Successful applicants will be given the opportunity to pitch their solution to Catnic, the UK market leader in lintel products. The winning applicant(s), as selected by Catnic, will collaborate with the company to solve this challenge and receive up to £25k to work on the project. Selected solution(s) will be trialled during a 3-month pilot study, with the possibility of further co-development with the challenge holder.  

&nbsp; Established in 1969, Catnic has become a prominent global manufacturer with products specified and installed in thousands of buildings throughout the UK, Europe and Asia. The steel used in all the Company&rsquo;s lintel products is 100% recyclable, with zero degradation in the material&rsquo;s properties when recycled. However, the foam insulation that provides outstanding thermal performance in the building is generated using fossil fuel-derived chemicals. Thus, the challenge being set is to conduct a feasibility study to support the development of a reduced carbon, fully recyclable, cost- competitive, plaster-compatible new insulation material for lintel products that at least matches the performance characteristics of the existing fossil-fuel based foam system. &nbsp;
Catnic currently have approximately 35% of the UK lintel market, manufacturing over 25,000m per week, and have solus supplier deals with many of the major house builders. &nbsp;

Background 

The aim is to replace the expanded polystyrene (EPS), which is currently used in the lintels with a sustainable material. This will primarily be a new insulating material, moving from an oil based expanded polystyrene to more sustainable materials.&nbsp; The solution should retain all existing in-use performance characteristics but offer reduced embodied carbon and full recyclability. Current reliance on the use of virgin fossil fuel-derived chemicals will be eliminated, helping to drive down the environmental impact of the construction sector. &nbsp; The new insulation material will address possible legislative challenges. Technology providers should be looking to develop more sustainable material solutions, further widening the adoption of circularity in the steel and construction sectors. &nbsp;

The Challenge 

The solution for this project should be:
<ul>
<li>A sustainable, non-virgin fossil fuel material. If alternative, sustainable feedstocks, such as biomass are used, they must not be competing with the food supply chain)</li>
<li>The material properties must match the current properties of expanded polystyrene (EPS200). The table below list the key properties of EPS200 and acceptable minimum or maximum values for a proposed replacement.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Requirements (Functional, Technical and Operational) 

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<ul>
<li>The materials proposed by solution providers must be safe for manual handling, with no filtering needed. They should be non-toxic, and not generate fine particulates.</li>
<li>Ideally, the material can be hot wired to be cut to the desired lintel length, but the challenge holder is open to other solutions (e.g. machining, cutting).</li>
<li>The material should not affect gypsum plaster (e.g. dissolve it), as it will provide a plaster key at the window head.</li>
<li>The material should be able to be bonded to steel, achieving a bond strength of at least 135KPa.</li>
<li>The materials should have resistance against pests (e.g. for bio-based materials).</li>
<li>The material should be able to be scaled up or have a readily available volume in the supply chain through non-invasive methods, and not exploit rare species.</li>
<li>The solution provider should provide details on the sustainability of the materials, for example how can the waste material be handled, e.g. recyclability or reuse of the materials. Life Cycle Assessment would be beneficial, but is not mandatory.</li>
<li>Ideally, the solution should be near market ready, but the challenge holder is open to consider novel, lower TRL innovations (at least at lab scale).</li>
<li>The material should be able to be stored externally for up to 2 years, at a temperature range of -10&deg;C to 80&deg;C.</li>
<li>Once installed, the material should be able to function at ambient temperature, with a life expectancy of minimum 60 years (to meet building regulations).</li>
<li>The material should not take on significant moisture due to the compression and expansion properties of water. As such, the material should have a water absorption rate of no more than 5% by volume if submerged in water for 28 days.</li>
<li>When used in lintels, the material should be able to undergo rough handling by the fork truck or site personnel. The lintel&rsquo;s robustness will be determined by the insulation material.</li>
<li>As a feasibility study, the sustainable material can be demonstrated at low volume and size. However, the solution provider would need to demonstrate or explain how the solution can be scaled up to relatively large volumes. Catnic are currently using 6000m3 EPS200 per year but with increasing demand, it would need to scale up the solution to at least 12000m3 per year. &nbsp;</li>
<li>For the purpose of the feasibility study, the solution provider should supply small blocks of 100mm x 100mm x 100mm, allowing the samples to undergo testing to determine their material properties. The initial tests will be carried out by the solution provider, which could also be in conjunction with Catnic, and provide data on compressive, tensile, adhesive tests.</li>
<li>The solution provider would ideally be able to test or demonstrate some properties of material.</li>
<li>Following these tests, enough material should be supplied to make a typical lintel with a length of 1800mm, which Catnic would then utilise to undertake full structural testing.</li>
<li>Catnic will be able to support structural testing on typical land as part of a collaboration with university. Such tests could be undertaken in 2 weeks from a lintel being built.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Any virgin fossil fuel-based solutions will be out of scope, as Catnic is looking to eliminate such materials from their products as part of the goal to achieve Net Zero by 2030.&nbsp;

