How Does Airex Comply with Regulations? Everything You Need to Know in a Nutshell
One of our installer partners took this photo of all the debris they found behind one air brick when installing Airex Floorvent.
A key requirement in the best practice guidance for retrofit projects for underfloor insulation is that “ventilation is effective and unobstructed” and it is exactly the situation in the image that the guidance is designed to address. Fortunately when Airex is installed our trained installers will take the opportunity to improve the airflow when they can.
We are often asked how Airex and its installation are compliant with Building Regulations and Retrofit Guidance so here is a quick summary. For those requiring detailed analysis please take a look at this guide.
The key part of Building Regulations relevant to Airex Floorvent installation into the sub-floor air space is Part C and a short section that refers to ventilation of suspended timber floors and which sets out the requirements for ventilation relevant to all air bricks, smart or otherwise. This includes requirements on the dimensions of the space and the need to allow air through but keep rodents out! There is also a specific requirement for vents to have an effective ventilation area in proportion to the size of the floor void, by perimeter or area.
Airex Floorvent supports compliance with all of these requirements in the regs and with an effective ventilation area of 4315mm2 per brick, Floorvent provides more ventilation than a traditional air brick, by roughly a factor of three. This means that installing Airex as a retrofit product can even enhance the available ventilation. The difference with Airex is that Floorvent controls the ventilation so that it is at the right time - keeping out moist air and keeping in heat so overall the void is properly ventilated but heat loss from the home is reduced.
It’s worth noting that the Building Regulations are based on an estimated need for ventilation, and research and analysis of conditions in the underfloor void is extremely sparse. Airex Floorvent monitors the underfloor void and provides ventilation as needed, keeping heat in the rest of the time and keeping moist air out too. This means that more than just complying with the Regs, the system goes above and beyond the requirement to provide ventilation that is right for the property. In addition, our machine learning algorithms can assess properties that might have inadequate ventilation and be at risk of damp problems. Currently with 1000s of homes installed Airex is building up the world’s biggest dataset of underfloor conditions and we look forward to contributing to greater insight into this poorly understood part of buildings.
Another key element of the Regs is the requirement for cross-flow ventilation, but one key challenge around retrofit is that designs and previous modifications to homes can mean that cross-flow ventilation is not present. Where possible new vents should be put in place to remedy this, but sometimes this is not possible. In this case, Airex’s monitoring can help identify if there are residual problems caused by the lack of cross-flow ventilation so that action can be taken.
We have also produced a detailed document that reviews current building regulations and government guidance on best practices with a line-by-line analysis of Airex Floorvent compliance. Enjoy!