Texas Rising January/February 2009

Dr. J. Torey Nalbone, associate director of TxAIRE, works on a mass spectrometer that tests the chemical makeup of particles.

The Air We Breathe

Public-private partnership touts Tyler’s assets.

by Karl Wolfshohl

Editor’s Note: The following article appeared in the January/February 2009 issue of Texas Rising.

Researchers with TxAIRE, at the University of Texas at Tyler, are conducting research that should help people breathe more easily inside their homes.

TxAIRE, which stands for Texas Allergy, Indoor Environment and Energy Institute, is the result of a combined effort among scientists and administrators at the university and other community and industry leaders in this East Texas city.

Holding Its Own

A severe national recession isn’t bypassing Tyler, but so far the city is faring relatively well and counts some bright spots, even though unemployment climbed to 5.3 percent in November 2008, from 4.1 percent in November 2007.

Four major local employers – Trane, Carrier, Goodyear and Tyler Pipe – all announced layoffs in 2008. These and other reductions in work force wiped out about 1,800 jobs, following a long, nationwide downward trend in manufacturing. Meanwhile, about 530 new jobs were announced or scheduled to be added in coming years by a number of concerns, including a technical support center for DIRECTV, a training academy opened by Luminant Energy and a new plant for making metal fasteners, owned by home-grown Hargis Industries under its Sealtite name.

More bright spots are helping Tyler hold its own: The city is the largest regional center in East Texas, with a total retail trade area of 805,000 people. It is a hub for retail, medical services and higher education, all sectors that are doing very well. In addition, it has become a retirement destination.

“Ten years ago, we (in Tyler) became the first certified retirement program in Texas,” Mullins says. “That’s been a great marketing advantage for us. We pop up on a lot of retirement search sites.”

A $3.75 million grant from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund in 2007 transformed the institute from dream to reality. Other partners in the research initiative include UT-Dallas and the UT Health Science Center at Tyler.

TxAIRE researchers are studying air exchanges in homes, as well as the volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and other potentially dangerous substances that can build up in them. “We have equipped labs to do extensive air quality and filtration studies,” notes James Nelson, dean of UT-Tyler’s College of Engineering and Computer Science.

To further this effort, TxAIRE is also building “live-in labs” – houses in which people with respiratory difficulties will live for four to six months.

The lab homes will be used to monitor the effectiveness of various air-clearing tactics. The institute is negotiating with air-conditioning equipment makers, building supply and paint manufacturers and other potential partners to join the effort.

The project, which immediately created eight jobs with the potential for more in the future, fits well with the area’s resources. Indeed, TxAIRE began as an initiative to make the most of the city’s existing assets.

“We have an unusual combination of strengths in Tyler,” says Tom Mullins, president and CEO of the Tyler Economic Development Council. “We have a health science center that focuses on respiratory problems, an engineering school and two huge air-conditioning companies. I invited representatives from all these groups to a meeting one day and asked, ‘Isn’t there something we can all do to work together?’ One scientist asked, ‘What do you think of indoor air quality? Why not share our expertise?’” And the idea was born.

Industry partnerships should lead to development of healthier commercial products for homes, as TxAIRE finds ways to make air cleaner in the great indoors.TR

For more information on TxAIRE, visit http://cecs.uttyler.edu/research.htm.

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