Novel Retrofit Technology Incorporating Robots for Lower Energy Healthy Buildings

英国有大约2220万套住宅。五分之一(21%)的住宅建于1919年之前。在这些老房子中，大约有四分之三自建成以来至少经历了一些重大改造，主要是扩建或阁楼改造。另外17.9%的住宅建于1919年至1944年，18%建于1945年至1964年。1990年后建造的住宅仅占总存量的12%。因此，英国有很大一部分房屋被视为遗产。对我们老化的库存进行改造的新技术将使我们能够以具有成本效益的方式减少碳排放和减轻燃料贫困。这对于保护传统房屋存量是至关重要的。Q-Bot公司开发了一种创新系统，通过从下面涂上PU绝缘的悬挂木地板来减少热量损失。机器人被插入到地板的空隙中，检查地板的空隙和状况，向地板的底面喷洒绝缘材料，并验证应用的绝缘面积和深度。这使地板(本身可以被视为遗产元素)的外观保持在温暖干燥的一侧，同时保持地板空隙内的通风。可以通过外墙的通风口进入，也可以从酒店内部的地板上通过一个小开口进入。这将对住户的影响降至最低，并导致典型的进场时间为1-2天。最初的室内试验表明，在悬挂木地板上喷洒绝缘材料可以将地板上的热量损失减少85%，减少房间内的温度分层，并将物业内的通风减少高达40%。该项目将解决PU泡沫塑料本身对室内环境的影响以及安装期间和安装后对居住者的影响这一重要问题。目前使用的PU泡沫似乎含有约30种挥发性有机化合物，其中一些对人体健康的影响未知。这可能会给居民带来潜在的风险，因为接触到的化学品在未来可能被证明是有害的(或曾经是有害的)。该提案将开发合适的分析技术，以探索各种PU泡沫塑料(和其他可喷涂隔热材料)对翻新历史建筑的环境和能源性能的影响，并开发一种综合评估方法，以评估喷雾隔热对国内历史财产的影响。该项目大力支持CDT艺术、遗产和考古科学和工程，因为它支持其两个方面的发展：数据到知识和知识到企业。它与EPSRC的优先事项“材料特性”和“数据到知识”保持一致

There are ~22.2 million dwellings in England. One in five (21%) dwellings were built before 1919. About three quarters of these older dwellings have been subject to at least some major alterations since they were built, mostly extensions or loft conversions. A further 17.9% of dwellings was built between 1919 and 1944 and further 18% from 1945 to 1964. Dwellings built after 1990 account for just 12% of the stock. A large proportion of English housing stock is thus considered as heritage. Novel technologies for retrofit of our ageing stock would enable us to reduce its carbon emission and alleviate fuel poverty in a cost-effective way. This is essential for preservation of the heritage housing stock. The company Q-Bot has developed an innovative system for reducing heat loss through suspended timber floors that applies PU insulation from underneath. A robot is inserted into the floor void, surveys the void and condition of the floor, sprays insulation to the underside of the floor boards, and verifies the area and depth of insulation applied. This keeps the appearance of the floor (which could itself be considered as a heritage element) on the warm dry side, while maintaining ventilation within the floor void. Access can be made through an air vent in the outside wall, or through a small opening in the floor from within the property. This minimises disruption to residents and results in a typical in-stall time of 1-2 days.Initial 'in-house' experiments indicated that spraying insulation to suspended timber floors could reduce heat loss through the floor by 85%, reduce temperature stratification within the room, and reduce draughts in the property by up to 40%. The project will address the important question of the impact of the PU foam itself on the indoor environment and on occupants during the installation and afterwards. The currently used PU foam appears to contain ~30 Volatile Organic Compounds, some with unknown effects on human health. This could potentially create a risk to inhabitants due to exposure to chemicals that might, in the future, turn out to be (or have been) harmful. The proposal will develop suitable analytical techniques to explore the impact of various PU foams (and other sprayable insulation materials) on environmental and energy performance of retrofitted historic houses, and develop a comprehensive evaluation methodology to assess and model the effect of spray insulation on historic domestic properties.The project strongly supports the CDT Science and Engineering in Arts, Heritage and Archaeology as it supports the development of two of its strands: Data to Knowledge and Knowledge to Enterprise. It aligns with the EPSRC priorities 'Materials Characterisation' and 'Data to Knowledge