This website is a centralized clearinghouse for Household Environmental Monitoring tools and protocols developed by the Kirk Smith Group as well as source for information about our two newly developed low-cost environmental monitors (the UCB Particle Monitor and the UCB Locator); a clearinghouse for information and publications related to our household monitoring projects; and a host for three indoor air pollution databases. Below is a short introduction to our research group's current household monitoring projects in China, Guatemala, Mexico, and India; click on the project name in the sidebar for more details.

Household Energy & Health (HEH) NGO Stove Program in Mexico, Guatemala and India
Standardized monitoring and evaluation techniques for evaluating changes in indoor air quality and stove fuel performance were developed and deployed in two NGO-led programs to disseminate improved cookstoves (ICS) in India and one in Mexico. The results showed major and mostly statistically significant improvements in 48-hour indoor air pollution concentrations in those households using the stoves one year after introduction. Kitchen levels of carbon monoxide reduced from 30-70% and concentrations of small particles reduced 25-65%. Unfortunately, however, the lowered levels were all still well above the Air Quality Guidelines recommended by the World Health Organization for small particles, although approaching them for carbon monoxide.

A range of recommendations are provided for future monitoring and evaluation efforts, with the primary one being to combine efficacy tests (small number of carefully monitored households under normal conditions) combined with larger well-designed surveys (questionnaire only) to determine actual usage and house perception. It is recommended that only those NGOs planning to develop significant long-term capability in making air pollution and stove measurement under field conditions be expected to undertake effectiveness testing, i.e, evaluate population-wide changes from real large-scale dissemination programs. The alternative it to employ professional survey and environmental consulting firms, which also has the advantage of assuring independence of the process. In either case, over the long run it is important to generate national capacities for this kind of work.

Review of China's Household Stove Program
This project was an independent, multidisciplinary review of China's improved rural household stove programs. These programs were originally sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, and the State Development Planning Commission. The project had three major objectives:

1. evaluation of the implementation methods used to promote improved stoves;
2. evaluation of the commercial stove production and marketing organizations created during the same period; and
3. measurement of the household impacts of the programs.

In January 2005, a workshop was held in Beijing to disseminate the results of this National Improved Cookstove Program (NISP) review. This workshop brought together representatives and experts from universities, research institutes, non-government organizations, provincial and national government agencies, rural energy industries, and international organizations from China, South Asia, Europe, North America, and Africa to discuss the results of the independent study of NISP. The Ministry of Agriculture and its affiliated agencies as well non-governmental organizations briefed the participants of the workshop on the achievements in extending improved stoves and other advanced rural energy technologies in China, and demonstrated a number of high-efficiency stoves. Participants from India, Nepal, Kenya, Tanzania and the Nature Conservancy of the United States briefed the workshop respectively on relevant issues of their own. Many of these presentations are posted on the China page.

Pilot Work for an Indian National Survey
The overall intention of this pilot study, initiated by sociologists at the University of Maryland, is to develop, test and refine a set of research methods to quantify key environmental variables (i.e. air and water pollution) that can be added in cost effective ways to larger (i.e. 40,000 HH) surveys. This pilot study (N=600 households) required the expertise of many individuals. Domestic project partners include social scientists Reeve Vanneman, Mitali Sen, and Sonal DeSai from the University of Maryland; Doug Barnes from the World Bank; and Kirk Smith and Kyra Naumoff from UC Berkeley. Project partners in India include R. Uma and team from The Energy Research Institute (TERI) and K. Balakrishnan and team from Sri Ramachandran Medical College (SRMC). The overall goals of the study are to 1) develop, test, and refine a set of research methods to measure important environmental variables that can be added in a cost effective way to larger surveys, and 2) examine the impact of poverty, social inequalities, gender, and public policy on environmental risks, particularly exposure to indoor air pollution and water borne diseases in India. This project received funding from NIH's Health, Environment and Economic Development Program.

Stove Performance Tests
Stove Performance Test protocols in English and Spanish can be downloaded from this page. However, all of the most recent project monitoring protocols - including those for measuring fine particulate matter and carbon monoxide as well as for conducting stove performance tests (water boiling test, controlled cooking test, and the kitchen performance test) - can be downloaded from The Center for Entrepreneurship in International Health and Development at UC Berkeley.