Climatex^® LifeguardFR™ a new dimension in ecological product innovation – redesigned for safety
Fire regulations involving hotels, restaurants, theaters, sport stadiums, offices and residential areas are becoming more complex in the contract furniture business. These regulations currently often vary from country to country - especially in transportation applications, such as airplanes, trains and busses. Most products are currently optimized to comply with fire safety standards; however, flame retardent products usually contain chemicals that are in some ways the least compatible with environmental soundness. Regulations are increasingly dictating the necessity to buy materials according to ecological criteria, so the need to resolve this incompatibility is also increasing.

Climatex^® Lifecycle™ upholstery fabrics, made out of wool and Ramie, are environmentally sound and pass all industrial standards, but only few fire regulations. The design team at Rohner Textil AG has set out to address this difficult question and to search for opportunities to meet all fire standards without restrictions on safety of the product line for biological cycles.

Rohner Textil AG has opened a new dimension in ecological product innovation with its development of Climatex^® LifeguardFR™, an extension of its earlier Climatex^® Lifecycle™ series

With renewed cooperation with an independent environmental institut in Hamburg, the Rohner team accomplished the redesign over a period of 4 years. An existing textile fibre was optimized with respect to ecological concerns to the fiber Redesigned ViscoseFR™ together with the renowned fibre manufacturer Lenzing AG. The flame retardent chemical integrated into the design required the cooperation of Clariant, one of the leading chemical producers. Clariant was asked to open its book on this chemical for a assessment. After intitial reserve, Clariant agreed. However all questions for understanding the impact of the flame retardant on environment and health could not be answered at that time. Therefore, Clariant and Rohner Textil agreed to answer remaining questions by extensive laboratory trials.

The result is Climatex^® LifeguardFR™, which is made out of wool and the cellulose fibre Redesigned LenzingFR™ based on the renewable resource beech wood. The final product complies with all industrial standards and the most severe flame retardant tests worldwide, even for aircraft. The patented function of climate controlled seating remains intact. The ecologically optimized production processes previously developed for the product line Climatex®Lifecycle™ remain unchanged for the new development. The positive list of environmentally sound chemicals and 16 dye chemicals from Ciba developed also remained for this new development. The choices for colors and designs are unlimited, except for pure black. The prices are comparable to wool products. The high health and environmental quality of Climatex^® LifeguardFR™ as well as the closing biological cycles after the period of use is confirmed by an independent environmental institut.

The redesign of products needs a new way of thinking that leads to unusual and extended partnerships: Chemical companies, environmental institutes, fibre manufacturers. All become active partners in the textile network: from marketing and communication with the customers through the end consumer; from the involvement of NGO’s and Universities; and from the role of the Media to all other interacting participants. Rohner Textil has once more demonstrated ist capability to bring the right people together for the materialization of this philosophy into a product innovation: Climatex^® LifeguardFR™.