Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

Origen Air is a Victoria BC based clean tech start-up, incorporated on July 8, 2019. The current product is the Sentinel, a refrigerator sized, plant-based air purifier, including our genetically enhanced Golden Pothos Ivy, virus-killing UV-C light technology and an ultra-high def digital display. Through ad revenue splits and fleet leases, we supply and maintain the air purification hardware, software, and data so that operators can re-instill brand trust and consumer confidence.The company's upcoming solution, The Canopy, will escalate the air purification capacity of The Sentinelthrough roof-top terrarium based systems. Our large-scale, plant-based, air purification system will naturally purify inbound air for building HVAC systems. The primary benefits of The Canopy will be the removal of airborne microscopic carcinogens from a building's central air supply. Through a circular economy of safe,clean air, The Canopy will reduce the quantity of outside air that must be heated / cooled and filtered on an hourly basis. The Canopy will improve the health, safety and energy efficiency of the buildings' entire HVAC systems.Origen's history of carrying out R&D has been focused on determining the air filtering capacity of genetically modified pothos Ivy (Epipremnum aureum) and hence their potential to be used in a mechanical biofilter.Progress on this front can be summarized into the following categories: (1) research and design; (2) physical construction of the Sentinel; (3) the generation of transgenic pothos ivy; and (4) performance testing. Thefocus of this project will be on performance testing and evaluation in a real world environment by measuring the removal rates of toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, toluene, and chloroform. This will include the design of a testing chamber to allow for uptake studies of select VOCs using The Canopy air