Herman Pihltrad, COO, Blueair

Looking ahead, Blueairs all next-generation air purifiers will have IoT connectivity designed to make the invisible contamination visible and thereby empower consumers, younger or older, to better understand their surrounding air quality, detect airborne dangers and do something about removing the pollutants, shares Herman Pihltrad, COO, Blueair exclusively with Elets News Network (ENN)

Please walk us through the key health benefits of air purifiers manufactured by Blueair. How does your product stand apart from the competitors in the Indian market?

Outdoor and indoor air pollution are two sides of the same coin, but it is easier for us to do something about our indoor air to reduce it being contaminated by dust and chemical particles or germs that are bad for our health and wellbeing. Independent agencies, such as the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the World Health Organization (WHO), have attributed 80 per cent of all cancers to environmental rather than genetic factors, including exposure to the carcinogenic chemicals found in household cleaning products, such as liquid cleaners, as well as air fresheners, paints and varnishes. WHO says nearly 3 per cent of the global burden of disease is due to breathing polluted air indoors, where we spend up to 90 per cent of our time, which is a scary thought.

There are several factors that help Blueair stand out from our competitors. One of the factors is that since our launch 20 years ago we have remained one of the very few companies to be solely 100 per cent focused on innovating, manufacturing and marketing air purifiers. This gives Blueair an unbeatable understanding of the problems and extent of how to best tackle polluted indoor air. We are totally committed to work ceaselessly to bring our air technology know how to a wider public. Thanks to our high performance technology, energy economy and eco-friendly design, millions of people around the world today rely on a Blueair air purifier to work efficiently and silently to remove up to 99.97 per cent of allergens, asthma triggers, viruses, bacteria and other airborne pollutants.

Do you think there is now increased awareness about air purifiers as such, as their key benefits have been popularly disputed by many sceptics in the healthcare ecosystem?

There will always be people who are skeptical of new developments. For that reason, at Blueair we believe in giving people accurate information about the overall issue of bad indoor air quality and the performance of our air purifiers that can allow them to make a considered choice about the efficiency of our technology and how it can help them combat the negative health effects of polluted indoor air. Today millions of people around the world rely on Blueairs air purifiers to remove potentially harmful contaminants from their indoor air. Blueairs air purifiers have won top results for their efficiency in purifying indoor from several independent and national testing organisations, such as the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) in the Unites States (US) and Chinas Consumer Protection Agency, which have awarded Blueairs air purifiers top marks for delivering the clean air we claim they do.

Blueair Aware air quality monitor monitors indoor Blueair Friend App air quality and senses particles and VOCs

The air purifier market in India has grown from almost nothing to over Rs 150 crore ($23.45 million) in the last few years and has been predicted to be as big as the water purification industry. Please share your opinion.

Water and air are essential to life on our planet. Looking around us, it is pretty obvious that we humans have not been very good at protecting these vital resources from the ravages of pollution. And, there is now substantial scientific evidence that shows the potential long-term damage caused by breathing polluted air. As people become more aware of the problems related to poor air quality, it is only natural they will increasingly seek to protect themselves. So, yes, it is very likely that the air purifier market in India will grow substantially in the coming years.

With the growing threat of respiratory diseases due to increased pollution in India, most of the middle-class residents are now in search of alternative solutions, particularly air purifiers. In the light of this statement, are you focusing merely on mid-level and premium products or plan to diversify into mass products to ensure growth in the emerging markets like India?

Blueair is a premium brand in all its 64 markets around the world. From the start 20 years ago, our focus has been 100 per cent on innovating, designing, manufacturing and marketing simply the best air purifiers in the marketplace. Due to our commitment to no substitute for excellence, we generally are at the top end of each price category in which we compete. The market is constantly evolving of course. Today, Indian consumers can choose between 100 different air purifier brands, but not all are created equal in terms of secure performance. Blueair stands out of the crowd because of our sole focus on indoor air purification and 20-year history of innovation, which means we are a tried and tested brand today with a proven track record in delivering people clean air at home and work.

What are the key deterrents and challenges in operating a market as challenging as India? Do you think with the growing focus of the Government of India on improving Indias position in the global ease of doing business list, you will be able to trickle down your solutions to smaller cities and facilities?

India is a fast-growing market for the air purifying industry. At Blueair, we are working to double our market size every year. We established Blueairs own organisation in India almost 2 years ago and our key focus to date has been on developing our position in key metropolitan markets, such as Delhi and Mumbai. However, we are expanding into tier-II cities, such as Pune, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad; our aim is to continue that expansion going forward. In addition, Blueair is also available on online portals, such as Amazon, Snapdeal and eBay.

Blueair has been consistently underlining the need to enshrine clean air as an internationally recognised human right in the Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations (UN). What measures have been enunciated by Blueair to realise this goal?

We believe passionately that clean air is a basic human right. At our launch in 1996 and during the first few years, we saw our mission as one of making the best machines in the world to purify the indoor air of all the nasty particles, dust, chemicals, allergens and germs that could threaten peoples health. But as time passed, we soon came to realize that there was a bigger story to our mission. We realised our job was not just to make a better piece of machinery, but to also deliver enhanced health and well-being to our customers. That is why we invest constantly in research and development (R&D), as well as in promoting information about the state of the air we all breath with the aim of giving consumers the knowledge that will help them make the right choices to protect their health and that of people they care about.

Do you think the air purification industry will be one of the key elements of the entire Smart Healthcare, which is the goal of healthcare stakeholders?

Smart technology is key to optimizing the way society addresses healthcare in the near future.

Blueair was one of the very first air purifier companies several years ago to launch a fully integrated Wi-Fi-connected air purification system for home and office capable of detecting and combatting airborne germ, chemical and particle attacks. For example, the Blueair Sense+ air purifier uses wireless technology to access the information being harvested by the remote Blueair Aware air quality monitor, which monitors indoor air quality and senses particles and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) while sending updates in real-time to a smartphone using the Blueair Friend App. Blueairs Friend App can either automatically adjust the Sense+ airflow speed or permit manual control.

Looking ahead, Blueairs all next -generation air purifiers will have Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity designed to make the invisible contamination visible and thereby empower consumers, younger or older, to better understand their surrounding air quality, detect airborne dangers and do something about removing the pollutants,

Finally, I believe that air purifiers are fast becoming as natural a part of the home or office environment as vacuum cleaners are today due to the growing awareness about the hazards posed to human health and well-being by contaminated indoor air. There is little we can do in the short term about polluted air on the street, but we can do something positive to make sure we are breathing air as pure as nature intended indoors, at home, work and play by simply investing in a premium air purifier such as those made by Blueair.

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