+44 1865 259200
Aether was commissioned by Berkeley Homes to undertake an air quality assessment for the proposed installation of gas fired boilers at 250 City Road. Dispersion modelling was undertaken and a ‘slightly adverse’ impact on local nitrogen dioxide concentrations was found at worst case locations. Other pollutants were not of concern. One uncertainty in the modelling was the background nitrogen dioxide concentrations, as the data obtained from the nearby background monitoring station differed to that obtained from the Defra background concentration maps. In addition, the current pollution contribution from City Road was also uncertain. Therefore a nitrogen dioxide monitoring survey using diffusion tubes was commissioned to determine the current pollution levels at various points around the development site.
The challenge
At the time of monitoring, the area was a building site and therefore none of the buildings that will be constructed as part of the development were available for monitoring at. The site also needed to be clear of obstructions. Therefore the diffusion tubes were placed around the perimeter of the development site and from this interpolations had to be made.
The solution
Five diffusion tubes were exposed at the extremes of the site for periods of between 4 and 5 months in accordance with the UK Nitrogen dioxide survey timetable. One location was at first floor level to provide an indication of concentrations above ground level.
The result
The results indicated that concentrations exceeded the annual mean nitrogen dioxide objective in some residential locations close to City Road, which confirmed the indications provided by the dispersion modelling. Therefore, the installation of NOx/NO2 filters was recommended at these locations.
Melanie Hobson
Director
Related case studies
Industrial air quality assessment
Category: Construction and Property Developers, Air Quality Assessments
Aether was commissioned by Ballymore to undertake an air quality assessment for a proposed energy centre in phase 2 of the development at Royal Wharf in the London borough of Newham.
Read case studyAir quality monitoring
Category: Construction and Property Developers, Air Quality Assessments
Aether was commissioned by Berkeley Homes to undertake an air quality assessment for the proposed installation of gas fired boilers at 250 City Road.
Read case studyResidential AQA, Westbourne Park in London
Category: Construction and Property Developers, Air Quality Assessments
Aether was commissioned to undertake an air quality assessment, air quality neutral assessment and construction dust assessment for a proposed large residential development on Edenham Way in Westbourne Park in London.
Read case studyNews
Latest news
Posted on: 19 June 2026
NECD Review Week in Brussels
Aether spent a week at the European Commission in Brussels as part of the review of air pollutant inventories submitted under the EU’s National Emission reduction Ceilings Directive (NECD).
Read full storyPosted on: 18 May 2026
Power Query Workshop in Estonia
Aether travelled to the Estonian Environmental Research Centre (EKUK) in Tallinn to deliver a two-day training workshop for the inventory team to build capacity on the Excel power queries used in the GHG inventory templates previously set up by Aether in 2022.
Read full storyPosted on: 30 April 2026
Capacity Sharing in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Aether delivered a three-day GHG inventory capacity building workshop in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, towards development of the BTR1.
Read full storyPosted on: 17 March 2026
Central Asia Study Tour: Air Quality Workshop
Aether provided representatives from Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan) who were visiting the UK on a study tour with an introduction to air quality management.
Read full storyFilter news by category
Aether Blog Air Pollution Air Quality Assessments Barriers to Net Zero Capacity Building Carbon Footprint Climate Emergency Climate Equality Climate Finance Consumption COP28 Culture Data Visualisation Economic Status Emissions Reporting European Topic Centre GHG Infrastructure Inventories Local Government Mitigation MRV National Government Net Zero Oxfam Paris Agreement Policy Recruitment Society Stakeholder Engagement Waste Sector Wider Impacts
Testimonial
