“We see a tremendous opportunity with homebuilders large and small,” said Steve Tart, vice president of sales and marketing at UltraGuard.

The company’s toolbox of sales materials describes carbon monoxide incidents and how they occur, why consumers are concerned about carbon monoxide and how the UltraGuard system ensures against carbon monoxide accidents. Also included is information on the states and localities that require a CO detector to be installed and on the decreased cost of installing at the time the home is built.

Public concern is based on the dangers of illness and death due to carbon monoxide poisoning, which the Centers for Disease Control cites as the leading cause of injury and death by poisoning. Further, the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center recently released research funded by the National Institutes of Health that documents the irreversible aftereffects of exposure to CO. Permanent brain damage occurs – days to weeks later – in approximately 50 percent of all patients with serious CO poisoning, which could not be explained by oxygen deprivation only, according to the research.

“The fact that this side effect of CO poisoning is irreversible validates further the importance of UltraGuard’s proactive life safety system that immediately shuts down the cause of CO,” said Geoff Winters, Ultraguard’s founder and president. “Only our Ultraguard System shuts down the cause of carbon monoxide in a home or workplace.”

Ultraguard seeks to educate all segments of the market.

“Our system fits in perfectly with where the more thoughtful builders are going,” Tart said. “We’re the only ones who have this capability and professional builders see this as an advantage.”

The campaign targets house buyers, pointing out the advantage of adding the monitor to the cost of their homes, so they pay for it over years instead of right away. Other marketing targets include multiple-occupancy homes and public buildings like schools.

“They are keenly aware of the CO accident possibility and very receptive to having a system with shut down and early alarm,” Tart said.