Challenge
More than 10 million homes in the UK have suspended timber flooring, and very few have been insulated due to the disruption and cost of doing so. Older homes with timber flooring can lose a significant amount of heat. Installing suspended timber floor insulation without uplifting flooring is a challenge that Q-Bot’s underfloor insulation is designed to mitigate.
Their solution uses a remotely operated robotic device to apply spray-foam to the underside of the floor, which causes minimal disruption and significantly reduces heat loss through the floor, providing a barrier to cold air drafts. To increase confidence and trust in their brand, Q-Bot sought to get their insulation solution independently verified by Energy Saving Trust’s product verification service.
Action
To verify the energy savings, Energy Saving Trust modelled ‘before’ and ‘after’ scenarios using the energy modelling system BREDEM SAP and the Dynamic Engine – our market-leading calculation engine that is used widely throughout our work, including government reporting and consumer advice – to generate energy saving characteristics and scenarios for a range of property archetypes.
This process produces robust and realistic energy saving claims for the purposes of consumer guidance when marketing Q-Bot’s insulation solution. Q-Bot submitted on site evidence before and after installing underfloor insulation, along with the British Board of Agrément Certificate, the UK’s leading construction certification body. The report demonstrated that that Q-Bot could be successfully deployed for insulating suspended timber ground floors without the requirement of lifting the entire flooring structure, either through a hatch or a vent to the under-floor cavity.
Result
The results of the Dynamic Engine modelling demonstrated an increase in SAP score after insulation application, which was evident in all modelled property archetypes. This result supports the well-established position that floor insulation improves the energy efficiency of buildings, with Q-Bot’s underfloor insulation typically saving around £255 a year in an electrically heated home for domestic energy consumers.
“Q-Bot is really proud to be certified by Energy Saving Trust, reflecting such a great endorsement from a trusted and independent national body. The results of the verification process strongly enhance our energy savings claims and more broadly all the benefits of installing our robotic underfloor insulation. The team at Energy Saving Trust has been very helpful and open to conversation.”
Audrey, marketing executive, Q-Bot
Q-Bot’s underfloor insulation solution successfully gained Energy Saving Trust’s Verified Product Certification stamp of approval, which provides independent assurance about the performance and claims associated with energy saving products.