Posted By: Environmental Protection Agency
Category: Designs Skill: Plans/Strategies Interest: Local Government Submission Dates: 11 a.m. ET, Aug 30, 2016 - 4 p.m. ET, Oct 28, 2016
EPA has selected the City of Baltimore and the Lafayette, La. Consolidated Government as awardees of the Smart City Air Challenge. The agency also has recognized four projects for honorable mention: New York City; Mesa County, Colo.; Raleigh, N.C. and Minneapolis/St. Paul.
The following two projects were selected as awardee recipients:
- An Air Quality Sensor Network for Greater Baltimore: This Baltimore project incorporates plans to engage several partners and neighborhoods to deploy a network of sensors in a phased approach, leveraging a scalable cloud platform for data management. They plan to assemble commercially-available components to build their sensor system and distribute the data on a City of Baltimore website.
- Lafayette Engagement and Research Network (LEaRN): This Lafayette, La., project proposes a partnership between collegiate, local government and non-governmental organizations to deploy a network of sensors. The project has a strong data management plan that will use a scalable cloud platform. They plan to use commercially-available sensors for the project and share the data with the public in a variety of ways.
EPA is recognizing these four projects for honorable mention because of their innovation and potential to help other communities:
- Healthy Mesa County & Mesa County Health Department: Smart City Air Challenge Solution: Mesa, Colo.
- Air Quality Crowdsourcing Data in Minneapolis/St. Paul: Minneapolis/St. Paul
- New York City Air Casting Project: EPA Smart City Air Challenge Solution: New York
- Citizen science with Ground-Level Ozone Wearables Sensors (GLOWS) for real-time pollution maps across the Research Triangle: Research Triangle, N.C.
Although the challenge is closed, EPA will be available as a resource to the winners and honorable mention project teams to share knowledge about how they collect, store and manage large amounts of data. EPA encourages these communities and others to share their findings so other communities can learn from their successes, challenges and lessons.
Here’s a chance for communities to demonstrate their leadership in managing hundreds of air quality sensors at the local level.
EPA is challenging communities across the country to collect data using hundreds of air quality sensors as part of the Smart City Air Challenge. The agency is offering up to $40,000 apiece to two communities to help them develop and implement plans for collecting and sharing data from air quality sensors.
To qualify for the challenge, communities will need to submit plans for deploying hundreds of air quality sensors and managing the data they collect. EPA will award up to $40,000 apiece to up to two communities that have the best data collection strategies, including their plans to share their data management methods with other communities. The award money only covers part of the program costs, so communities will need to partner with sensor manufacturers, data management companies or others to get resources and expertise to implement their plans.
– See EPA’s challenge resource pages about air quality sensors, data management and more.
– Attend webinars about the challenge.
After a year, EPA will evaluate the two projects and award up to an additional $10,000 to the winning communities based on their accomplishments and collaboration.
The challenge is open from August 30, 2016 to October 28, 2016. Through the challenge, communities have the opportunity to adopt the paradigm of big data, citizen science, and the Internet of Things as they address air quality problems that are relevant to them.
The challenge is designed to inspire communities to discover new approaches to managing data for air topics they care about, then develop solutions and share them. It is experimental in nature and EPA expects to learn how communities handle data from many sensors. The challenge prize funds are meant to be seed money, not the full amount for procuring sensors and data management services. EPA is ready to provide background information through Resource Pages that list EPA’s research and similar experiences in other communities, webinars about the challenge and a Frequently Asked Questions page.
EPA prefers that the sensors and the resulting data are of good quality. Although standards exist for measuring criteria pollutants (see Designated EPA Reference and Equivalent Methods at https://www3.epa.gov/ttn/amtic/criteria.html), there are no standards for measuring air quality for non-regulatory or non-enforcement purposes. For the challenge, communities will need to describe the level of accuracy, precision and reliability of the sensors and how they will ensure these attributes. The data from these projects will belong to the projects and will be available for others to use. EPA recommends that communities carefully evaluate the quality of sensors and the associated data. Please refer to the sensor resource page to learn more about independent sensor testing by EPA and others.
The challenge encourages communities to create solutions and identify best practices that other communities can adopt and benefit from. In doing so, they will advance the theme of Information Technology Infrastructure and New Data Streams, as mentioned in EPA’s Draft Roadmap for Next Generation of Air Monitoring. Through their projects, communities will help each other and EPA “face challenges presented by the ever increasing amounts of sensor-generated data, the analytics needed to translate data into knowledge, and how to make sensor data available for discovery and integration with data from other allied disciplines.”
EPA expects the challenge to yield several benefits, such as identifying best practices for managing big data at the community level, how to engage citizens in collecting data about their community, and how to use data from many sensors to understand environmental condition and its relationship to human health.
Constraints
Submissions will be judged based on the constraints and performance criteria outlined below. Before being scored against weighted performance criteria, entries must meet the four constraints listed below. Submissions that do not meet the constraints must describe their justification for doing so and will receive lower judging scores accordingly.
