Guest comment by Agnes Czako, Founder & CEO of AirEx.

AirEx has achieved a significant milestone by receiving a full British Board of Agrément (BBA) Certificate for our innovative smart ventilation control system. This prestigious certification sets us apart as an innovative leader in the retrofit and construction industry, underlining our commitment to excellence, innovation, and reliability.

I’ve spent many years of my career delivering over 30,000 fuel poverty assessments in some of the most vulnerable communities across the UK and was inspired to make a difference to families who had to choose between heating their energy-inefficient homes or buying food. This led me to focus on where our company could have a large impact, in a low-cost, accessible way.

The technology

AirEx Floorvent is a smart air brick – essentially a smart draught-proofing solution – that is designed to reduce heat loss while ensuring healthy environments in the home. It is a like-for-like replacement for traditional air bricks ventilating underfloor cavities. Instead of having a constant cold draught into the underfloor void, Floorvent air bricks utilise advanced sensors and algorithms to automatically allow or restrict airflow based on real-time environmental conditions, optimising airflow and reducing heat loss.

Navigating regulatory barriers

Since commercially launching in 2020, AirEx has achieved significant milestones, solidifying our position as industry pioneers.

Navigating the regulatory landscape in the construction industry, particularly for innovative products like AirEx Floorvent, is no small feat. The rigorous testing and certification required for both commercial and residential buildings create unique barriers, especially for novel, innovative products without direct competitors or existing references. Despite these challenges, AirEx’s journey has been remarkable.

In 2021, we became one of only five technologies approved by Ofgem under the ECO3 (Energy Company Obligation) Demonstration Action programme, which provided funding for the largest trial of an innovative energy-saving product in the industry. This extensive trial, involving hundreds of homes, produced independently validated results showing a seven percent reduction in heat loss and a two to five SAP point improvement in Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings.

By August 2022, AirEx achieved another significant milestone, becoming one of only two innovative products modelled in the EPC through ‘Appendix Q’, facilitating the inclusion of AirEx Floorvent in fuel poverty reduction schemes. This progress culminated in the first large-scale national rollout of Floorvent under Scotland’s Warmer Homes initiative – with over a thousand homes having already benefited from AirEx since the launch of the scheme.

We are grateful for the Catapult’s support of AirEx over the last few years – from allowing us to use the Living Lab to collect and analyse data for product validation, through the capturing of consumer insights to refine our value proposition, all the way to conducting co-creation workshops to develop a service blueprint that helps identify efficiency improvements as we scale.

Social impact and commercial success

These achievements are crucial to AirEx’s vision of addressing fuel poverty on a large scale. Over 17,000 units have been deployed across the UK, resulting in £18 million in lifetime fuel bill savings for those in need. The fuel bill savings, contribution to EPC ratings, ease of installation, and enhanced resident comfort have been key factors driving AirEx’s growth and customer satisfaction.

Here’s what they had to say:

Ashley Crawford, Managing Director, Crawford & Co Ltd:

“AirEx proved to be a game-changer, with its intelligent ventilation control minimising heat loss and improving thermal insulation. The seamless installation and automated airflow adjustments meant I didn’t have to manually regulate the system, enhancing convenience and efficiency. This positive experience reinforced my decision to choose AirEx over other competitors.”

Helen Ball, Senior Sustainability Manager, Broadacres Housing Association:

“Broadacres is installing Airex smart air bricks as part of our SHDF Wave 2.1 programme. The product is quick and easy to install, with very minimal disruption to customers. We’ve received some positive feedback from customers so far and an improvement in SAP score of 2-4 points, and sometimes more for each installation.”

Resident, North Yorkshire: 

“Most of the work was done from the outside, the old ventilation brick was removed the old mortar was drilled, then a hammer and chisel were used, so not too noisy with little disruption and it didn’t take very long”

Jim Cottom, Retrofit Coordinator, PH Jones:

“AirEx has been a fantastic product so far, it’s not difficult to install and has a good SAP point increase for the property, so it has been brilliant…fantastic alternative to underfloor insulation”

In 2023 AirEx started accelerating more rapidly after securing our £4.1 million Series A funding round from investors such as Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital and Nesta Impact Fund. This year has sealed the deal with AirEx being fully compliant to be included on government-led fuel poverty schemes across the UK when we secured a spot in Procurement for Housing’s framework and, most recently, were awarded a BBA Certificate in 2024.

BBA Certification announcement

Receiving the BBA Certificate is a pivotal achievement for us, marking a significant endorsement of quality and compliance in the UK construction sector. To have BBA certification demonstrates that our products have been tested to the highest standards expected here in the UK and confirms the energy-saving performance. This is an exciting milestone in our mission to address fuel poverty and decarbonisation as it will provide confidence to our customers to deploy AirEx at scale.

AirEx’s achievement of the first-of-its-kind BBA Certificate underscores our role as trailblazers in the energy efficiency product space. This milestone not only affirms the quality and reliability of our smart draught-proofing system but also sets a new standard for innovation and excellence in the industry. With this certification, We are well-positioned to expand our impact, contributing significantly to the goals of fuel poverty reduction and home energy efficiency across the UK.

The BBA certification validates the quality and performance of AirEx’s smart ventilation control system and opens new opportunities for large-scale deployment. The AirEx Floorvent is now fully accredited for both private and government-funded retrofit projects, making it eligible for inclusion in fuel poverty schemes such as SHDF and HUG. This means that AirEx products will play a crucial role in improving the energy efficiency of homes across the nation.

Richard Kemp-Harper, CCO:

“We are delighted to have the certificate to provide our customers with the assurance of our product’s performance and compliance with Building Regulations and the requirements of PAS2035/30.”

Chris Stobart, CTO, AirEx Technologies:

“Our whole team feels proud to have worked with the BBA to achieve an agrément certificate for our unique product. Securing an agrément is a highly demanding and rigorous process for any company, and even more so for a start-up. The team has worked incredibly hard to reach this point, so we feel great about achieving this milestone of our first certificate.”