HabitatMap Scaled Platform Globally on Akamai

HabitatMap, a nonprofit dedicated to environmental justice and air quality awareness, needed to support a fast-growing community science platform without getting bogged down in cloud infrastructure management. As its AirCasting platform and AirBeam sensors gained worldwide adoption, the organization turned to Akamai cloud computing services to keep performance stable, data secure, and operations simple. Even as billions of air quality readings poured in, Akamai scaled effortlessly.

HabitatMap was born from Brooklyn community activism and a desire to expose environmental health threats long overlooked. According to Founder and Executive Director Michael Heimbinder, the organization started by mapping toxic sites to mobilize action. But when communities asked for ways to measure air quality directly, HabitatMap shifted gears.

At the time, commercial air quality monitors cost $1,000 or more, required expensive maintenance and consumables, and had to be returned for calibration. There was no affordable solution for communities concerned about their environment. “People didn’t just want to map what they saw,” said Heimbinder. “They wanted to quantify it.”

In response, HabitatMap worked with Lunar Logic to launch its AirCasting platform in 2011. AirCasting is a complex Internet of Things platform combining hardware and software that makes air quality understandable and actionable. “Our platform translates complex information like air quality into insights related to health outcomes,” Heimbinder said.

The platform allows users to record, map, and share air quality data. Primary users include schools, community-based organizations, academics, university researchers, regulatory agencies, and individuals monitoring local conditions.

To complement its platform, HabitatMap launched its open source AirBeam sensor in 2014. The nonprofit continually enhances the sensor with features built in direct response to user feedback, always with environmental justice in mind.

As adoption of the platform and sensors surged — eventually processing more than 3 billion data points and counting — so did infrastructure demands. HabitatMap turned to Lunar Logic, who had helped it develop both back-end and front-end systems, and enhance its platform and sensor. The trusted partner introduced HabitatMap to Akamai as a developer-friendly and reliable cloud option.

“Lunar Logic chose Akamai cloud computing services for their simplicity, stability, and scalability. So it felt like the natural choice for us. We found it simple to set up, stable, and flexible enough to grow with our needs,” said Heimbinder.

According to Heimbinder, Backups — a managed service that automatically backs up HabitatMap’s cloud compute disks at regular intervals — gave the nonprofit peace of mind. “We know our data is safe and can be easily restored if needed. Plus, our infrastructure partner, Lunar Logic, can easily create a testing environment and spin up a container based on the backed-up database.”

DNS Manager makes it easy for Lunar Logic to handle domains and subdomains for different projects and testing environments, keeping everything organized and efficient. In addition, Essential Compute — foundational cloud computing resources offering a cost-effective way to run workloads on Akamai Cloud — provides the flexible, consistent performance HabitatMap relies on day to day. “It’s a solid and reliable foundation for our applications.”

Traffic doubled following the platform redesign, and mobile installs rose 50%. But HabitatMap didn’t need to rework its infrastructure. “Everything just kept running,” Heimbinder said. “That reliability meant we could put our energy into user impact instead of uptime.”

When Lunar Logic noticed heavy processes affecting performance on shared servers, it switched to Akamai’s dedicated compute resources. “The shift was immediate,” Heimbinder said. “Responsiveness improved, and we gained more control without adding complexity.”

This flexibility lets the small nonprofit operate like a global tech platform without the burden of managing a complex infrastructure stack.

HabitatMap has sold over 10,000 AirBeams, which are deployed globally. In Spain, a network of cyclists across 18 cities uses AirBeam monitors to track air pollution and promote safe cycling. A researcher at the Mount Sinai Health System used the sensors with pediatric volunteers to study the effects of air pollution on developing diseases. NJ Advance Media even took AirBeams undercover into Atlantic City casinos to document secondhand smoke exposure for workers.

Fixed AirBeams are being expanded to provide consistent, community-wide monitoring. “We want to stay focused on building tools that help people advocate for change,” Community Manager Kayla Pasacreta said. “Knowing the Akamai platform is stable lets us do that.”

With Akamai handling the back-end infrastructure, HabitatMap continued innovating on features. Those include time-lapse air quality maps, calendar-based pollution tracking, and new campaigns aimed at fixed-location AirBeam monitors to serve entire neighborhoods.

With usage of HabitatMap’s platform and sensors growing, so are data demands and storage requirements. Akamai’s infrastructure provides reliability, simplicity, and affordability — critical for a nonprofit balancing scale, performance, and cost. “There’s never been a reason to look elsewhere,” Heimbinder said. “Akamai has scaled with us without headaches or migration worries.”

As HabitatMap explores over-the-air calibration updates to improve sensor accuracy, it expects Akamai to continue powering its expansion. “With Akamai, we don’t have to worry about our cloud provider. Its services work reliably and that gives us great confidence as we continue growing,” Heimbinder concluded.