When regional monitors are not close enough to act
The Love My Air program was built for decisions that require neighborhood-grade air quality, not citywide averages. Regional air monitors describe broader conditions, but they can miss the localized variability Love My Air is designed to surface. That includes the shifts people experience on a specific block, near a school pickup line or along a busy corridor.
Love My Air closes that gap by delivering air quality information that is local, current and easy to interpret. This supports partner teams in issuing guidance that stays specific, timely and credible. The program pairs community monitoring with public-facing tools like dashboards and kiosks that translate real-time readings into practical signals residents and partner teams can use. When conditions change, communities can adjust daily choices quickly, from shifting outdoor activities to reducing vehicle idling during higher-risk periods.
Turning sensor readings into daily choices
Love My Air uses two complementary monitoring approaches to balance coverage and confidence. Solar-powered, low-cost sensors expand visibility across community locations and higher-quality multi-pollutant monitoring stations anchor the network with more robust reference points that help validate and interpret the broader sensor layer. Together, this network provides visibility across the places where people spend time, especially children and other sensitive populations.
Onterris turned that monitoring into an operational system local partners can run and residents can trust. The team coordinated siting and deployment with city, school and health partners, then established data quality routines that keep results consistent over time while ensuring that the output was easy to understand and act on.
This project centered around rapid development in close collaboration with stakeholders in government, education and the community. We focused on clear dashboards and steady coordination with school and health partners so teams could make simple day-of decisions with confidence.
The Sensible EDP™ data platform then carried the signal from sensors to people, translating incoming feeds into real-time dashboards for public access and internal response.
From nine schools to citywide visibility in Denver
Denver launched Love My Air in 2018 through the Bloomberg Mayors Challenge and built the program in partnership with Denver Public Schools. The network measured particulate matter (PM2.5) and other pollutants across Denver’s 155 square miles, with placement that emphasized higher traffic areas and communities facing greater exposure pressure.
The program began with nine schools and expanded to more than 35 schools across the district. The team prioritized schools with above-average asthma rates and higher free and reduced lunch rates so the network served students and families most likely to benefit from timely local information. School operations teams used real-time dashboards to respond to spikes by adjusting activities, keeping decisions grounded in current conditions rather than regional averages.
As the network matured, Denver expanded access beyond schools into healthcare settings, including Tepeyac Community Health Center, Inner City Health and Kaiser Permanente East Denver Medical Offices. These locations extended local visibility to residents already thinking about respiratory health and made air quality awareness part of community care touchpoints.
Wisconsin made air data teachable and repeatable
Children’s Health Alliance of Wisconsin launched its Love My Air program in 2023 and integrated monitoring directly into school communities. In partnership with Milwaukee Public Schools, the program installed sensors at 15 schools in neighborhoods with elevated asthma rates.
Wisconsin paired monitoring with student-centered engagement so the data became part of the school routine, not an outside technical input. Teachers received lesson plans that connect local readings to everyday choices. Students used tools like the Air Quality Index (AQI) Activity Guide and the Air Pup mascot to communicate conditions in a way younger audiences understand. Students served as air quality champions, sharing readings with peers, teachers and families while encouraging practical operational shifts such as reduced vehicle idling.
Onterris teams kept the data visible and consistent while planning for additional schools and communities. The model supports both urban and rural contexts and keeps learning aligned to local, real-time conditions.
What cities and agencies can replicate quickly
Love My Air shows what happens when monitoring, communication and community routines reinforce each other. Cities gain a blueprint for expanding neighborhood-level air awareness without requiring residents to interpret technical data on their own. Public health leaders gain timely context for community risk conversations. School and facility teams gain an operational input that supports daily decisions while keeping schedules and programs moving.
Most importantly, residents gain access to information that feels local and timely. When people can see conditions in their neighborhood and understand what the numbers mean, the pathway to healthier choices becomes clearer and more equitable.