Energyflo Insulation Technologies is among an elite band of suppliers to AIM C4, a consortium of industry trail-blazers set up to pioneer the volume production of low-carbon (Code 4) homes in the UK.
Selected from more than 300 hopefuls bidding for a place on the AIM C4 pilot project last year, Energyflo’s revolutionary ‘dynamic insulation’ is to be used in the construction of the first AIM C4 trial homes in June 2011.
AIM C4 is a unique partnership which includes Stewart Milne Group and other industry leaders. The £6.4 million project is half-funded by AIM C4’s developer partners with a further £3.2m in matched funding from the Technology Strategy Board. The pilot scheme will get underway in the first half of 2011 when the supply chain partners begin working together on the first houses.
AIM C4 is developing designs which will achieve Level 4 of the UK’s Code for Sustainable Homes through ‘fabric-first’ design solutions. “The whole point is that micro generation is a very costly way of de-carbonising the domestic housing sector” explains Energyflo Product Development Director, Dr Andrew Peacock.
A low-cost, zero-maintenance technology, dynamic insulation uses heat energy escaping from a building to warm air being ducted in via the ventilation system. The temperature of the incoming air is raised by as much as 8ºC using energy which would otherwise be lost.
Energyflo’s technology is, therefore, the ultimate “fabric-first” solution: in essence, no matter how low future standards push permitted U-values, Energyflo’s technology can “turbo-charge” any insulation to always deliver dramatically lower levels than standard ‘static’ solutions.
The main benefits of the revolutionary system are –
• It delivers much lower U-Values per unit thickness.
• It can be used in private housing, social housing and commercial construction
• It can be used in walls, roofs and retro-fit
• It can be used in the standard 100mm cavity or 140mm stud
• It reduces build cost with lower U-Values in thinner envelopes
• It reduces fuel bills and carbon emissions
• It reduces space heating requirement
• It comprises ‘active insulation’ instead of normal ‘static’ products
• It meets standards for 2010 through to 2016.
• There is no need to change build footprint, building design or familiar building methods
Energyflo operates through strategic partnerships with leading manufacturers to deliver innovative insulation systems to both the commercial and domestic building sectors.
In the course of the past year, Energyflo has signed three licensing agreements with major manufacturers, secured additional private sector investment and is engaged in detailed discussions with major clients including national housebuilders and manufacturers of Modern Methods of Construction (MMCs).
Research and development at concept stage was carried out at Aberdeen University and later verified by the BRE through extensive work with both the BRE and National Physical Laboratory.
Subsequent case studies have shown that Energyflo’s dynamic insulation can deliver up to 40% improvements in energy efficiency and consequently significantly reduced CO2. In November 2010, the BRE SAP Appendix Q website for domestic buildings added the dynamic insulation methodology to its list of qualifying technologies and for commercial projects, Energyflo systems are now fully integrated into IES’ dynamic building simulation software.