Out of Scope 

EPS200 costs &pound;246.81 for a block of 2,440mm x 1,175mm x 610mm dimensions, which equals 1.75m3. Catnic are currently using about 6000m3 per year, costing approximately &pound;850K per annum.&nbsp; The EPS200 accounts for 20-30% of material cost of the Thermally Broken Lintel, depending on the exact lintel specification. While the cost is significant, the gross margins on the lintel are very good and so there is headroom to accommodate a more expensive insulation, especially if this brings other benefits. Ideally, any increase in costs would need to be kept to a minimum, but a maximum insulation cost increase of 100% could be accommodated provided the solution can bring in additional benefits.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Cost Requirement 

Successful applicants will be given an opportunity to pitch their solution to Catnic. The winning pitch, as selected by Catnic, will be trialled with potential for further adoption if trials are successful. The successful applicants will receive up to &pound;25k funding.
The benefits package for a successful applicant may also include: &nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Support from Innovate UK Business Connect</li>
<li>Support in the development of a prototype or pilot &nbsp;</li>
<li>Technical support &nbsp;</li>
<li>Invitation to attend or present at Innovate UK Business Connect events &nbsp;</li>
<li>A potential business collaboration &nbsp;</li>
<li>Investor introductions (if investment is required) &nbsp;</li>
<li>Support if any Innovate or similar competitions are relevant.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Rewards & Benefits  

Successful applicants will be invited to a pitch day, giving them a chance to meet the challenge holder (Catnic) and pitch their project plan, followed by a Q&amp;A. After the pitch day, a final funding decision will be made by the Challenge holder. For unsuccessful applicants, feedback will be given in a timely manner.&nbsp;

Invitation to pitch 

Launch of the Competition: 12th August&nbsp; Deadline for applications: 12th September&nbsp; Selection and notification of finalists: 7th October&nbsp; Date of Pitch Day: 16th and 17th October&nbsp; Pitch outcome communicated: 23rd October 2024&nbsp; Populate project into Innovation Funding Service (IFS): by 11am on 6th November&nbsp; Project start date: Feb 1st 2025 &nbsp; Project end date: 30th April

Timeline 

The application form for this challenge will require applicants to provide company information and answer 3 questions - Idea Summary, Technology Readiness and Intellectual Property &ndash; each with a limit of 300 words.
Additionally, the following documents must be attached for your application to be considered: &nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Project plan &nbsp;</li>
<li>Project costings</li>
</ul>
Optionally, supporting documents can be attached to the application. We recommend that supporting documents are limited to those which are directly relevant to the application. Please note that applications with no supporting document will not receive any penalty in assessment. Supporting documents which the Assessment Panel deems to be superfluous may be disregarded. Examples of useful additional documents include product images or short specification sheets, slide decks detailing the solution and/or company background, or solution case studies.&nbsp; We recommend that you complete the application form in Google Chrome as other browsers may have compatibility issues. The application form does not need to be completed in one session and can be saved for future edits. Please ensure that you toggle &ldquo;Stage Complete&rdquo; for each section before submission. Note that you will no longer be able to edit your application once you have clicked &ldquo;Submit Idea&rdquo; at the bottom of the Summary page.&nbsp;

