Displaying items by tag: concrete

Americas: Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim has begun its roll-out of ECOPact low-carbon concretes in its Latin America region, launching the product range in Ecuador, Colombia and Mexico to “meet growing demand for green products.” The company says that the launch in other markets will follow in early 2021. It said “this roll-out of ECOPact builds on its successful market adoption across Europe, the UK, the US and Canada.” The producer additionally plans to introduce its ECOLabel “to transparently communicate the environmental benefits of its green cement range” across the Disensa retail network from December 2020, enabling customers to “easily identify products that comply with the company’s green criteria, including lower carbon dioxide (CO₂) footprint and recycled content.” Every country in the region will have at least one ECOlabel product, according to the company.

Latin America regional head Oliver Osswald said, “With the roll-out of the widest range of green building materials in Latin America, we are committed to leading the way in sustainable construction. Building on our region’s excellent third quarter 2020 results, demonstrating strong resilience despite an unparalleled health crisis, Latin America is well positioned to tackle the challenges ahead. We have a clear and unified strategy supported by two strong pillars: a rapidly expanding Disensa retail franchise network, and a fully orchestrated regional push toward green building solutions.”

LafargeHolcim’s Latin America retail network Disensa will reach 2500 stores in 2020, almost double the number in 2018. The company said, “Disensa will become the central network to reach millions of consumers with a diverse product portfolio, based on quality and environmental benefits by offering ECOLabel products on a wide scale. Disensa will also introduce new digital experiences to the buying process and eventually become a full line of stores from Disensa Express to Disensa MAX!”

LafargeHolcim will host the First Latam Virtual Convention for current and potential Disensa franchisees from 25 – 27 November 2020, with participants from eight Latin American countries.

UK: DB Group has supplied its Cemfree concrete product to a site in Birmingham, West Midlands for use by the Environment Agency in a flood defence project. It says that the agency will use the concrete “for kerb bedding and backing over several kilometres in conjunction with various recycled products in an effort to reduce the projects’ carbon footprint.” Cemfree is a low carbon concrete made using ground blast furnace slag (GGBS) and pulverised fly ash.

Switzerland/France: Along with its partner Batica, LafargeHolcim is optimising the design of a low-carbon house, bringing together the latest innovations developed by the group's global research and development centre in Lyon, France.

Construction of the House of Tomorrow began at the end of October 2020 in Saint-Caprais-de-Bordeaux, Gironde. The materials used for its construction will have a CO₂ footprint more than 40% lower than a traditional house, and an optimised energy performance. The integration of these innovations in the house has made it possible for such a property to remain financially accessible to buyers thanks to controlled costs.

To achieve low CO₂ emissions performance, LafargeHolcim used its innovative cement and concrete products, all of which are available on the French market. Foundations were poured using ECOPact AA concrete, with emissions 80% lower than standard concrete. ECOPact A concrete, with CO₂ emissions 50-70% lower than standard concrete, will be used for the compression slab of the VS floor (crawl space). Airium, an insulating mineral foam, will be used to insulate the walls. A very low density concrete – 40-300kg/m³ depending on the mix – Airium represents an environmentally friendly, healthy and affordable insulation solution. LafargeHolcim’s Agilia Chape Thermic fluid screed will be used to coat the under-floor heating elements.

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) says it plans to develop a roadmap by the end of 2021 to help its member companies achieve carbon neutrality across the concrete value chain by 2050. It maintains that ‘concrete is critical to building a sustainable future’ and reinforced the benefits of concrete such as energy efficiency, lower life-cycle costs, durability and resilience. The roadmap is intended to solve problems facing the industry such as developing new technologies to reduce energy consumption and to develop and adopt related regulations.

“As the second most used material on earth and a cornerstone of our economy, we understand the critical role cement and concrete play in our nation’s future, and we are committed to an industry-wide effort that achieves carbon neutrality,” said Tom Beck, chairman of the PCA and president of Continental Cement. Rick Bohan, Vice President, Sustainability for the PCA added, “Developing a roadmap to carbon neutrality by 2050 further demonstrates our industry’s commitment to be a part of the solution and tackle this global issue.”

The PCA says that the industry has reduced energy consumption by 35%, emissions intensity by 11% and since 1990 has increased its use of alternative fuels.

China: Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim has announced the formation of green building solutions partnership with Southeast University (SEU) in Nanjing for research into concretes and mortars for use in 3D printing in construction. The company says that the partnership is a step towards achieving its aim of becoming a “full 3D printing solutions provider.”

