History
ActivePure® Technologies has evolved continuously since 1924, when Gustaf Sahlin, a Swedish immigrant, brought Electrolux to America as a subsidiary of European Electrolux, and the brand and their products became synonymous with healthy, clean indoor environments.
Over the next decade, Electrolux becomes a household name as Americans embrace its distinctive canister design and long-lasting quality.
European Electrolux develops a disinfecting filter in its model XI filter bag. This was Electrolux’s first venture into air purification.
Electrolux opens its first American factory in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.
The Electrolux factory in Old Greenwich is closed due to a lack of automation infrastructure and rising costs. Electrolux invests millions into cutting-edge automation for its 15-year-old Bristol, Virginia facility, consolidating manufacturing there.
Electrolux USA expands into water purification, creating the brand Purelux.
The Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics (WCSAR) works with the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center to solve the problem of ethylene build-up on space shuttles, a volatile organic compound (VOC) with no way of dissipating in the enclosed environment, requiring a high-tech solution. Under the leadership of Dr. Marc Anderson, the team develops a device known as the ethylene scrubber based on titanium dioxide photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) to break down the VOC. The ethylene scrubber is first used on the space shuttle Columbia in 1995.
A group led by Joe Urso purchases Electrolux North America. Urso—a relative of factory workers who labored in Electrolux’s Greenwich plant decades earlier—becomes the new CEO. He changes the company’s name to Aerus Holdings, LLC. which continues to sell high-quality HEPA vacuum cleaners to this day, and expands its focus to other healthy home products, especially air purification.
Aerus releases its first PCO-based air purifier by adding a titanium dioxide coating and UV light to a HEPA filter.
Aerus acquires the assets of network marketing company EcoQuest, along with a more targeted update of PCO technology known as Radiant Catalytic Ionization (RCI). The research team at Aerus works on delivering improved versions of this technology over the next 8 years.
Aerus begins the Aerus Enterprise Solutions (AES) program, which partners with HVAC wholesale professionals and HVAC contractors throughout the USA. AES modifies the voltage requirements of the induct unit so that it operates on only 24 volts and can be installed without a professional electrician. The Air Scrubber by Aerus is born.
Aerus’s research team (led by Andy Eide) delivers a new patented ActivePure cell design which is much more efficient and targeted than the original RCI design. CEO Joseph Urso, VP of Product Development & Manufacturing Andrew Eide, and the company itself are inducted into the Space Foundation’s Space Technology Hall of Fame for the continuing development of ActivePure Technology. They are honored along with Dr. Marc Anderson who developed the original concept and the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
COVID-19 is declared a global health pandemic, caused by an airborne virus. Aerus moves even more manufacturing to its Bristol plant to continuously supply customers during the global health crisis, and begins investing even more heavily in testing, in order to learn exactly what its technology can do during a pandemic. A new division, ActivePure Medical, dedicated to meeting the specialized needs of healthcare facilities is created. The ActivePure Medical Guardian receives certification from the US Food & Drug Administration as a Class II Medical Device.
Aerus Holdings, LLC changes its name to ActivePure Technologies, LLC. Aerus remains the brand name for franchisees and distributors. ActivePure helps hundreds of schools return to in-person learning. Both unaffiliated studies and self-reported data from the schools show remarkable improvement in air quality and surface decontamination. ActivePure’s expanded manufacturing at their Greenville, Tennessee and Bristol, Virginia facilities necessitates spinning off distribution operations to a nearby facility in Piney Flats, Tennessee. ActivePure continues to be a thought leader during the pandemic, encouraging governments, organizations, and individuals to give proper attention to the potential of active, rather than passive, air purification methods.
ActivePure Technology is included in the America at Home Study Concept Home, an innovative home design based on insights from the only longitudinal study of consumer behavior, values and attitudes about home design post-COVID, with nearly 10,000 responses. Elimination of chemicals and volatile organic compounds was very important to 54% of respondents and whole home air filtration system was very important and a purchase motivator for nearly half, demonstrating strong consumer demand for ActivePure Technology.
