Thirty years of continuously developing building components has seen The Litchfield Group lead the way in innovation in an industry where many others have struggled to find direction.
But this decade, more than any other in the last 50 years, is the decade where the wider benefits of product innovation will be truly realised as the building industry is forced to adapt to new construction methods, materials and thermal standards.
“It may seem an extravagant claim,” says Group MD James Litchfield, “but it is arguably the case that we have done more to take the industry forwards in the 21st century than the other systems companies combined.
“This gives the UK building industry the confidence to change to insulating concrete form (ICF) construction, thermally superior windows and door sets which represent a step change in air-tightness and weather performance. All these products are ready to use, designed for the UK market, and capable of delivering low and zero carbon homes, schools and public buildings to the standards required this decade.”
He cites a range of “firsts” for the privately owned, UK company, which has operations through Europe and North America:
Litchfield Group break-throughs include:
· Sheerframe was the world's first fully co-extruded window and door system.
· Thermlock was the first thermally enhanced reinforcement for PVC windows and doors of its type.
· Introduction of the first welded cavity closer of its kind for newbuild homes.
· First UK profile manufacturer to successfully go lead-free by switching to calcium organic stabilisers in 2004/5.
· Sheerframe HED in 2007 became the UK’s first fully reinforced 0.8 U-value PVC window.
|
Technically superior PVC profiles
Sheerframe was the world’s first fully co-extruded window and door system of its kind. This offered enormous production advantages, saving time, cost and space for fabricators and removing one of the main bottlenecks in fabrication workshops. This concept, which was derided by our competitors at the time, saying it would never work, is now the industry standard.
Likewise, group company L.B. Plastics was the first in the UK to explore the concept of 4, 5 and 6 chamber profiles for improved thermal efficiency and better pull out values for fixing hardware.
“This was a concept we developed further with the advent of the first ever thermally enhanced reinforcing profile Thermlock, produced exclusively for Sheerframe fabricators,” continues James. “This remains the only product of its kind, combining the strength of steel which is at its heart, with the insulating qualities of thermoplastic which encapsulates it.”
To complement this original idea, a structural foam range was also introduced in the last few years and the combination of these two materials forms part of the zero carbon window breakthrough or HED which leads the industry in a practical fully reinforced, exceptionally high thermal performance, many times better than the BRFC A rating.
Helping to deliver 'green' buildings sustainably
The Sheerframe welded cavity closer, first launched in the UK in the early 1990s, has revolutionised the way that newbuilders construct homes, and was again one of the first ever products of its kind – made from recycled PVC profile off-cuts collected and recovered from our window manufacturers.
But delivering products that improve the performance of buildings is just one area where The Litchfield Group has continuously tackled sustainability issues. The company was one of the UK’s first PVC window system manufacturers to achieve the globally recognised ISO14001 in 2004, demonstrating its environmentally sound production processes.
The Group also became the first in the UK to switch its entire production of PVC profiles to lead free, calcium organic stabilised profile. “Again, we smile as other companies now boast the achievement, some five years after we quietly and ethically made the switch, well in advance of the legislative requirement to do so.”
Read more about how we switched to lead-free profile here.
It was in 2007 that Sheerframe again led the way with the launch of its HED – homogenous energy dynamics – window systems, combining a range of components and technologies to deliver the UK’s first fully reinforced 0.8 PVC window, making zero carbon windows accessible in all markets, and viable for mainstream volume window production. Since then, Sheerframe has launched the first ever Secured by Design 0.8 window.
Find out more abut Sheerframe HED on our website.
Over 30 years of innovation
According to James Litchfield, the market leading innovation track record of Sheerframe should come as no surprise to those who have followed the window industry over the past 30 years. Having made a custom suite for Anglian in 1979, in 1981 L.B. Plastics launched the first ever 70mm PVC window into the UK, two years later produced the first ever fully welded vertically sliding sash window, and has maintained its commitment to innovation ever since.
“We’re a privately owned company. We are inventors by instinct and we understand that to maintain a market leading position, you have to constantly bring new solutions for your customers. We are not hampered by the demand for short term financial returns from institutional shareholders, so we can plough back profits into the next generation of high performance building products. Expect that approach to continue throughout the next decade and beyond, too.”
