Plants Power Bel-Air, a New Air Filtering System by Mathieu Lehanneur
by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona, Spain on 12. 6.07
We featured plants that improve indoor air quality before but these modern looking objects, designed by Parisian designer Mathieu Lehanneur, take air-filtering a step further. Bel-Air is ‘a domestic spacecraft’ whose live plant absorb the toxic compounds in the air. Dirty air is sucked in, filtered by the plant and out comes purified air.
The toxic compounds derive from the manufactured products around us, who, even after years of being made, keep giving off tiny particles of the material they consist of. Such a material, say from your wooden office table for example, could be formaldehyde. This commonly used chemical compound is listed by the World Health Organisation as ‘definite carcinogenic’, as it explains in the Scenario description of Bel-Air. What Bel-Air does is take in the air and filter it through the roots and leaves of its containing plant to eliminate the toxic compounds. It uses the same 5 plants that NASA has identified in the 80's for being very efficient in absorbing toxins.
Bel-Air consists of a transparent (Pyrex) and white (aluminum) box, through which you can see the plant, and a fan. Its advantages to other filtering systems: no filters to change or to clog up as the plant basically replaced these. The plant in addition to keeping its decorative properties becomes a more functional object in your home. Currently only available as a prototype, you can see Bel-Air at Le Laboratoire in Paris until January 2008, after which it will travel to MoMA in New York to form part of the exhibition 'Design and the Elastic Mind' starting in February. Via: Core77 ::Mathieu Lehanneur
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Uh, why can't the plant just be in a pot?
This is my least-liked type of treehugger entry. A product, that appears "green" to some, yet is really superfluous.
Why not just get the plant and a normal pot for the plant instead of the excessive glass top and fan?
The formaldehyde and other possibly harmful compounds in the air are going to be mixed throughout the air in your home anyway by diffusion, thus allowing the plant to filter them out of the air.
So, the fan, and the enclosed plant holder, are unnecessary and wasteful.
Cute, but seems a waste of resources and electricity. Just let the plant do what it naturally does, without being "cyborged" with an electric fan, 120 to 12 volt wall transformer, enclosure, etc.
This doesn't feel Treehugger to me...this feels like consumerist junk masquerading as art/style.
Why not just grow the plant in your house? Does it really need the fancy case and fan?
What exactly is the advantage of this vs. a plant without the fan and chamber? Is there a reason this would make it absorb any more pollutants? Or is it just a way to use more material and energy (for the fan).
I agree with Charlie, this seems like a waste posing as stylish art trying a little too hard.
The power for the fan, the 120 volt to 12 volt wall transformer that's undoubtably buried in all that glass and aluminium. Consumerist junk....sorry Mathieu, but we need to be saved from art like yours... (in my opinion).
Now that column that's posing as a tree, not eating energy....now that is neat.
That's exactly what I was thinking of. For the money you could probably fill your whole house with plants. Natural air circulation is more than enough to get the polluted air to the plants ;)
Now what would be really great is an article about which plants are the healthiest in the home.
Spider plants were what NASA was looking at; easily grown and propagated (even hydroponically), high transpiration rate and does well as a hanging plant so it doesn't hurt your floorplan...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_plant
maybe a list of those five mentioned as researched by nasa
Ditto to comments about about a waste of resources. Consumerism at its best when you buy a plant in a container like this...go get a standard pot and put it near your window!
lame and wasteful, and the plan probably hates it too.
It took a little digging but if anyone is interested in the original NASA reports, I found two that are available in full electronically:
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=808899&id=2&qs=No%3D30%26Ntt%3Dwolverton%26Ntk%3DAuthorList%26Ntx%3Dmode%2520matchall%26N%3D0%26Ns%3DHarvestDate%257c1
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=794747&id=4&qs=No%3D30%26Ntt%3Dwolverton%26Ntk%3DAuthorList%26Ntx%3Dmode%2520matchall%26N%3D0%26Ns%3DHarvestDate%257c1
In case those links don't post well, you can also go to
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp and search by author for wolverton. He's got 90+ papers but the titles for the two above are "Houseplants, indoor air pollutants, and allergic reactions" and "Interior landscape plants for indoor air pollution abatement".
This product would be useful for people like myself who would like to purify indoor air using house plants, but do not want to risk poisoning their indoor pets. Many household plants which are helpful in purifying the air are unfortunately also harmful to pets. The case surrounding the plant would keep my cats from nibbling the leaves!
Here you will find lists of household plants which are useful in purifying indoor air:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/House-Plants-721/Air-Purifying-Plants.htm
http://www.humeseeds.com/purify.htm
Here is a good book available on Amazon which discusses fifty air purifying household plants:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Grow-Fresh-Air-Plants/dp/0140262431/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197339784&sr=8-2
Finally, here you will find lists of household plants which are potentially hazardous to cats (and likely other indoor pets as well):
http://www.cfainc.org/articles/plants.html
http://cats.about.com/cs/catmanagement101/a/poisonplants.htm
I recognize hanging plants from the ceiling perhaps would keep some animals out, but my ceilings are low, my apartment is small and my cats have freakish vertical jump abilities!
This product is an interesting step in a new direction. Certainly better than many conventional air purifiers which pump out excessive amounts of ozone, which can be irritating to your lungs...
Perhaps the fan could run on solar or mechanical energy like crank flashlights? :)
Look at the issue from all angles...power to the peaceful!
~Sarah
I think in fact that it makes very good sense to enclose the plant and use a fan. This will allow to create an efficient air current through the plant(s) It would make air purifying quicker and better.
However, these type of fans usually don't use a lot of power, so they should be solar powered, and rechargeable batteries could be used for night time?
And like said above, it will keep cats and other animals... Toddlers away from the plant.