PRECAST CONCRETE

cement technology integrated into Ibstock’s diverse portfolio of highperformance building products for the construction industry, including its range of products for the rail, infrastructure and UK housing markets. The technology has performance advantages over Ordinary Portland Cement-based products including improved durability, lower shrinkage, higher flexural tensile strength and increased fire resistance and is the only zero-cement concrete technology that has been proven at scale on real life commercial projects across the world.

Darren Waters, Chief Operating Officer at Ibstock, said: “As a business at the heart of building, our ambition is to be the most sustainable manufacturer of concrete products in the UK. Collaborating with EFC marks a significant step in achieving this goal as we collaborate and innovate to manufacture materials for life. More than ever, customers are looking for products which offer great functionality but also have robust sustainability credentials. In 2020, the Ibstock concrete division invested in a new concrete laboratory at its site in Anstone, Sheffield, to facilitate the development of sustainable concrete that features reduced embodied carbon and therefore has a lower environmental impact. At this advanced facility, we are already developing and testing innovative new concrete mixes that incorporate EFC to ensure we achieve our own sustainability goals, as well as contribute to those of the wider sector, without compromising on quality or performance.”

EFC UK Regional Manager Andy Izod said: “We are delighted to strengthen our presence in the UK through this partnership with Ibstock. We will not only focus on introducing Earth Friendly Concrete into the wider construction market across a range of projects, regions, applications and supply chains but will also share our ground-breaking technology with partners like Ibstock, which will help them to achieve ultra-low carbon outcomes for their business.” Since it was launched in 2020, EFC has saved around 2,000 tonnes of CO2 across construction projects. It has been used in several high-profile projects including High Speed 2 (HS2) and Silvertown Tunnel.

For more information visit: www.ibstockplc.co.uk www.earthfriendlyconcrete.com

LOW CARBON CONCRETE NOW STANDARD ON LAING O’ROURKE UK PROJECTS

Laing O’Rourke has announced it is mandating the switch to low carbon concrete on all of its new UK projects. The exclusive use of low carbon concrete from 1 April this year will accelerate the company’s progress towards its net zero targets. The change will be introduced with immediate effect and applies to all new projects that begin main construction on or after 1 April 2023. It will result in a significant reduction in the company’s scope 3 carbon emissions.

Following a long-term research programme co-funded by Laing O’Rourke and Innovate UK, and in collaboration with the University of Cambridge and Sheffield University’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), the business has proven that a range of low carbon concrete options can be successfully deployed on projects as a like-for-like substitute for traditional concrete. The overall carbon reduction will be 28% when compared with the company’s concrete usage in 2022. This equates to a saving of 14.4 million kgCO2e, which is the same as planting 120,000 trees or 94 hectares of forest.

Cathal O’Rourke, Laing O’Rourke’s newly appointed Chief Operating Officer, said: “We’ve committed to being a net zero company before 2050 and we are looking at every possible measure to accelerate our progress. In construction, the greatest challenge is reducing scope 3 emissions – the embodied carbon in purchased materials. Reducing all carbon emissions is a priority for our business. The built environment makes a significant contribution to global warming and constructors must work with clients and design partners to deploy new technologies and innovations that make modern methods the norm and enable us to build in less carbon intensive ways.”

Rossella Nicolin, Laing O’Rourke’s Head of Sustainability for Europe, said that the expertise of the specialist businesses that make up the company’s internal supply chain had helped introduce the policy so rapidly across all new projects. “The expertise of our in-house concrete technologists, the experts who operate our advanced manufacturing facility in Nottinghamshire (the Laing O’Rourke Centre of Excellence for Modern Construction, CEMC), and our supply chain partners, have all contributed to this significant step forward. Last year, 43% of the concrete products we manufactured for our live projects were low carbon. It’s exciting to think this will rise to 100% this year, and that very soon all our new projects will only use low carbon concrete. I want to thank the team whose hard work has made it possible.”

Laing O’Rourke’s low carbon concrete uses lower carbon alternatives to Portland cement. These include GGBS (Ground Granulated Blast-furnace Slag) and PFA (Pulverised Fly Ash), both of which are industrial by-products with a much lower carbon footprint. The company recognises that this is the first step in a longer journey to decarbonisation. Its ongoing research programme focuses on wider scale deployment of cement-free options, which are ultra-low carbon, and it expects to introduce more of these materials going forward. The company became a founding member of ConcreteZero in 2022 and is already decarbonising beyond the programme’s near-term objectives.

For more information visit: www.laingorourke.com