Over the next decade, Electrolux becomes a household name as Americans embrace its distinctive canister design and long-lasting quality.
European Electrolux develops a disinfecting filter in its model XI filter bag. This was Electrolux’s first venture into air purification.
Electrolux opens its first American factory in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.
The Electrolux factory in Old Greenwich is closed due to a lack of automation infrastructure and rising costs. Electrolux invests millions into cutting-edge automation for its 15-year-old Bristol, Virginia facility, consolidating manufacturing there.
Electrolux USA expands into water purification, creating the brand Purelux.
The Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics (WCSAR) works with the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center to solve the problem of ethylene build-up on space shuttles, a volatile organic compound (VOC) with no way of dissipating in the enclosed environment, requiring a high-tech solution. Under the leadership of Dr. Marc Anderson, the team develops a device known as the ethylene scrubber based on titanium dioxide photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) to break down the VOC. The ethylene scrubber is first used on the space shuttle Columbia in 1995.
A group led by Joe Urso purchases Electrolux North America. Urso—a relative of factory workers who labored in Electrolux’s Greenwich plant decades earlier—becomes the new CEO. He changes the company’s name to Aerus Holdings, LLC. which continues to sell high-quality HEPA vacuum cleaners to this day, and expands its focus to other healthy home products, especially air purification.
2000
Aerus releases its first PCO-based air purifier by adding a titanium dioxide coating and UV light to a HEPA filter.
Aerus acquires the assets of network marketing company EcoQuest, along with a more targeted update of PCO technology known as Radiant Catalytic Ionization (RCI). The research team at Aerus works on delivering improved versions of this technology over the next 8 years.
Aerus begins the Aerus Enterprise Solutions (AES) program, which partners with HVAC wholesale professionals and HVAC contractors throughout the USA. AES modifies the voltage requirements of the induct unit so that it operates on only 24 volts and can be installed without a professional electrician. The Air Scrubber by Aerus is born.
Aerus’s research team (led by Andy Eide) delivers a new patented ActivePure cell design which is much more efficient and targeted than the original RCI design. CEO Joseph Urso, VP of Product Development & Manufacturing Andrew Eide, and the company itself are inducted into the Space Foundation’s Space Technology Hall of Fame for the continuing development of ActivePure Technology. They are honored along with Dr. Marc Anderson who developed the original concept and the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
COVID-19 is declared a global health pandemic, caused by an airborne virus. Aerus moves even more manufacturing to its Bristol plant to continuously supply customers during the global health crisis, and begins investing even more heavily in testing, in order to learn exactly what its technology can do during a pandemic. A new division, ActivePure Medical, dedicated to meeting the specialized needs of healthcare facilities is created. The ActivePure Medical Guardian receives certification from the US Food & Drug Administration as a Class II Medical Device.
Aerus Holdings, LLC changes its name to ActivePure Technologies, LLC. Aerus remains the brand name for franchisees and distributors. ActivePure helps hundreds of schools return to in-person learning. Both unaffiliated studies and self-reported data from the schools show remarkable improvement in air quality and surface decontamination. ActivePure’s expanded manufacturing at their Greenville, Tennessee and Bristol, Virginia facilities necessitates spinning off distribution operations to a nearby facility in Piney Flats, Tennessee. ActivePure continues to be a thought leader during the pandemic, encouraging governments, organizations, and individuals to give proper attention to the potential of active, rather than passive, air purification methods.
ActivePure Technology is included in the America at Home Study Concept Home, an innovative home design based on insights from the only longitudinal study of consumer behavior, values and attitudes about home design post-COVID, with nearly 10,000 responses. Elimination of chemicals and volatile organic compounds was very important to 54% of respondents and whole home air filtration system was very important and a purchase motivator for nearly half, demonstrating strong consumer demand for ActivePure Technology.