Head of research and development Edelio Bermejosaid, “Our global network of academic partners is critical in helping us think outside the box. We need the brightest minds to help us lead the next frontier of building solutions.”

France: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge France says that it will continue to provide its regular service to customers as operations continue into a second national coronavirus lockdown in 2020. This was made possible by the government’s decision to permit the continuation of construction and industrial activities, according to the company.

It said, “The company has learned a lot since the containment last spring and is prepared to guarantee the best possible service for all of its markets, even under the specific conditions linked to the acceleration of the Covid-19 epidemic. All activities - cements, concretes and aggregates - will therefore operate normally throughout the country.” It added, “All our sites are now showing sufficient stock levels to deal calmly with the coming months.”

France: Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim and Netherlands-based Witteveen + Bos have launched the 3D Printing Hackathon, an event in which engineering, architecture, and materials science students will compete to develop a new product leveraging 3D concrete printing technology to solve major problems in construction.

LafargeHolcim will supply concrete and provide technical mentorship to contestants. The company said that, while construction accounts for 40% of global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, 1.6bn people are altogether without adequate housing. “Building more with less accelerates the speed of construction and reduces a building’s footprint. Leading the way in green building solutions, LafargeHolcim is actively deploying 3D printing towards addressing these challenges.” Research and development head Edelio Bermejo added, “We need to join forces to make this ground-breaking technology a reality. Join us on this exciting adventure!”

The group is offering a prize pool of Euro15,000 and operational support for full-scale implementation of the winning 3D printing solution.

UK: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Aggregate Industries has launched three Lafarge branded packed cement and concrete products: High Performance Concrete; Instant Concrete; and Premium Cement. The company says that the products are “a response to rising demand from merchants and their customers alike to offer more specialised packed cement solutions,” and are suited to various domestic applications.

Product manager Lee Dunderdale said, “Through our on-going engagement with builders and builders’ merchants in the UK, we’ve had growing calls to offer more specialised solutions which offer the level of superior quality our brand has become known for. As such, we’ve invested heavily in creating these additional three products, which have been purposely manufactured to provide our customers with an incredibly easy, quick and exceptional quality cement solution for a range of typical applications. We believe that these new additions - alongside our well-established packed cement range - will see us continue in our position as the one-stop-shop provider for cement product excellence here in the UK. “We’d encourage all merchants and their customers to make use of these high-quality products, which will no doubt enable even greater ease of use and convenience for busy builders and DIYers.”

Mexico: Cemex has signed an agreement with Canada-based Carbon Upcycling Technologies to “improve the processing of residue or by-products of industrial processes to produce nanomaterials.” Carbon Upcycling Technologies’ equipment increases the cementitious properties of residues such as fly ash and steel slag by physical processing them into nanomaterials and adding captured CO₂, enabling the partnership to produce concrete additives with “greater reactivity and a lower carbon footprint” than their raw materials.

Cemex Ventures Head Gonzalo Galindo said, "This agreement with Carbon Upcycling Technologies is yet another example of our determination to deliver net-zero CO₂ concrete products globally by 2050. Our roadmap to achieve this global ambition involves continuing to innovate our technology internally while continuing to seek complementary innovation outside of Cemex through investments in start-ups, consortia, and high-value collaboration agreements such as the one reached with Carbon Upcycling Technologies."

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim’s like-for-like net sales fell by 2.6% year-on-year to Euro6.04bn in the third quarter of 2020 from Euro6.68bn in the same period in 2019. However, its recurring earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) rose by 10% to Euro1.35bn from Euro1.33bn. It attributed recurring EBIT margin growth to margin increase in its cement business and cost management under the ‘Health, Cost & Cash’ action plan. For the first nine months of 2020 net sales fell by 7.9% year-on-year to Euro16.0bn from Euro18.9bn in the same period in 2019. Its EBIT decreased by 7.2% to Euro2.47bn from Euro2.88bn.

“Our third quarter results demonstrate the resilience of our business and the strength of our decentralized, empowered operating model,” said chief executive officer (CEO) Jan Jenisch. “In addition, the Group saw an increase in revenues from its branded products, which are sold across its broad distribution and retail network. For example, the company recorded a volume increase of 5% in its cement bag sales.”

Third quarter sales and earnings were either stable in improved in most regions with the exception of North America and Middle East Africa. In North America volumes were reduced by coronavirus and a slowdown in the oil and gas industry in western Canada. Overall sales fell in Middle East Africa but earnings were aided by sales volume growth in Nigeria. Elsewhere, cement market recovery was noted in Mexico and Brazil and weaker markets mentioned in the Philippines and Australia.