Measuring what matters

In the rarefied air of the Colorado foothills, a team of scientists, engineers and researchers is leading the charge to better monitor the air we breathe.

Established in 1998, 2B Technologies has been at the forefront of the development, production and sales of cutting-edge, analytical instruments used to measure atmospheric and environmental conditions.

The company was founded by Dr. John Birks and Dr. Mark Bollinger with the intention of developing and commercializing a new generation of air monitoring instruments that were portable enough to use for testing in remote areas.

Since then, 2B Tech has made significant contributions to the development of air quality monitoring and has indeed specialized in miniaturized instruments for the measurement of ozone, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, mercury and other chemical species found in the air.

THE OZONE LAYER

Only discovered in 1913, the ozone layer is a band (15-30 km above sea level) of the earth’s atmosphere that absorbs the majority of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation and ultimately protects life on earth.

In the mid-1980s, British scientists utilized some three decades of research in the discovery of a hole, primarily caused by emissions of man-made chemicals, in the ozone layer covering the Antarctic continent, a finding confirmed by NASA satellite images.

With worldwide attention now given to the threat that man-made pollutants have on the atmosphere, some of the brightest minds in science began addressing the problem.

Enter 2B Technologies with its mandate to improve air quality monitoring.

“In recent years, air quality and air pollution have come to be much more in the forefront of the public mind,” notes company sales and marketing manager Hayden Aubermann.

“The everyday person and consumer now have access to readily available information through the weather app on your phone or through AccuWeather forecasts.”

PRODUCTS

Since its inception, the company has sold more than 10,000 instruments, been cited by more than 40,000 researchers and featured in some 1,400 publications using 2B Tech products.

“We have kept to our concept of miniaturization of conventional equipment and we’ve started to make what we call our multi-pollutant monitoring packages,” notes Aubermann.

“Nowadays, we make packages that integrate our equipment with instruments from other reputable manufacturers that measure PM (particulate matter) and carbon monoxide. This allows us to serve and collaborate with a wide variety of community groups, governments, academic institutions and businesses.”

Over the years, 2B Tech has developed more than 20 different models of portable and highly accurate instruments for trace-level monitoring of the air pollutants O3, NO, NO2, NO and mercury, and portable calibrators for O3, NO and NO2.

Additionally, seven of its instruments, including the hand-held Personal Ozone Monitor (POM), have been designated by EPA Federal Equivalent Methods (FEM).

The list of 2B Tech products and services includes a selection of ambient ozone monitors, industrial ozone monitors, multi-pollutant air quality monitoring systems, other pollutant-specific monitors, ozone/NOx calibrators, along with calibration and repair services.

A HEALTHIER WORLD

While 2B Tech is a commercial enterprise, its employees are also aware that the goal of their work is to make the world a healthier place.

“We like what we do and I would say we are all pretty altruistic here – we’re well aware of the public health aspect to what we do,” says Aubermann, who cites a recent collaboration with local schools as a testament to the importance of 2B Tech innovations.

“We used an instrument that measured carbon dioxide and we found that in schools that didn’t have great air circulation, the amount of CO2  increased through the day. And, as concentrations got too high, it caused kids to become sleepy.”

The company’s attention to education outreach also helps students develop an awareness of air pollution. It has even led to the inclusion of air quality into school curriculums.

WORKING WITH PROTOCASE

2B Technologies has been relying on Protocase for enclosures, parts and components for its monitoring instruments for more than 15 years.

“As we grew, we began looking for partners, including partners that are able to make reliable enclosures and parts for our products,” says Aubermann.

“And, then as we’ve scaled up, we’ve continued to work with the companies and vendors that we like, companies like Protocase.”