Introduction
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) testing is a frequently run test executed by environmental engineering to verify healthy air quality in high-risk buildings. One mid-size firm in the Illinois area executes 400+ tests annually, each one taking 5+ man hours. Hundreds of thousands of people rely on these tests to mitigate air related health issues.
I am developing IAQuick as an accessible, optimized solution to old processes in the environmental engineering industry. It is Enabling surveyors to record, process, format, and export air quality readings efficiently. IAQuick is increasing time efficiency of IAQ testing by over 85%.
Background & Problem
An environmental engineering company executes IAQ tests over 400 times per year.
Each survey goes through a multi-step process.
| Step | Description | Time (hrs) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Recording and uploading survey info | 1.5 |
| 2 | Transcription of uploaded info to Excel | 1 |
| 3 | Export and PDF creation | 1 |
| 4 | Report writing and submission to admin | 1 |
| 4.5 hrs | ||
The large number of human interactions lead to a significant potential for inefficiency and human error.
Proposition & Updated Process
I aimed to improve a process that consumed >1800 hours annually (4.5 hours * 200 sites * 2 times annually). The IAQuick app is designed to reduce the wasted time by merging and avoiding unnecessary steps.
| 1 | Data input to IAQuick app in the field | .5 |
| 2 | Local & editable data storage of survey input | 0 |
| 3 | Export PDF to email platform, ready to send | .1 |
| .6 hrs | ||
Technical Journey
Development Framework
Flutter was chosen as the development framework based on its features including:
- Ability to maintain a single codebase across platforms.
- High performance on both iOS and Android.
- Rich widget library.
- Hot reload functionality for rapid development.
Development Methodology
This application is being developed using an MVP architecture to ensure quicker time to market, market validation for future growth, and enable continuous incorporation of feedback from local firms.
Data Storage
After experimentation with CSV storage, Google Firestore, and direct storage in Excel Sheets, SQLite was determined to be the ideal database. The platform's flexibility in design and efficiency at size made it a logical choice.
Challenges
This development process gave me the opportunity to resolve a wider variety of issues from practical end-user workflow, data storage, user logins, etc. Main issues included:
- Network instability at work sites resolved by conversion to fully offline process.
- Data export and formatting issues that are in the process of being resolved by alternative data processing streams.
Future
The next phase of this project involves ironing out data storage nuances in testing phases and then moving to pilot deployment with a local engineering firm.
In the long term, this app will grow to be capable of handling many types of testing outside of IAQ.