Sustainable Cities and Communities

SDG11- Salamandra Zone – A Breath of Fresh Air in Urban Living

In a building fire, whether commercial or residential, the common and even legal response is not to enter the elevator. In a turn of the century innovation, Salamandra Zone are telling building contractors and local Government to use their elevators which will now act as a safe zone in times of fires. So much so, that Gil Tomer, COO of Salamandra, notes that in the triadic 9/11 terrorist attack in New York, more people would have been saved with their unique technology. It makes sense, therefore, that the name ‘Salamandra’ was chosen, based on the South American’s understanding of the animal, who can survive forest fires whilst other creatures run away or die.

The Tel Aviv based company target two categories of urban life; ‘Emergency Air’ and ‘Indoor air.’ Both aspects are crucial in bringing Israel further in the UN’s Sustainability Goals, by reducing deaths in natural disasters and increasing air quality within urban cities. ‘The B-Air’ provides a smoke-free safe zone in each floor’s lobby elevator, in the case of a fire it converts the incoming smoke into cooled and breathable air. At the same time, the temperature control feature stops the elevator from going into emergency mode and shutting down, allowing for continued use if needed. ‘The C-Air Industry,’ using similar tech, purifies industrial pollutants and emissions creating safe respiration space ensuring survival during disasters and fires. The C-Air works to address the safety needs of control centres, by isolating the room thus allowing the room’s occupants to immediately implement recovery plans. It further protects residential communities in cities and industrial areas by treating and purifying the air output of industry’s toxic gas leaks and system defects.

Local Israeli Government and private contractor partnerships have meant an increase in high-rise apartment living. Although this has meant an increase in quality of life, firefighters often struggle to reach above the 8^th floor and often elevators stop working during a fire. In fact, 30% of the population that live in cities whether the young, elderly or disabled can be affected. What’s more, in a fire 80% of people are killed from smoke inhalation. The B-Air technology is the modern fire fighter combating health and safety from within building’s structures. The C-Air tech is ensuring the safety of the community, being able to contain and treat polluted air within just 90 minutes. 99.8% efficiency is what has landed Salamandra three C-Air deals in Israel’s industrial plants and that’s not it, the C-Air is also able to be implemented onto modern day transportation vehicles when transportation of dangerous gases.

When it comes to Home and Work the issue of air-pollution is no less serious. The World Health Organisation estimates that 90% of the world’s population is exposed to dangerous levels of pollution and that 8.8 million people die every year from respirational illnesses resulting from air pollution. Indoor air pollutants can be two to five times as high as the outdoors, often caused by, outdoor pollutants, allergens, bacteria and mould (mold). Salamandra’s ‘Com-Air’ and ‘Home Air’ technology work through strategically placed sensors which monitor gas and toxicity levels and using their oxidising treatment purify air. In the office, polluted air runs through the Com-Air purifying unit which filters and processes the gas neutralising 99.6% of all pollutants.

Raising $2.5 million from the Israel Innovation Authority as well as other investors, they now have a revenue of $1.40 million. With 15 years of experience and a broad and impressive team of scientists at Hebrew University, Marat Maayan CEO and founder of Salamandra explains he founded the company, “as a result of my profound understanding of how vulnerable urban communities are.”