Infrastructure News: June - July 2022

Page 24

JUNE - JULY 2022

A start to solving our poor record on low carbon cement replacement Swiss based building industry giant Holcim plans to import and distribute lower carbon cement replacement products from a new Low Carbon Cement Replacement Facility currently under construction in Auckland

T

he initiative was started well before the New Zealand government released an Emissions Reduction Plan in mid-May this year. Holcim New Zealand was quick to show support for the government plans to pilot the end of industrial allocation within the cement industry, in favour of transparent pricing of carbon combined with a border 24 infrastructurenews.co.nz

adjustment mechanism. “New Zealand is an exciting market. Construction has gone from strength to strength despite the challenges of the pandemic. And the New Zealand construction industry understands the importance of decarbonisation,” says CEO for Australia and New Zealand George Agriogiannis. Concrete is the most-commonly used

building material in the world and a key component is cement, which has high embodied carbon due to its manufacturing process. Currently, every year around 1.6 million tonnes of traditional cement is used in New Zealand, equivalent to approximately 1.3 million tonnes of CO2. By replacing cement with a product which has lower embodied carbon, but similar proper-

ties, construction-related embodied carbon can be significantly reduced. “Unfortunately, New Zealand's concrete industry is coming off a low base. Due to a lack of access historically to low carbon cement alternatives, New Zealand's carbon intensity in ready mix is high relative to its peers,” says Executive General Manager, New Zealand Kevin Larcombe. “In similar markets like Australia and the UK, replacement of normal cements with low carbon cement replacements averages 26 percent. In New Zealand it is more like two percent” Holcim is working with the construction industry with the aim to achieve 25 percent replacement by 2025. “At 25 percent replacement, we estimate embodied carbon in the New Zealand construction industry will reduce by around 300,000 tonnes per annum - equivalent to taking well over 100,000 petrol cars off the road each year,” says Agriogiannis. For Holcim in our part of the world, this involves the use of local and Australian fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag from Japan. “We will be offering blended low carbon cements, consistent with our global EcoPlanet range as well as Supplementary Cementitious Materials such as Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag, recycled from by-products of the iron making process,” says Larcombe. “Every part of the construction industry has been challenged by the supply chain disruptions induced by the global pandemic. Crucially, Holcim has been able to leverage off its global capability to not only ensure Holcim's usual


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Articles inside

What you need to know about Covid-19 reinfection

5min
pages 66-68

Vocational training leader applauds budget

2min
page 62

Chemical safety relies on meaningful cooperation

2min
pages 64-65

Why video calls are bad for brainstorming

1min
page 63

Nurses not monoliths are the backbone healthcare system

6min
pages 52-55

The great unlearning

6min
pages 58-59

One thing we all have in common is that we will all age

3min
pages 56-57

How upskilling your staff can future-proof your business

4min
pages 60-61

There is no known safe level of exposure to welding fumes

2min
pages 50-51

No better investment than chemical safety training

2min
pages 48-49

The growing importance of ESG in property

5min
pages 43-44

Site Safe congratulates 2021 construction health and safety champions

1min
pages 41-42

Cutting-edge solutions to handle building waste

2min
pages 45-47

Office market strategies changing

2min
pages 39-40

Industry leader in soft fall protection on construction sites

1min
page 38

How to solve the problem of slumping commercial property values by acting now

14min
pages 33-37

SiteRight – It’s the right fit for your business

1min
pages 31-32

Hard work gets results

4min
pages 27-30

Skills shortages require pragmatic response

7min
pages 4-7

New dam safety regulations

2min
page 24

Money alone will not solve New Zealand’s infrastructure woes

5min
pages 20-21

New Zealand roading project wins top engineering prize

2min
page 15

The construction conversations we should be having

8min
pages 16-19

Infrastructure strategy cannot wait

4min
pages 22-23

A start to solving our poor record on low carbon cement replacement

4min
pages 25-26
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