Displaying items by tag: sustainability

Australia: Climate Tech Cement and Polevine are due to showcase a newly developed reduced-CO₂ geopolymer concrete in a ‘major infrastructure project’ in Western Australia. Proactive News has reported that the partners will supply backing blocks for the project later in July 2024.

The joint venture aims to develop geopolymer concrete formulations to achieve strengths of 10MPa, 20MPa, 30MPa and 40MPa and to assess their performance and costs.

Saudi Arabia: Al-Kifah Precast says that it is preparing to expand into other Middle Eastern countries, having more than tripled its sales since 2020. CEO Ehab Abu Salim says that the producer was a strategic supplier of precast concrete for Red Sea Global’s Red Sea Project in Tabuk Province, and now aims to support other major projects like the Neom new city and Amaala resort, also in Tabuk Province. Gulf Construction News has reported that the company has invested in research and development to establish best practices, as in its partnership with a UK-based company to produce marine concrete elements. It has reduced its CO₂ emissions through the use of alternative materials such as fibreglass, steel rebar and pozzolans.

Abu Salim said “Having a facility in the Red Sea Project was a strategic move. The plant produces all types of precast elements and we are also looking to improve the facility. We have an expansion planned; very soon it will be serving the entire region." He added “Precast technology helps to speed up projects, is more sustainable, offers higher quality, and the price is on par and sometimes even lower than using traditional construction solutions.”

Switzerland: Holcim has acquired recycling, ready-mix concrete and aggregates company Cand-Landi Group. The company employs 250 people across its operations in Western Switzerland. Holcim plans for Cand-Landi Group to supply alternative raw materials and fuels for use at its Eclépens plant. It says that the acquisition will increase its recycling capacity of construction and demolition materials by 100,000t/yr.

Holcim CEO Miljan Gutovic said "The acquisition of the Cand-Landi Group will advance decarbonisation and circularity in Switzerland, a lighthouse market for innovation at Holcim. I look forward to welcoming all 250 employees of the Cand-Landi Group and investing in our next chapter of growth together."

US: Cemex USA has launched its Vertua® range of reduced-CO₂ concrete in Florida. The producer marked the launch with the announcement of a major residential construction supply contract with Rockwell Construction in Sarasota County. The project, for developer Mattamy Homes, is called Brightmore.

Cemex’s US regional president said "We are thrilled to bring Vertua® to Florida and collaborate on Mattamy Homes' new residential endeavour in Sarasota County. This product represents a significant leap forward in sustainable construction, helping set a higher standard for environmentally responsible building practices not only in the region, but throughout the country."

UK: Ramboll has established its Sustainability Leadership Group to spearhead the decarbonisation strategy for UK construction. The team aims to be ‘powerhouse’ of cross-disciplinary expertise to support clients at every stage of their sustainability journey, through setting and achieving ambitious goals for their construction projects. Lora Brill will serve as the group’s Head of Sustainability for Buildings, while Austen Bates and Brogan MacDonald will serve as Sustainability Leads for Building Services and Building Structures, respectively, alongside Jac Yarwood as Head of Sustainable Solutions.

Lora Brill said, "I’m excited to put in place this exceptionally talented team that brings structural engineering, mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering and sustainability consultancy together to lead Ramboll’s incredible breadth and depth of technical expertise on sustainability in building design and engineering. The team will continue to drive more engagements in key industry initiatives like ConcreteZero and SteelZero, and lead our own such as CO2mpare, which transparently shares building projects carbon data. We are committed to being the Partner for Sustainable Change and this leadership team is just one more step in ensuring that we challenge current thinking and champion innovative approaches to sustainability."

ConcreteZero is an emissions measuring and reporting association for concrete jointly founded by Ramboll in mid-2022.

Japan: Sumitomo Mitsui Construction has successfully switched its Notogawa precast concrete products plant to 100% renewably-powered production. Nikkei News has reported that the company has switched the plant’s boilers to green hydrogen. These were previously the source of 60% of the plant’s emissions. The plant has also switched to using electricity entirely from renewable sources.

Sumitomo Mitsui Construction says it is working to make each of its precast plants carbon neutral.

Canada: Hyperion Global Energy has fired up its pilot Tandem Carbon Recycling System at Lafarge Canada’s Bath cement plant in Ontario. The system mineralises captured CO₂ to produce mineral components for alternative building materials. It has a capture capacity of 1000t/yr. The partners will test the Tandem Carbon Recycling System in producing Lafarge Canada’s 30 – 90% reduced CO₂ ECOPact concrete.

Lafarge Canada’s Eastern Canada regional president and CEO of David Redfern said "Our collaboration with Hyperion marks an exciting milestone in our decarbonisation journey and the advancement of our circular construction technologies. We look forward to advancing our net zero strategy by leveraging carbon utilisation technology like Hyperion's, enabling us to further reduce CO₂ emissions from our operations while at the same time producing innovative and sustainable building solutions."

Hyperion CEO Heather Ward said "Working together with an innovative partner like Lafarge on this exciting pilot project allows us to apply our proprietary carbon recycling technology to large-scale industries, and make an immediate, measurable reduction on carbon emissions. At the same time, we are advancing our vision to offer a scalable and affordable decarbonisation solution for industry, and a market-driven profit incentive on the cost of carbon removal."

Indonesia: Cemindo Gemilang says that its subsidiary Merah Putih Beton has begun injecting CO2 captured using direct air capture (DAC) into its ready-mix and precast concrete products. The producer said that the method enables it to produce concrete using 18% less cement. The Koran Jakarta newspaper has reported that Cemindo Gemilang obtained the DAC technology under licence from its Canada-based developer. It deployed it following six months of trials in late 2023 – early 2024.

Cemindo Gemilang’s commercial director, Surindro Kalbu Adi, said “In the future, we will implement a lot of new technologies. The goal is that our Red and White brand products will be better and the quality of buildings will be even better.”

UK: Saint-Gobain Construction Chemicals has won Tarmac's 2023 Innovation Challenge with its CHRYSO Quad Lab, a digital admixture optimisation tool. CHRYSO Quad Lab analyses sand prior to mixing, aiding in the reduction of the cement content of concrete.

Tarmac’s procurement manager, capex and sustainability, Mark Lewis said "Circularity within the materials industry is crucial to reaching net zero and reducing our impact on the environment. To achieve our sustainability ambitions, we know that collaborating with our suppliers is key to developing innovative new ideas and solutions.”

Australia: Local authorities in Isaac, Queensland, have received an application for the planned US$664m Lotus Creek wind farm, including the construction of three temporary ready-mix concrete batching plants to supply the project. The plants will supply 55,000m³ of concrete for the footings of 46 turbine towers. Each one will operate successively as construction progresses over a period of two years. The Lotus Creek wind farm originally secured planning permission in late 2022.