Next-generation smart homes: CO2 monitoring with Matter protocol to support indoor air quality

Abstract

Humans spend most of their time indoors, where air quality and comfort are crucial to health and well-being. Elevated CO₂ levels in buildings can reduce cognitive function, discomfort, and health issues. Indoor CO₂ monitoring has emerged as a key focus in the literature, particularly in residential buildings, as it can play a vital role in helping to maintain adequate ventilation rates. The growing smart home market demands seamless integration and control, which are essential for implementing IAQ sensing devices. However, interoperability barriers between platforms and devices continue to hinder smart home adoption. To address these challenges, Matter protocol is starting to appear in the market. In this work, a wireless CO₂ sensor is developed based on ESP32-C6 and SCD40 and integrated into a created Matter-enabled ecosystem formed with the Home Assistant open-source platform. The utilized hardware and software enable the usage of two different wireless communication technologies, WiFi and Thread, enhancing compatibility. The study highlights the rapid and seamless onboarding of the developed CO₂ monitoring device into smart home ecosystems using the Matter protocol. As a result, once the device is successfully added to the ecosystem, the measurements can be accessed and analyzed through a mobile application, forming an IoT environment.