- Deploy 250 to 500 sensors in a community
Submissions must describe how they will procure and deploy 250 to 500 air quality sensors. - Community involvement in purchasing and using the sensors
The community and its residents will provide funds for the sensors in order to ensure citizen engagement and better data quality. - Identification of partners and project sustainability
EPA will provide prizes to the winning communities. The community and its residents will provide funds and establish partnerships to implement the strategy. - Be transparent in terms of making the data open and describing the data management plans
The data from the sensors will be available for free and in machine-readable form. The data management plan describes how data will be managed in all parts of the information life cycle.
Constraints | Score Range |
Deploy 250 to 500 sensors in a community | Yes or No |
Community involvement in purchasing and using the sensors | Yes or No |
Identification of partners and project sustainability | Yes or No |
Be transparent in terms of making the data open and describing the data management plans | Yes or No |
See the Judging Criteria for more details.
Email recipients
Send comments to the Discussion section of this challenge or to smartcityairchallenge@epa.gov. ALL DECISIONS BY THE EPA ARE FINAL AND BINDING IN ALL MATTERS RELATED TO THE COMPETITION.
EPA will also screen submissions for contestant eligibility and compliance with Challenge.gov’s standards of conduct. Submissions appearing to satisfy these criteria will be posted on the Challenge website on a rolling basis.
Entries meeting the criteria will then be scored based on the weighted (% of total score) Performance criteria provided in the table below. Each performance criterion will be scored on a scale of 0-5 with 0 being the lowest and 5 being the highest.
Data management - 25%
1. How will you manage the data so it can be used?
2. What metadata will you collect?
3. What data transmission protocols will you follow?
4. What data storage methods will you use?
5. How will you make the data public, free of charge and machine-readable?
6. How will you reduce the risk of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) to individuals and the community?
Data Use - 25%
1. What pollutant(s) will you collect data about?
2. How will you use the data?
3. How will the community save money or reduce costs by the use of the air quality data?
4. What problems do you plan to address with the data?
5. How will you analyze and visualize the data?
6. Who will use the data?
Sensor Procurement and Deployment - 25%
1. What sensors will you procure and how will you select them?
2. How will you procure the sensors?
3. On what basis will you deploy the sensors?
4. How will you track the sensors in order to know if they are operational?
5. How will you ensure the physical security, accuracy and precision of the sensors both initially and over time?
6. How quickly can you get the project into operation (faster is better)?
Project Sustainability - 25%
1. How will you invest resources (e.g., funds, staff time) by the community and by individuals who will use the sensors?
2. What partnerships will you establish to implement the project, e.g., with sensor manufacturers, data management organizations, environmental groups, etc.?
3. Is the proposed approach economically viable and replicable?
4. What are the possible barriers to success and how will you overcome them?
5. Do team members have the relevant expertise and resources available to carry out proposed work?
6. How is the project eco-friendly?
Using Challenge.gov, submit your strategy for deploying 250 to 500 air quality sensors and using and managing the resulting data. Provide detailed descriptions, specifications and requirements necessary to show that your strategy can be implemented. Submissions for the Challenge should include the following:
- Written strategy using the submission template on Challenge.gov (click on Submit Solution to see what to submit)
- Background information that shows evidence to support the strategy
- A description of the methods and technologies needed to implement the project
- Commitments from parties that will partner with communities, including contact information for the partners
In order for submissions to be eligible to win this Challenge, they must meet the following requirements:
- Deadline – The submission must be available for evaluation by October 28, 2016 for judging purposes.
- No EPA logo – The submission must not use EPA’s logo or official seal in the Submission or in the project itself, and must not claim EPA endorsement.
- Applications must be submitted in English.
- Submissions must be no longer than eight (8) pages (Times New Roman, size 12, single-spaced) and must address the constraints and performance criteria.
- Applications submitted via regular mail, facsimile, or email will not be accepted.
- Complete Submissions must be submitted by the deadline of the Smart City Air Challenge (October 28, 2016) using the online platform. No additions or modifications to the Submissions will be accepted after the submission deadline
Solution: An Air Quality Sensor Network for Greater Baltimore
Description:
Solution: Lafayette Engagement and Research Network (LEaRN)
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Solution: Healthy Mesa County & Mesa County Health Department: Smart City Air Challenge Solution
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Solution: Air Quality Crowdsourcing Data in Minneapolis/St. Paul
Description:
Solution: New York City Air Casting Project: EPA Smart City Air Challenge Solution
Description:
Solution: Citizen science with Ground-Level Ozone Wearables Sensors (GLOWS) for real-time pollution maps across the Research Triangle
Description:
Solution:
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47 Discussions for "Smart City Air Challenge"
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Gerald NelsonDecember 8, 2016 at 4:41 pmAny updates on when decisions will be made?
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Show Replies [+]Will L.October 21, 2016 at 4:05 pmIs it permissible for figures and tables included in the submission to have a font size that is smaller than Times New Roman 12? And can you confirm that the Title Page and Table of Contents do not count against the 8 page limit? Thanks!
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Show Replies [+]WoodyOctober 3, 2016 at 11:20 pmIs there any chance that the submission deadline will be extended or is it out of the question for these types of challenges?
