Indoor Air Quality Monitoring in Wisconsin

Wisconsin homes and commercial buildings face indoor air quality challenges throughout the year. Long, cold winters keep buildings closed for extended periods, while humid summers, changing outdoor conditions, everyday occupancy, and episodic wildfire smoke can all affect the indoor environment.

Overture IAQ brings indoor air quality monitoring together with automated building controls. Manufactured by Broan, Overture™ continuously monitors key indoor conditions and can trigger connected ventilation and HVAC equipment in response. Instead of relying solely on a fixed ventilation schedule, the system helps homes and light commercial facilities take action based on measured conditions.

What Does Overture™ Monitor?

Overture™ monitors CO2, PM2.5, TVOC, humidity, and temperature. These measurements help users understand changing conditions and determine when connected building systems should respond.

CO2 can serve as a useful indicator of ventilation needs and changing occupancy. PM2.5 measurements give users visibility into fine particulate matter, including changes that may occur during cooking, vaping, smoke events, and other activities. Humidity and temperature data also help building owners understand moisture conditions that could put building materials at risk.

Home Indoor Air Quality Monitoring

Homeowners across Wisconsin can use Overture™ to better understand how daily activities and seasonal conditions affect their homes. For residential applications of 1 to 10 rooms, users can view information through the Overture app. Room Sensors continuously measure indoor conditions, while compatible Smart Plugs and Wall Controls help connect those measurements with equipment capable of responding.

Commercial Indoor Air Quality Monitoring

Commercial buildings present a different challenge because conditions can vary substantially between rooms, buildings, and locations. A school classroom may experience rapid occupancy changes. An assisted living property may need consistent oversight across many spaces. Manufacturing facilities, offices, dorms, military housing, healthcare centers, and strip malls can each have distinct ventilation demands.

Overture IAQ supports commercial indoor air quality monitoring with a web-based interface designed for larger deployments, including applications ranging from 50 to 500 sites. Facilities teams can use a Google Maps interface and centralized dashboard to oversee multiple locations.

Smarter Ventilation Based on Actual Conditions

Traditional ventilation approaches can operate equipment according to predetermined schedules or formulas regardless of what is happening inside a particular space. Overture™ takes a demand-based approach by using measured indoor conditions to determine when compatible equipment should take action.

Research conducted by TRC through the CalNEXT program demonstrates the potential of this approach. The study evaluated smart ventilation across 17 apartments at 2 multifamily sites. At one site, smart ventilation required outdoor-air fan operation only 17% to 34% of the time to maintain acceptable indoor air quality. Energy modeling showed potential annual savings ranging from 450 kWh to 1,400 kWh per dwelling unit compared with continuously operating the outdoor-air fan.

Frequently Asked Questions About Overture™

Explore common questions about Overture™ and its applications throughout Wisconsin.

Q: What Does Overture™ Measure?

A: Overture™ monitors CO2, PM2.5, TVOC, humidity, and temperature. Tracking these conditions helps users understand changes within individual rooms and determine when connected ventilation or HVAC equipment may need to take action.

Q: How Does Overture™ Respond to Changes in Indoor Air Quality?

A: Room Sensors measure indoor conditions, and Overture™ can trigger connected equipment when action is needed. Depending on the system configuration, this can include activating a bath fan, ERV boost, range hood, dehumidifier, make-up air system, or forced-air blower.

Q: Why Is Indoor Air Quality Monitoring Important in Wisconsin?

A: Wisconsin experiences significant seasonal changes, from cold winters that keep homes closed for long periods to warmer, more humid summer conditions. Wildfire smoke can also affect outdoor air quality in the region. Indoor air quality monitoring gives building occupants and facility teams greater visibility into conditions inside their specific spaces throughout these changes.

Q: Can Overture™ Be Installed in an Existing Wisconsin Home?

A: Yes. Overture™ can be used for residential retrofits as well as new construction. The appropriate configuration depends on the home's existing ventilation and HVAC equipment.

Q: What Types of Wisconsin Commercial Properties Can Use Overture™?

A: Overture™ can be used in a range of light commercial settings, including manufacturing facilities, strip malls, schools, offices, assisted living communities, dorms, military housing, and healthcare centers. It can also support property managers overseeing large multifamily portfolios.

Q: Can Overture™ Help Property Managers Identify Moisture Concerns?

A: Overture™ tracks humidity and temperature, giving property managers greater visibility into moisture-related conditions across monitored spaces. This information can help teams recognize conditions that warrant attention and trigger compatible equipment, such as a dehumidifier, when the system is configured to do so.

Q: Does Overture™ Run on Batteries?

A: Overture™ uses plug-in power. This eliminates routine battery replacement as part of operating the system and can be particularly useful for commercial and multifamily applications with numerous Room Sensors.

Q: Does Overture™ Include a Warranty?

A: Yes. Overture™ parts and hardware are backed by a one-year warranty, giving residential and commercial customers additional support for their indoor air quality monitoring systems.

Control Indoor Air Quality in Wisconsin

Indoor conditions change with occupancy, weather, building operation, and everyday activities. Indoor air quality monitoring gives you the information needed to understand those changes, while Overture™ creates a path from measurement to automated action.

Whether you need home indoor air quality monitoring for a single Wisconsin residence or commercial indoor air quality monitoring across a large property portfolio, Overture IAQ can help you develop a solution suited to your building and its ventilation equipment. Contact us today to learn more about Overture™.