D. Besadío DUVI 03/02/2026
The indoor air quality (IAQ) of a building, whether a private home or a public space (hospitals, schools, workplaces…), is essential for comfort, energy efficiency, and people’s health, but achieving it properly is not always easy. Aware of this reality, the Energy Technology Group of Cintecx, the Research Center for Technologies, Energy and Industrial Processes, has just launched a project funded with 390,000 euros from the Xunta de Galicia’s Ignicia program, aimed at finding solutions to the significant limitations of current systems, which do not allow a three‑dimensional and predictive representation of environmental quality parameters and which have high installation cost and complexity.
Titled Monitoring of Indoor Air Quality and 3D Representation with Artificial Intelligence, the project is led by Professor Enrique Granada Álvarez, and the team is completed by fellow professor Pablo Eguía Oller and entrepreneur Miguel González Maquieira, co‑founder of several technological projects.
“IAQIA3 responds to the challenges posed by current systems with an innovative technology based on Artificial Intelligence that enables dynamic, 3D and time‑based modeling of indoor air quality and its integration with building management systems (BMS),” explains the project leader, who also emphasizes that this makes it possible to detect inefficiencies in ventilation systems or adapt in real time to changing circumstances derived from how users make use of the building.
Rapid deployment without complex infrastructure
The solution combines low‑cost autonomous devices to measure parameters such as carbon dioxide, temperature, and relative humidity, with the option to incorporate other sensors, together with an advanced AI model capable of generating spatial and temporal models from point measurements. It also uses efficient communications and a low‑consumption design that enables rapid deployment without complex infrastructure.
“Unlike conventional systems, IAQIA3 not only measures, but models and predicts the evolution of air quality at every point in the space, reducing the number of sensors needed, enabling real‑time corrective actions, and ensuring compatibility with industrial protocols such as BACnet, Modbus, or Zigbee,” adds Granada.
Ideal for hospitals, shopping centers, gyms…
The target market includes hospitals, shopping centers, office buildings, transport terminals, or gyms, and the proposal has the support of numerous sector stakeholders. The project will culminate in the creation of a spin‑off specialized in IAQ solutions, with a business model based on the commercialization of AI algorithms for 4D visualization.
“The Ignicia funding will allow us to validate and scale our indoor monitoring device in real environments, accelerating its progress from TRL 7 to TRL 9,” highlights Granada, who also stresses that, at the same time, it facilitates the launch of the spin‑off, the industrialization of the device, and the consolidation of the commercial strategy. “Moreover, it acts as a catalyst to attract private investment and key partnerships,” Granada emphasizes.