Smoke days are rising and your filters aren't rated for them

A seven-step play for a commercial HVAC company. It starts from IQAir, stacks City permit portals and Firecrawl on top, and ends in a message to the facilities director that is useful before anyone replies.

Deploy in Glider

Installs this workflow, five project tables and a draft campaign. Source access and any external outputs are checked before research.

Category: Property and construction
Sources: 3
Steps: 7

The workflow

TriggerIQAirLocal smoke days and air quality history
Evidence
City permit portalsMechanical permits that show the filters FirecrawlState ventilation grant programs
Artifact
What you hand overA filter and ventilation upgrade plan sized to the building, with the grant that can fund it.
Contact
GliderFinds the facilities director, with a verified work email and a phone
Message
Send itFrom your own mailboxes, evidence attached

Why it earns attention

Wildfire smoke days are rising, and older school and office ventilation was not designed for them. When a state grant covers most of an upgrade, the decision gets easy.

The play in seven steps

01
Count the smoke days
IQAir
What you pull
Daily air quality history for the district or town: days over AQI 150 this year and last.
Why it matters
This is the problem in their own data. The trend tells them it will happen again.
Example
9 days over AQI 150 this fall · 2 last year
02
See what the buildings filter with
City permit portals
What you pull
Mechanical permits for schools and offices: equipment, filter rating where listed, and the date.
Why it matters
Filters below MERV 13 let most smoke particles through. The permit can show the rating without a site visit.
Example
Middle school · 2019 air handler permit · MERV 8 filters
03
Find the money
Firecrawl
What you pull
State ventilation and filtration grant programs: eligibility, what they cover and the deadline.
Why it matters
A grant that pays for most of the work removes the budget objection.
Example
State school ventilation program · covers assessment and upgrades · next round closes in March
04
Build the upgrade plan
Your artifact
What you build
The filter upgrade and any fan changes the system needs, the cost, and the share the grant covers.
Why it works
The facilities director can take one page to the board with the cost already mostly covered.
Example
MERV 13 retrofit for 3 air handlers · grant covers about 80% · 2 weeks of work
05
Check before you send
Not every system can run higher-rated filters without fan or coil changes. Say what you would check, and confirm the grant's eligibility for that building type.
06
Find the facilities director in Glider
Glider
Search for
Facilities directorDirector of maintenance and operationsBusiness managerSuperintendent
Why them
The facilities director owns the equipment. The business manager owns grants and budgets.
What you get
A work email and a direct phone, with the email verified before it goes into a sequence.
07
Send the evidence, then run the first test
To: the facilities directorEvery line comes from a step above
Your district had nine days over AQI 150 this fall.¹ The 2019 permit for the middle school's air handlers lists MERV 8 filters, below what's recommended for smoke.² The state's school ventilation program covers most of an upgrade, and the next round closes in March.³ I put together a plan for that building and what the grant would pay.⁴ Want to see it?
- Facts from the data (the number is the step)
- What you built for them
- One small ask
Why it works
It connects a problem they lived through this fall to their own equipment and to money that covers the fix.
First test
Five districts with high smoke days and identifiable HVAC permits.
Success looks like
Three assessments out of fifteen districts.