooking, and you have the range hood fan running, it’s sucking out 800 to 1,600 cubic meters of air every hour,” Koopmans replies. “That means you’re sucking in polluted air from outside, because there’s a vacuum that has to be filled. This makes running a conventional purifier while you’re cooking totally useless.
Meanwhile, the Airmazing Black Walnut Fresh Air Machine puts out 2,000 cubic meters per hour, so it can overcome the air flow and still maintain positive air pressure. Polluted air won’t leak in, as happens with purifiers or other fresh air machines.”
For more information, or to purchase an Airmazing Fresh Air Machine, visit www.airmazing.co or www.airmazing.cn.
Photos: Kipp Whittaker