Catnic has invested in an academic study of the thermal performance of steel lintels.

Funded jointly between Catnic and KEES, the metal product manufacturing enterprises have invested in a PhD at The University of Glamorgan in Wales. The study primarily explores thermal bridging in buildings and specifically the thermal performance of steel lintels.

The seminal study explores what effect thermal bridging has on the overall thermal performance of the building envelope and how the design and detailing of steel lintels affects thermal bridging.

Investment, research and development into lintels and their thermal bridging is powered by evolving market demands and changes to the building regulations. By investing in this research, Catnic aims to retain its position at the front of its field. It is key that the PhD will aid Catnic in the design of a new thermally broken lintel range, while also informing improvements to its existing products.

Combining cost efficiency with reliability and product performance, Catnic can provide a full set of thermally modelled psi-values for its lintels. Meanwhile, in response to the drive for lower u-values, influencing higher insulation and therefore a need for wider wall cavities, Catnic’s investment in its wider cavity lintel production line ensures its merchants can meet expected volumes with this growing trend among housebuilders and specifiers.

Richard Price, technical director at Catnic, said: “New homes have to be constructed in a different way, in order that housebuilders can meet the more challenging requirements of the Building Regulations in the build up to 2016. Achieving these targets without escalating costs is vital for the market and therefore product suppliers need to evolve their offering to ensure the supply chain can respond in the right way. Catnic’s standard lintels meet and even exceed the current requirements. With academic research into the thermal performance of our lintels, we have reassurance that can be passed onto the housebuilder too.”