Cohort 67 starts soon!

Low Cost Monitoring Project (LCMP)

What is the LCMP?

The Low Cost Monitoring Project (LCMP) is a free program that uses low-cost monitoring devices to address indoor air quality.

We invite anyone who might be interested in joining LCMP to attend a webinar to introduce the program and answer questions about monitoring and improving indoor air quality. After the webinar, you can decide whether you want to become part of our next cohort.

When’s the next webinar? Find out.

Participants in each LCMP cohort—most of whom are residents of Southwestern Pennsylvania—receive a loaner kit of 7 devices that measure indoor and outdoor particles, CO (carbon monoxide), CO2 (carbon dioxide), radon, temperature, and humidity. Kits are delivered to your home (or sent through the mail if you live outside of the area). ROCIS will guide you in the usage of the monitors and help make sense of the information that comes rolling in.

Over the course of four weeks, the ROCIS monitors gather data about the air inside and outside participants’ homes. During this period, LCMP participants can test the effectiveness of ROCIS-loaned equipment, including an induction stovetop and/or DIY filter fans.

ROCIS supports each cohort of participants with virtual educational sessions about air pollution, tools for managing and interpreting data, and targeted suggestions for how to improve the air in the places they live and work. These online sessions cover a wide range of topics including:

Accessing and interpreting air quality monitoring results
Behavioral and technical interventions to improve indoor air quality
Implications of local ambient air quality—and the tools to track outdoor air quality
Health impacts of poor air quality

We’re proud to say that our LCMP participants tend to become champions for clean air. Once you know the impacts of air pollution and have the tools to do something about it, it is hard to go back. It’s amazing what a little knowledge can do!

Watch the Clean Air Chronicles to hear about the experiences of past LCMP participants.

Participation is

Read our interview with recent LCMP participant Nikki to hear more about how her family cut their exposure to pollutants inside their home.

Participate in the LCMP

Virtual cohorts run throughout the year! Free to participate.

How to Join a Cohort

ROCIS LCMP Cohort 43 - The First Virtual Cohort

Why Virtual?

No travel requirements
All meetings are online!
A limited number of folks outside of Southwestern PA can participate in each cohort.

Flexible meeting times
Two weekly online meetings, each with the option of attending in the daytime or evening.

Shorter and more frequent meetings
Each meeting is 75 minutes

Opportunity for more household members to participate
Kids are welcome!

For questions:

LCMP Testimonials

Watch the Clean Air Chronicles

Gail (Cohort 57)

I didn’t realize […] how much fun I would have learning new things and how much my life would improve.

Ned Ketyer, M.D. (Cohort 57)

ROCIS’s low-cost monitoring project (LCMP) opened my eyes to how much poor outdoor air quality and my daily indoor activities affect the air quality inside my house. The program was very well organized and fun to participate in. I expect the knowledge I learned and the changes I made to improve my indoor air quality will result in better health for me and my family.

Jo and Tim Resciniti – West Deer Twp. (Cohort 53)

The air outside is frequently unhealthy in the greater Pittsburgh area, and we were worried about how much pollution was making its way into the house. Being part of the LCMP helped us to be aware of the sources of harmful particles in our home, how our daily activities directly contribute, and gave us tools to address problems with our indoor air quality.

Emily & Jonas (Cohort 54)

Through ROCIS, we learned not only about ways we can improve our air quality in our home but also about areas where we no longer need to be concerned! It feels great to be choosing habits based on real-time data on our own home rather than hunches or studies that might not apply to us—our health and our daughter’s health will be better for it. Thank you all so much!

Beth Burrell (Cohort 33)

Participating in the ROCIS Low Cost Air Quality Monitoring Cohort 33 provided access to a lot of valuable information that I used to learn how to provide the healthiest environment possible for my family at home.

Mark E. (Cohort 54)

Thank you and your team again for all the info and strategies [for] keeping our air quality inside as safe as possible. We feel especially fortunate during the recent air quality alerts resulting from the Canadian wildfires. Specifically, I am thankful for the idea of running the fan on our furnace system during these times to continuously filter our indoor air. I would not have considered this strategy without participating in cohort-54. I can tell a difference in my breathing inside and being outside.

Kevin (Cohort 47)

Dara & I are grateful to have been part of ROCIS Cohort 47. It was a privilege to glimpse this part of our invisible world and learn more of the health connections. Gaining a better understanding of our indoor air and our air shed—the large numbers connected to such small particles from everyday activities—was an eye opener. The data, analysis, insights, shared experiences and web resources were invaluable. And we now have an important IAQ baseline for our planned renovations!

Susie Wood

I appreciate all of your time and expertise through this great process. I am so happy that I have had the opportunity to see the pollution outside my house and see the impact the mitigation strategies you suggest can make. Your process is truly effective. It has been so eye-opening and fun. Thank you again for everything.

Nancy (Cohort 59)

The ROCIS program has been so helpful to us and we feel that we can now live in our new city of Pittsburgh in a much healthier manner indoors. We are so grateful to have had this opportunity.

Mary Lou (Cohort 47)

Since moving to western Pennsylvania, where outdoor air quality can be challenging, I have struggled with severe allergies and respiratory issues. Thanks to ROCIS, I have seen a significant improvement in my indoor air quality.

Sample LCMP Cohort Schedule

Cohort Schedule & Topics

Intro Webinar**
Session 1: Cohort Kick-off**
Session 2: Check-in
Session 3: Dylos Data Downloading**
Session 4: What are “Good” Numbers?
Session 5: Filtration Interventions**
Session 6: Behavioral Interventions
Session 7: Access to Online Resources
Session 8: Health Impacts of Particles and Your Questions
Session 9: Wrap-up Meeting and Close**

** Indicates required sessions. To gain the full value of participating, attendance at all meetings is recommended.

For each month-long cohort, the ROCIS team hosts two weekly online meetings during which they teach participants how to use the monitors and make sense of the data. Participants have the option of attending each meeting in the daytime or evening.

LCMP Resources

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Low Cost Monitoring Project Champion Susan on Outside/In Radio

Susan Scott Peterson, a past LCMP participant, sat down with Outside/In Radio to talk about her experience joining an air monitoring cohort and all that she learned in the process. The program aired on PRX in early June 2021.

Listen to the Program

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