In New Orleans' historic neighborhoods, where summer temperatures soar as humidity levels spike, a few critical degrees can be the difference between discomfort and danger. For ISeeChange, these nuances tell an important story about the real impact of extreme weather and climate change on public health.
ISeeChange is a global data and engagement platform, uniting science and community collaboration for actionable adaptation insights. Its three-legged stool approach combines resident generated ground truth data, remote sensing, and internet of things (IoT) sensor technology to create comprehensive real-time climate assessments. This innovative approach to data collection helps cities, counties, engineers and utilities providers make more informed decisions about climate infrastructure, emergency response and policy.
As a former climate science reporter, ISeeChange CEO Julia Kumari Drapkin had for years observed that "top-down, well intentioned solutions were failing to meet and keep pace with local needs." She founded the company to create real ground-up change for these at risk communities.
"There's no such thing as data in isolation," said Drapkin. "We needed a way for stories from people in specific places to connect with the bigger picture." By integrating Verizon IoT sensor technology with community insights, ISeeChange is transforming how cities understand and adapt to climate challenges.
Static data logging hinders timely climate action
Until recently, organizations like ISeeChange encountered numerous obstacles to gathering actionable climate data. Static data loggers could record temperature and humidity, but the information wasn't available until weeks or months later—far too late to help residents who might be at imminent risk.
"When we looked at that data later, we realized people were living in very unhealthy and dangerous conditions," Drapkin said. But with the long delay between collection and analysis, there was little they could do to help.
Heat threw this challenge into stark relief. When it came to measuring heat impact, only hyperlocal data collection enabled by IoT sensors could capture the dramatic temperature variations that can occur within a single city block, impacted by micro factors like building materials and tree coverage. This specific data was essential for capturing what mattered most: the conditions in places where people actually live and sleep.
"Heat is the biggest threat to our health when the body can't rest at night," Drapkin said. "If we can't recover from heat exposure during the day, it stresses every system in the body."
ISeeChange knew what capabilities it needed to accomplish its goals. The next step was to find a connected solution that could effectively support live data collection.
New paradigm for monitoring extreme heat going forward.
Julia Kumari Drapkin, CEO of ISeeChange
IoT sensors enable near real-time climate insights
While participating in the 2021 Verizon Forward program for climate justice, ISeeChange discovered the potential for a future partnership.
This connection led to a formal partnership in 2024 with ISeeChange and Verizon joining forces to integrate Verizon Sensor Insights into an existing comprehensive climate monitoring platform, enabling near real-time temperature and humidity tracking in individual homes. "The sensors unlock our ability to model urban heat waves and improve energy efficiency," Drapkin explained.
This affordable solution proved particularly impactful in New Orleans, where ISeeChange rolled out 100 Verizon sensors to monitor conditions inside low-income homes and rental properties. The sensors provide continuous data streams and support timely intervention when conditions become dangerous. And battery backup ensures operation even during power outages.
Near real-time monitoring also supports steady and reliable data collection. If a child moves a sensor or if conditions suddenly shift, ISeeChange can immediately identify the development and respond accordingly. With the static data loggers previously in use, such incidents could have gone undetected for months.
Since data collection would occur in people's homes, data privacy and security were of paramount importance. ISeeChange collaborated with research partners at Johns Hopkins University and RAND to establish rigorous protocols for data collection and analysis. The ISeeChange platform stores up to 90 days of historical temperature and humidity data while enabling secure transmission through multiple channels, protecting resident privacy while still allowing for detailed analysis of climate impacts.
A key aspect of this innovative solution was a reliable network. When Hurricane Ida struck the region in 2021, the Verizon network was the only one that maintained connectivity through the crisis. ISeeChange trusted that a Verizon-powered sensor solution would be resilient enough to withstand even extreme weather events when monitoring is most crucial.
ISeeChange climate monitoring brings relief to New Orleans
ISeeChange put its new capabilities into practice in New Orleans. In 2022, local housing advocates succeeded in establishing the The City of New Orleans first cooling standard for residential buildings as part of its Healthy Homes ordinance.
With early input from ISeeChange and national heat experts, the standard mandates rental homes to have a cooling system capable of maintaining a maximum bedroom temperature of 80°F (26.7°C). Previous versions of the standard, borrowed from cities like Phoenix, weren't sufficient for New Orleans' humid environment. However, there is no universally agreed-upon safety threshold for indoor heat to protect people during extreme heat events.
With support from the National Institute of Health, Johns Hopkins University, and RAND, the ISeeChange team deployed its new iOT capabilities to test the new standard’s abilities to protect people in their homes.
The team activated a diverse and representative group of low-income home owners and renters to track neighborhood heat impacts during the summer of 2023. The team delivered targeted surveys to participants via the ISeeChange platform, comparing temperature and humidity measurements in real time to health symptoms and heat stories. These people-powered sensor insights are proving crucial in testing indoor cooling standards. With precise climate monitoring, ISeeChange and the research team was able to assess health impacts on residents as well as the capacity of air conditioning units to maintain an 80 degree temperature threshold for bedrooms. This effort is not only helping focus the City’s enforcement guidelines, but will also guide local energy policy for residents to access adequate cooling without driving their energy bills unreasonably high.
"The real-time sensor data really set a new paradigm for monitoring extreme heat going forward," said Drapkin.
Beyond policy improvements, ISeeChange has supported data-driven infrastructure maintenance, more effective emergency response planning, better infrastructure design decisions and timely interventions during dangerous flooding and heat events.
The organization has now expanded their work to Miami-Dade County, where similar IoT sensor networks have monitored heat exposure at bus stops and tracked flooding data to optimize stormwater infrastructure.
The sensors provide continuous data streams and support timely intervention when conditions become dangerous.
Julia Kumari Drapkin, CEO of ISeeChange