The Minnesota legislature has approved a landmark bill that funds a pilot program for monitoring IAQ in several Minnesota schools. On Thursday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is expected to sign the Environment and Natural Resources Finance bill, one that includes $300,000 for the “Continuous Indoor Air Quality Monitoring in Schools” project.

“This is the first time in U.S. history that public money has been spent on continuous, real-time IAQ monitoring in public schools,” said Bryan Reichel, president and CEO PureChoice, the company that developed the monitoring technology. “The IAQ monitoring industry has just come of age.”

The project, which begins next month, will identify IAQ and energy conservation improvements, utilizing PureChoice’s PureTrac Air Monitoring System and a team of industry experts. “When parents and facility managers from schools in other states finally understand how easy it is to conserve energy and at the same time, achieve a sustainable indoor air quality standard through the use of continuous, real-time IAQ monitoring,” said Reichel, “the state legislatures and large, progressive building control companies will be bombarded with requests for real-time, continuous monitoring.”

The project is modular and can be easily adapted to initiate similar studies in other states. PureChoice is based in Lakeville, MN, with strategic partnerships across North America.