RoboSquirt

Recent studies of retrofitting, backed by early feedback from Retrofit for the Future program,
have demonstrated that effective under-floor insulation of existing buildings is one of the
greatest challenges to nation-wide up-scaling of retrofit activity to aimed at improving energy
performance of our current building stock. While cavity or external wall insulation, loft
insulation and new windows are already available and relatively uncomplicated solutions,
under-floor insulation is the next intervention to include. However, under-floor insulation is
currently disruptive, labour intensive and costly, taking up over £10k per installation (while
often technically incomplete).
Green Structures designed an innovative process where the whole house is insulated from
beneath by a remotely controlled robotic device. The tracked vehicle will be inserted under
the floor in one or two locations (e.g. the hallway, where carpet can be easily replaced with an
oversized doormat), avoiding disruption to the household. Using this system, installation of
under-floor insulation can be undertaken by one skilled operative in a day. With the cost of
insulation material below £1000 per house the system is estimated to save approximately
£8,000 per dwelling, as well as shortening of Whole House Retrofit duration by up to two
weeks and minimising disruption.
In this project, Green Structures will modify a robotic technology made available by Imperial
College London; perform tests on the robot and control software (using Arduino open source
platform to simplify the development); optimise insulation materials to allow remote
application while maintaining performance standards; and conduct field trials in appropriate
dwellings. At the end of the project, Green Structures will have a fully-developed prototype
which will improve efficiency of their own operations and will be licensed to other retrofitters
(or provided as a dedicated stand alone service).