French environmental analysis equipment provider Acoem Group has broadened its portfolio with the acquisition of UK-based manufacturer of emissions monitoring systems DynOptic Systems Ltd together with its Tunnel Sensors subsidiary.
Due to increasingly stringent air quality legislation and an awareness of public health issues, ‘smart cities’ worldwide are demanding more proactive and integrated environmental monitoring systems. In response, the Acoem Group has made a string of strategic acquisitions following the purchase of another UK company, Air Monitors Ltd, in July, bringing together air, noise and vibration monitoring solutions as one complete offering. As surface streets become more congested, urban planners are turning to underground road tunnel networks to support infrastructure planning, with the monitoring of these subsurface routes seen as a core capability to support the Acoem Group’s smart cities strategy.
Formed in 2005 as a subsidiary of DynOptic Systems, Tunnel Sensors designs and manufactures a range of air pollution monitoring equipment specifically for the tunnel market. The business provides a complete range of tunnel air monitoring sensors for measuring visibility and dust, toxic gas emissions, air speed and direction as well as tunnel luminance and illuminance. The company’s product range includes the Viconox, Airflow, Crossflow, Illios, and Lumios sensors, which are currently installed in various combinations in famous road tunnels worldwide, such as the Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy, Tunnel du Chat in France, the Dublin Port Tunnel in Ireland, and the newly opened WestConnex motorway in Sydney, Australia. In addition, DynOptic offers an innovative range of opacity, dust, particulate and smoke monitors to support companies and public authorities in reducing their environmental impact.
“The combination of new technologies, access to hyperlocal information and higher expectations from citizens will dramatically change the way we measure air quality in the coming years,” explained Nicholas Dal Sasso, CEO of Acoem’s Environment division. “Breathe London is a perfect example, showing that smart cities need comparable, stable, and accurate data in order to act. With an alarming new study demonstrating how breathing in air pollution can be as harmful to your lungs as smoking cigarettes, it’s increasingly important for citizens to understand exactly which locations expose them to the highest levels of risk. Access to such information can only be supported by tools that reliably measure air and gas quality in a range of environments, and provide this data in real-time.”
Fabien Condemine, Acoem’s CEO, added, “We have taken a deliberate step towards becoming a single-source provider of integrated environmental monitoring systems and services to address the growing and future demand for these highly specialized instruments.”
Paul Jones, managing director of DynOptic Systems and Tunnel Sensors, said, “Acoem has acted quickly in its response to the growing global demand for specialist environmental monitoring technology and instruments. Joining forces with Acoem Group allows us to accelerate our research and development, and deliver new technologies that meet the needs of customers seeking the highly technical solutions required to monitor and control their urban environments.”
