From Air Data to Air Control: Indoor Air Quality for Assisted Living
Overture Indoor Air Quality Monitoring for Assisted Living Centers
In assisted living, air quality is a resident-safety issue. Older residents, and anyone with a respiratory or cardiac condition or a compromised immune system, are the most sensitive people in the building to fine particles, high CO2, and damp air that grows mold. Overture® puts a Room Sensor in each space, tracks the air in real time, and runs the right equipment when a level moves out of range. Your team sees current conditions across the whole facility on one screen and gets the documented record that supports your compliance and accreditation reviews.
The two air problems that matter most in assisted living
Two pillars drive resident health and building safety. Overture tracks both and acts on both.
PM2.5 - the health load
PM2.5 is particulate matter 2.5 micrometers or smaller, roughly 30 times thinner than a human hair. Particles that small slip past the body's defenses, reach deep into the lungs, and cross into the bloodstream, which is why PM2.5 worsens asthma, bronchitis, COPD, and cardiovascular disease. Research from Max Sherman (2024) attributes about 80% of the chronic health harm from indoor air to fine particles. The EPA limits are 35 µg/m3 over 24 hours and 9.0 µg/m3 as an annual average, and for a frail population the target is to stay well under those numbers.
Sources inside a facility include:
- Cooking on gas stovetops and other appliances
- Burning candles
- Resuspended dust from cleaning and foot traffic
- Outdoor smoke and traffic pulled in through the building envelope (wildfire smoke is a growing one)
Dew point and relative humidity - mold, infection, and durability
Moisture is the pillar most assisted-living pages ignore, and it is the one that causes mold and supports infection. The physically primary variable is dew point, not relative humidity: when a surface in the building sits below the dew point of the air around it, water vapor condenses on it and mold follows. ASHRAE 62.1-2022 Section 5.12.1 limits indoor dew point to 60 °F, occupied and unoccupied, as a moisture and microbial-growth limit. Overture tracks dew point and relative humidity in each space and, when it climbs, runs the right equipment (boost an ERV, run a make-up air fan, or signal a dehumidifier) before condensation starts.
Relative humidity in the 40 to 60% band is the range associated with the lowest survival of influenza and other enveloped viruses in room air, and with the least drying of the airways that defend against them. Below 40% both get worse; above 60% mold and dust mites take over. Overture holds a room in the band by running the dehumidifier or the ventilation as the readings call for it.
How Overture works - measure, then run the equipment
The Overture Room Sensor is a small, unobtrusive device that plugs into a standard outlet. No HVAC retrofit, no rewiring. Each Room Sensor tracks CO2, PM2.5, TVOC, relative humidity, and temperature in real time and reports it to one dashboard, so your team sees every resident room, dining room and corridor at once.
What sets Overture apart is that it does not stop at a reading. When a level moves out of range, the system acts through a Smart Plug or a Wall Control:
- Turn on a bath fan or range hood to clear a spike
- Put an ERV into boost mode to bring in fresh air
- Run a dehumidifier when dew point climbs
- Start a make-up air fan or the forced-air blower to circulate and filter air
A monitor shows you a number. Overture measures the room and runs the equipment: the bath fan, the ERV, the dehumidifier, the filter call. That is the difference, and it is built in. Overture can also point you to the right filtration and dehumidification equipment when a space needs it. To be clear, the Room Sensor does not clean the air itself - it measures the air and triggers the equipment that does.
Built for a building, not a single room
For a handful of locations, the Overture app runs the whole system from your phone. For a multi building operation, the web-based interface gives your facilities team one view of every room, every alert, and every equipment call. The two work together as your footprint grows.
Get Started
Contact us today and get your free IAQ Room Sensor, one per business while supplies last. Want to cover a whole facility? Book a call with Overture and we will map a rollout for your building.
