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Sustainable Construction
Sustainable construction materials with a small CO2 footprint are playing an ever more important role for us and our customers. We use special additives in order to improve the CO2 balance of the products based on our Portland cement. These alternative materials, which are waste products from steel mills and coal-fired power plants, partially replace Portland cement clinker in the production of `composite cement`. We have also been working for several years to develop alternative binding materials that almost completely eliminate the need for conventional clinker.
Of course, at HeidelbergCement we are also working to develop new products. The discovery of a new reactive clinker phase in our labs has furnished the basis for the development of an alternative clinker technology. Thanks to changes in chemical composition and low burning temperatures this new technology produces 30% less CO2 emissions while consuming approximately 10–15% less energy in comparison to conventional clinker. A number of patents have been registered to protect this innovation. In 2013 the technical viability of this new type of cement was demonstrated in a large-scale pilot production project in which 1,500 tons of clinker and cement were produced and subsequently used in a variety of applications.
In order to improve transparency we carry out life-cycle analyses for existing and new products and processes. Using the information obtained in these analyses, we intend to release comprehensive environmental information for all of our products by 2020.
HeidelbergCement is co-chair of the CSI working group "Sustainability with Concrete" and is leading an industry initiative to develop a responsible sourcing scheme for concrete. The CSI along with industry associations form North America, South America, and Europe have been working together since February 2014 to form the Concrete Sustainability Council. The development of a global certification system for responsibly produced concrete is the focal area of the group`s work. This certification system is designed to help the concrete industry and its supply chain take social and economic aspects of their activities into account as they implement measures to continuously improve the environmental performance of their products.