News Holcim team pours first carbon-storing concrete slab A team of Swiss materials giant Holcim, Swedish startup Paebbl and German contractor Goldbeck has poured the first industrial floor slab made with carbon dioxide. The slab poured for an…
News From steel slag to low-carbon cement: India-Sweden partnership funds study The Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten) has given Swedish low-CO2 cement start-up Cemvision a grant to conduct a feasibility study with Tata Steel on converting slag from steelmaking into feedstock for…
News Microsoft invests in Fortera to scale low-carbon cement production Microsoft is backing green cement manufacturer Fortera in a bid to accelerate the adoption of low-carbon building materials across its global datacentre operations. The strategic investment, made through the company’s…
News World’s first low-carbon concrete rating system launched The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has unveiled what it calls the world’s first global system for rating the carbon footprint of cement and concrete. It says the scorecard…
News Ecocem team gets €4m to develop electric arc furnace slag for cement A research consortium involving Dublin-headquartered low-carbon cement-maker Ecocem has been awarded a €4m research grant by the European Innovation Council (EIC) to develop electric arc furnace (EAF) slag for use…
News Nigerian conglomerate plans $2.4bn cement plant in Kebbi State Nigeria’s Kebbi State has signed a preliminary agreement with Nigerian conglomerate MSM to build a factory capable of producing 3 million tonnes of cement a year, equal to about 5%…
Companies Bouygues agrees to use low-carbon cement brand after testing it Bouygues Construction has made a deal with low-carbon cement company Ecocem to use its ‘ACT’ cement in projects after thoroughly testing it. Dublin-headquartered Ecocem says its proprietary cement, launched in…
News Holcim sells Nigerian business for $1bn, plans separation of North American subsidiary Swiss cement-maker Holcim has sold its 84% stake in Lafarge Africa to Huaxin Cement of China. The $1bn deal is subject to approvals, but is expected to be confirmed in…
News US states, cities, developers, builders make low-carbon cement pledges The Biden-Harris administration this week unveiled a series of pledges made by some state and city governments along with cement manufacturers, construction firms, developers and tech companies to use lower-emission…
News Ethiopia doubles cement-making capacity with advanced factory Ethiopia has doubled its cement-making capacity with a mega-factory in the Amhara region in the north of the country, Addis Insight reports. The $600m Lemi National Cement Factory will produce…
Companies Holcim buys Belgian recycler in quest to ‘build cities from cities’ Swiss cement-maker Holcim has closed the acquisition of Mark Desmedt, a Belgian firm that specialises in the reuse of construction materials. The company said the purchase would advance its goal…
News Vattenfall signs up to buy Cemvision’s near-zero emission cement European energy company Vattenfall has signed a letter of intent with Cemvision for the development and future supply of Cemvision’s near-zero emission cement. They said Cemvision’s new cement has the…
News French low-carbon cement firm launches first overseas plant in Saudi Arabia In Saudi Arabia, construction has begun on the first overseas plant for Hoffmann Green Cement, a French start-up selling lower-carbon cement. Founded in 2014 and with €6m in revenues last…
Innovation Engineering carbon out of Australia’s construction business In Australia, a voluntary alliance of tier 1 contractors, government agencies, specialist subcontractors, engineering firms, cost consultants, architects, and material manufacturers – representing the whole construction supply chain – are…
Innovation New lower-carbon cement plant captures CO2 from normal cement plant A new company that makes lower-carbon cement from the carbon dioxide captured from the flue of a conventional cement plant has opened its first facility in Redding, California. The new…
News Heidelberg awards scoping contract for Canada’s first carbon-captured cement plant Heidelberg Materials North America has awarded a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract for a carbon-capture system at its cement plant in Edmonton, Canada to contractor Kiewit and MHI-LCSC, part of…
News Cemex to build solar facilities at three Croatian plants The Croatian arm of Mexican materials company Cemex has announced plans to fit solar panels to some of its plants. Cemex will cover the roofs of the Sv Juraj cement…
Perspectives To build green, we need innovation, collaboration and commitment The global construction industry stands at a crossroads. As outlined by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, if trends persist, global carbon emissions from construction are projected to increase 13%…