Application & Technical Guidance 

Entrants to this competition must be: &nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)</li>
</ul>
Your project must:
<ul>
<li>Have a grant funding request up to &pound;25,000</li>
<li>Last up to 3 months</li>
<li>Carry out its project work in the UK</li>
<li>Intend to exploit the results from or in the UK</li>
<li>Project start date 1st February 2025</li>
</ul>
Applications will be assessed on: &nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Relevance to the defined challenge</li>
<li>Benefit of implementation &nbsp;</li>
<li>Feasibility/economic viability &nbsp;</li>
<li>Innovative nature</li>
<li>Ability to launch in line with expected timescales</li>
<li>Credibility of applicant company</li>
<li>Coherence of the proposed business model &nbsp;</li>
<li>Development potential &nbsp;</li>
<li>Maturity of the solution &nbsp;</li>
<li>Suitability for the intended geographic market</li>
<li>Project plan &nbsp;</li>
<li>Project costs&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Minimal Financial Assistance:&nbsp; Grant funding in this competition is awarded as Minimal Financial assistance (MFA). This allows public bodies to award up to &pound;315,000 to an enterprise in a 3-year rolling financial period. If your application is successful and you are invited to apply for grant funding you will be asked to declare previous funding received by you. This will form part of the financial checks ahead of Innovate UK making a formal grant offer.&nbsp;

Eligibility & Assessment Criteria 

Existing background IP associated with a potential solution will remain with solution provider(s). Where any new IP generation is envisaged, it will be subject to the mutual IP agreement of the solution provider(s) and challenge holder. Exclusivity in collaboration for 5 years between the challenge holder and solution provider(s) should be discussed.&nbsp;
Any commercial deployment of a transferred solution or newly developed solution, through licensing, joint venture, partnership, or direct investment, will be subject to the commercial agreement between the solution provider(s) and challenge holder.&nbsp; Where necessary, a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) may be signed to uphold confidentiality in the engagement between the solution provider(s) and challenge holder. This would be expected to be after final company selection. All entries are treated as confidential and only shared with Innovate UK and the challenge holder, however if the innovator is concerned about sharing IP, it is suggested that details of IP are not disclosed. Instead, focus on the outcomes of the technology proposed at this application stage. &nbsp; Innovate UK and Innovate UK Business Connect do not take any share of IP ownership or enter commercial ventures through the iX programme.&nbsp;

IP & Potential Commercial Route 

A selected panel of assessors will review and score your application. The panel of assessors will meet and agree a consensus score. Successful solutions will be selected by the challenge holder. Success will be based on total consensus scores, a portfolio approach and the capacity of the challenge holders to carry out the projects.&nbsp;
The winning applicant will be invited to complete their project details within Innovate UK&rsquo;s Innovation Funding Service within a specified timeframe in order to progress to the Grant Offer Letter. Grants will be subject to Innovate UK&rsquo;s terms and conditions which can be found <a href="https://www.ukri.org/publications/terms-and-conditions-of-an-innovate-uk-grant-award/">here</a>.&nbsp;
Successful applicants will need to be in a position to upload the following documents to IFS once notified. &nbsp;
Project plan &nbsp; Project costing &nbsp; Minimal Financial Assistance (and de minimis where applicable) declaration (details can be found <a href="https://www.ukri.org/councils/innovate-uk/guidance-for-applicants/general-guidance/funding-rules/">here</a>)&nbsp;

Terms & Conditions 

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New Insulation Materials for Enhanced Sustainable Lintel Products

Opportunity

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Benefit

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This challenge is brought to you by:

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Opportunity

Challenge opens

Challenge closes

Benefit

Background

This challenge is brought to you by:

New Insulation Materials for Enhanced Sustainable Lintel Products