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WoodyOctober 3, 2016 at 9:45 pmIs there anyone out there who's planning on a submitting a proposal, but is having trouble with the instrumentation side of things? Please email me if you'd like to consider teaming up.
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Show Replies [+]AmalkemesSeptember 16, 2016 at 1:15 pmIf we were to receive a grant what are the requirements for reporting? Is it monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual? And is there a format that is required?
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Show Replies [+]Jennifer RutterAugust 31, 2016 at 10:31 amWhat types of air quality sensors are available at a price of $160 each? ($40,000 for 250 sensors)
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ReplyGavin FisherAugust 31, 2016 at 7:36 pmThere are many....go to a web site called alibaba.com. Search for PM2.5 sensors. Lots under $150. Mostly Chinese made.. Order and they can arrive in 10 days. I have bought several and found them very useful. Eg got a Nova for $25. Added a Wifi cards for $14. Put in a box with power supply for another $20. Now can see/log PM2.5 on my iphone.
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ReplyJohnSeptember 6, 2016 at 6:35 pmGo to https://aqicn.org/sensor/ for reviews and tear downs of many PM2.5 sensors below $25
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ReplyLinda WigingtonSeptember 28, 2016 at 6:03 pmAre their constraints regarding the placement of monitors? The ROCIS (Reducing Outdoor Contaminants in Indoor Spaces) initiative is focused on the intersection of outdoor sources and the built environment. Would you consider funding our initiative with sensors co-located indoors and out of doors?
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ReplyLiamOctober 16, 2016 at 6:10 amCheck out the Laser Egg - www.originstech.com. They're like $90-150 and are being used in several countries across Asia for community monitoring. They're not available in the US yet on the website yet, but you can e-mail Origins to purchase directly...
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Show Replies [+]Terry LansdellAugust 30, 2016 at 12:07 pmthe link to join challenge.gov sent to verify address and activate account does not seem to be valid.
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ReplyTerry LansdellSeptember 1, 2016 at 5:19 pmI received the Challenge.gov confirmation email but the link is invalid. Here is the link: https:///registration/?key=34e002c0f1ef7817 only valid for 48 hours and not sure what to do.
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The following rules, terms and conditions must be carefully followed and agreed to by all Applicants.
The Smart City Air Challenge will award prizes for community strategies that meet the constraints and best address the performance criteria. Approximately half of the prize money will be awarded after judging and half will be awarded upon execution of the strategy. Prize amounts are subject to change. The government reserves the right to cancel the Challenge or award smaller prizes for partial solutions.
RULES FOR ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible to win the Challenge, an individual or entity:
- Must have entered a submission on Challenge.gov under the rules promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
- Must include a governmental party (state, local or Tribal) as part of the application team. The geographical extent can range from neighborhoods to counties and Tribes in the U.S. Governmental, non-profit and for profit organizations are eligible.
- Must be an individual or team comprised of members each of whom are 15 years of age or over (parental permission will be required).
- Must not be on the excluded parties list on the System for Award Management located at SAM.gov.
- May not be a federal entity or Federal employee acting within the scope of their employment.
- The applicant shall not be deemed ineligible because the applicant used federal facilities or consulted with federal employees during a competition if the facilities and employees are made equitably available to all applicants participating in the competition.
- Federal grantees may not use federal funds to develop challenge submissions unless consistent with the purpose of their grant award. Federal contractors may not use federal funds from a contract to develop challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of a challenge submission.
- Employees of EPA, and/or any other individual or entity associated with the development, evaluation, or administration of the challenge as well as members of such persons’ immediate families (spouses, children, siblings, parents), and persons living in the same household as such persons, whether or not related, are not eligible to participate in the challenge.
- Applicants are not required to obtain liability insurance or demonstrate financial responsibility in order to participate in the challenge.
- By participating in the challenge, each applicant agrees to comply with and abide by these Official Rules, Terms and Conditions and the decisions of the federal agency sponsors and/or the individual judges, which shall be final and binding in all respects.
APPLICATION SUBMISSION AND PARTICIPANT RULES
- Applications must be submitted in English.
- Submissions must be no longer than eight (8) pages (Times New Roman, size 12, single-spaced) and must address the constraints and performance criteria.
- Applications submitted via regular mail, facsimile, or email will not be accepted.
- Complete submissions must be submitted by the deadline of the Smart City Air challenge (October 28, 2016) using the Challenge.gov online platform. No additions or modifications to the submissions will be accepted after the submission deadline.
- EPA bears no responsibility for submission errors resulting from transmission or conversion processes associated with electronic submissions.
- If no qualifying submission can be verified at the completion of the challenge, the Smart City Air Challenge may reopen, at the sole discretion of EPA.
- The winners must share results with EPA and each other at a minimum through teleconferences at every quarter during the year.
- One year after the winners have been announced, they can submit a revised submission that describes how they have implemented the project and shared the resulting lessons.
- EPA will evaluate the revised submissions and determine if it will award the winners the remaining prize money based on the constraints and performance criteria, as well as on factors such as explaining lessons learned. EPA will provide more details in the next few months about how to evaluate the implemented projects, the length of the Revised Submissions and how to submit them.
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