Business Spotlight: Agentis Air
Improving Health Through Better Air Purification Technology
Meet Agentis Air
Agentis Air is a collaboration of research scientists, engineers, and air quality experts on a mission to improve human health and longevity through better indoor air purification technology. With decades of university research and development experience, the company is focused on transformational air purification technologies with broad applications for institutional, commercial, and consumer markets.
“Our biggest challenge of COVID is also our biggest opportunity. The pandemic heightened awareness of air quality issues and the spread of diseases through airborne transmission. Brio and the APART technology that drives it reflect great science and engineering, with performance-proven at the country’s premiere independent testing labs.”
— Norm Long, CEO, Agentis Air
Technology-based solutions for better indoor air
The R&D team at Agentis Air has decades of experience turning good ideas into patents and commercial products. One of these, Advanced Particle Removal Technology (APART™), is an innovative alternative to HEPA, and is the basis for the company’s newly released Brio™ room air purifier. HEPA air purifiers clog, which reduces airflow and performance. Brio technology works differently – electrostatically charging fine and ultrafine airborne particles and drawing them out of the airflow and into a collection cartridge. Because there is no clogging, Brio’s performance stays constant between cartridge changes. To stay at peak performance under similar environmental conditions, Brio may need one cartridge change a year, while a comparable HEPA air purifier would need five filter changes or more. Over several years, those filter costs add up. As a result, Brio can have a much lower cost to own than comparable HEPA air purifiers. With fewer filters to dispose of, Brio is also friendlier to the environment. Thanks to APART technology, Brio does what HEPA can’t.
Deep experience leads to a better solution
Agentis Air CEO Norm Long never forgot the training and experience he gained as an engineer in the Air Force in the 1980’s, working on finding more efficient, cost-saving HVAC systems for the military. Throughout his career, Long continued to analyze opportunities based on energy savings. Unfortunately, most mechanical filtration systems are not energy efficient. As the CEO of Havtech, the Mid-Atlantic’s largest and most experienced commercial HVAC equipment solutions provider, Long has had the opportunity to see a wide range of new technologies and product ideas. So, when he saw the APART technology in development at the University of Washington, he understood its potential as a more effective solution than HEPA filtration.
A challenging design and development process, slowed down by a global pandemic
In 2019, Long, with a partner, formed Agentis Air, becoming the company’s CEO. With an impressive growth record in the HVAC industry, Long understood the fundamentals needed to succeed: a unique product concept and position, a talented team, and, importantly, ample funds to capitalize the business. This thinking came in handy as the development process intersected in 2020 with the start of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Despite quarantines, travel restrictions, and supply chain issues, The Agentis Air team continued development, prototyping, testing and manufacturing throughout the worst phases of the pandemic and used the period of extra time to improve the product design.
In September 2022, Agentis Air introduced the Brio room air purifier, using patented Advanced Particle Removal Technology (APART™). The elevated importance of indoor air quality continues to bolster the market for consumer air purifiers. Currently, it is around $3 billion worldwide and is forecast to be at $6 billion by 2025.
What’s next for Agentis Air?
Some technologies are still under wraps, others are in development, and all will use the growing base of intellectual property under Agentis Air control. The Brio line will be expanding, and Agentis Air will be building technology-based filtration products to retrofit existing HVAC systems. These new commercial products will close the gap between standard building air quality and the health-and-wellness standard that employees now expect.
Learn more about Agentis Air at agentisair.com. Hear from CEO Norm Long on iHeart Radio’s CEOs You Should Know program.
