Leeds Beckett University and ARC launch building insulation innovations

Business

22 February 2024

An Innovate UK-funded partnership with Leeds Beckett University has shaped the future success of Leeds-based ARC Building Solutions - implementing a New Product Development (NPD) department within ARC which has created, developed, and brought to market two new innovative building insulation and fire safety products.

ARC - a specialist manufacturer of cavity fire barriers and cavity closers, have collaborated with Leeds Beckett University over many years, developing the Retrofit Eaves Insulator (REI) - a product invented and patented by former Leeds Beckett University academics, Dr Matthew Brooke-Peat and Professor Christopher Gorse.

As part of a two-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) part-funded by Innovate UK, Leeds Beckett experts worked with ARC to establish the NPD department and further develop, test, and launch the REI in the marketplace. The project aimed to secure ARC's place as a front-leader in the construction product manufacturing industry - and ensure that ARC has the in-house capabilities to repeat the success of the REI with further new inventions.

The REI allows homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient and cost effective by insulating the eaves - the junction between the external walls and roof - which can result in high rates of heat loss. It is estimated around 7.7 million UK homes have been built using solid wall construction methods and could benefit from upgraded insulation using new innovation.

Dr Jim Parker, Reader in the Leeds Sustainability Institute (LSI) at Leeds Beckett University, said: "Delivering practical, applied research solutions is central to the LSI's success - working with ARC on this KTP project was a natural progression for over a decade's worth of in-depth investigations. The KTP has seen deep academic understanding of damp and mould growth at building junctions manifest in a real-world market-ready solution that can help to minimise cold-bridging in vulnerable spaces, in homes that are in the most need."