Displaying items by tag: construction

India: Nuvoco has announced the launch of its InstaMix Superior Column Concrete. The product’s formulation gives it workability for up to four hours, and a strength of 6MPa within 12 - 16 hours, enabling early de-shuttering of cast columns. Nuvoco will supply the concrete in 35kg bags.

Nuvoco's ready-mix concrete and modern building materials head, Prashant Jha, said "Quality and customer experience are at centre stage for our business operations. InstaMix Superior Column Concrete belongs to the renowned InstaMix brand, known for delivering exceptional performance and quality, making it the preferred choice of customers.”

US: Geopolymer cement and concrete producer Renca has supplied its geopolymer 3D printing mortar for the construction of a house in the Western US. The product contains no cement, lime or gypsum due to the non-hydraulic binding properties of the mortar. It contains industrial by-products and has a faster setting time than mortar produced with ordinary Portland cement (OPC), as well as 90% lower CO₂ emissions.

Renca said that its geopolymer mortar performed well despite the desert setting of the project, with dramatic changes in temperature. It added, "Even though geopolymer mortars require a specific approach towards the mixing procedure and, unlike cementitious-based products, need to be mixed in a batch mixing system, this milestone opens new horizons. Renca's current research and development seeks to develop a one-component geopolymer mortar for continuous mixers, as well as a 2K system where you can control the setting time right at the nozzle."

US: C-Crete Technologies supplied its binder for a pour of 60t of cement-free concrete at a construction site in Seattle, Washington. CNNW News has reported that the binder replaces cement, eliminating 1t of CO₂ emissions per tonne of concrete.

C-Crete Technologies president Rouzbeh Savary said "We are thrilled to introduce our cement-free concrete, a game-changer in sustainable construction.” He added “Given that our product meets industry standards and has cost-parity with conventional concrete, it opens up an entirely new era in construction."

North America: The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has partnered with consultancy WAP Sustainability to launch an on-demand environmental product declaration (EPD) service for concrete products. The partners say that their EPDs will allow concrete producers to show the impacts of their products across metrics including CO₂ emissions. This is in line with current market trends, including increasing Buy Clean initiatives in federal and state procurement under the Inflation Reduction Act.

GCCA's concrete and sustainable construction director Andrew Minson said “The cement and concrete sector is playing a key part in sustainable construction, but this requires transparent, objective and accessible data on the environmental impact of our products. Our collaboration with WAP will allow concrete producers to quickly and cost effectively produce EPDs that can demonstrate the contribution of their products to a sustainable world of tomorrow.”

WAP Sustainability’s EPD director James Salazar said “WAP’s partnership with the GCCA leverages the GCCA’s industry-leading computation engine with WAP’s easy-to-use software and full-service support. As requirements for EPDs grow, we’re excited to offer credible and low-cost solutions through close partnerships with industry leaders like the GCCA.”

Denmark: Finland-based Betolar has supplied its Geoprime additive for its maiden construction project in Denmark. Its customer IBF used the additive to produce low-cement paving stones for a 1.5 hectare expansion to the lorry park at the Port of Aalborg. The stones consisted of an 84mm-thick cement-free base made of Geoprime material, with a 6mm-thick cement-based concrete top. The supplier said that the use of Geoprime reduced the project's cement consumption by 90%. This more than halved the carbon footprint of the work.

Betolar's chief commercial officer Ville Voipio said "This shows that the circular economy solution we have developed, which utilises industrial side streams, also works in large construction projects. We have been doing development work with IBF for a long time. Now there is a product on the Danish market that radically cuts emissions compared to traditional products."

Denmark is committed to eliminating 70% of its annual CO₂ emissions between 2020 and 2030.

France: Lafarge France is participating in a 76-unit housing development project called Recygénie, at Gennevilliers in Hauts-de-Seine. Lafarge France will supply the project with 100% recycled concrete for use in facades, interior walls and roof slabs. It produced 2000t of 100% recycled 'clinker' at its Altkirch cement plant in Haut-Rhin during a suspension of ordinary clinker production in 2022. It has produced 1600m³ of recycled concrete to date. The concrete won the New Materials Prize at L'Usine Nouvelle's Sustainable Industry Awards 2023.

The Recygénie housing project is due for delivery in late 2024.

Denmark/Germany: US-based Master Builders Solutions has won a contract to supply admixtures for use in the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel project. The project will build a 17.6km immersed tunnel between the islands of Fehmarn in Germany and Lolland in Denmark. It will directly connect Germany via a double-track railway and four-lane motorway to eastern Denmark and the Scandinavian Peninsula beyond. This will reduce rail travel time between Hamburg in Germany and Copenhagen in Denmark by 35% to 3 hours 15 minutes. The tunnel will consist of 79 standard 217m-long precast elements, and a further ten 85.7m-long service elements. The latter include a subfloor sections in addition to the tunnel's four tubes. Master Builders Solutions says that it will supply 11,000t of admixture to produce a total 3Mm3 of concrete required for the project. The supplier said that its admixtures will help concrete to meet specifications in line with the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel's projected 120-year lifespan. Master Builders Solutions has collaborated with contractor FLC to develop a new MasterEase superplasticiser for use in the project.

Master Builders Solutions Denmark technical manager Jens Qvist said "This has been an incredibly exciting process, requiring very close collaboration with both our own European colleagues and FLC’s Danish and international concrete experts."

US: Eco Material Technologies has supplied its PozzoCEM Vite clinker-free cement to 3D printing construction firm Hive 3D for its The Casitas @ The Halles project in Texas. PozzoCEM Vite cement has 92% lower CO₂ emissions than ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The producer said that concrete produced using PozzoCEM Vite is also more durable and longer lasting than OPC-based concrete. Eco Material Technologies and Hive 3D developed a custom batching system to mix PozzoCEM Vite cement and local Texan sand for use in the project. Eco Material Technologies said that the system created a significant cost reduction compared with other available printable mortar technologies.

Eco Material Technologies recently launched a new 99% reduced CO₂ PozzoCEM formulation, which it expects to use in future projects with Hive 3D. Other reduced-CO₂ cements produced by Eco Material Technologies include its PozzoSlag 50% ground granulated blast furnace slag cement. In total, Eco Material Technologies has supplied 1Mt of reduced-CO₂ cements across 4000 construction sites since 2012. It said that it expects to announce multiple new infrastructure projects and strategic partnerships later in 2023.

Eco Material Technologies' CEO Grant Quasha said “Hive 3D’s commitment to building the first 100% cement replacement 3D printed homes aligns with our goal of transitioning the construction industry away from using materials that generate approximately 8% of the world’s carbon emissions each year."

India: Nuvoco Vistas has commissioned its new Vizag ready-mixed concrete batching plant in Andhra Pradesh. The facility will produce the company's Concreto and Artiste general purpose and decorative ready-mix concretes, as well as its InstaMix bagged ready-mix concrete. The cement company says that the new concrete plant is 'strategically located' to contribute to the transformation of the region into a hub for smart cities and industry. Projects Today news has reported that the Vizag batching plant is the second opened by the company, after another in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

Canada: The city administration of Langford in British Columbia plans to enact regulations requiring all public and private projects to use reduced-CO₂ concrete. It plans to support the rules with parallel measures affecting the design of buildings.

Victoria News has reported that the city authorities previously mandated reduced-CO₂ cement for all projects in June 2022, but subsequently relaxed the regulations after only one company – Butler Concrete and Aggregates – completed the transition. Butler Concrete and Aggregates produces its reduced-CO₂ concrete using slag cement supplied by Lafarge Canada.