Partners' presentation

Holcim

Lafarge Research Center (LCR)

The team of LCR leading the project belongs to a program called “CO₂ Economy”. The Solid Life project was not the only project belonging to this program. The Aether Project was led by the same team and was funded by EU under a LIFE+ project. Lafarge Centre de Recherche (LCR) is the worldwide leading R&D facility in cement & concrete of the Holcim Group. It represents a showcase for innovation and new solutions to the challenges of the construction industry. Holcim has many years’ experience in cement production and product innovation. The central research department close to Lyon is continuously working on development and demonstration projects; there are various co-operations with well-known prestigious institutes and universities. 

Solidia Technologies® and Holcim first signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) in August 2013 and then a commercial agreement in January 2015 that binds the two parts for two times over five years. The experience gathered by Holcim on the new Solidia binder started two years ago. During this period, a feasibility pilot trial (IbuTec, Germany, September 2013) and two industrial cement production trials (Whitehall, USA, March 2014 and Pecs, Hungary, June 2015) were performed. Several precast producers already started testing the binder all around the world.

Lafarge Zementwerke GmbH, LZW (Austria)

Lafarge Zementwerke GmbH is the operating company of Holcim in Austria and includes the headquarter in Vienna and two cement plants: Plant Mannersdorf in Lower Austria and Plant Retznei in Styria. The ecological, social and economical responsability is the foundation of the corporate activity of Holcim in Austria. In order to further develop building materials continuously Lafarge Zementwerke GmbH focuses on the needs of their customers and offers innovative solutions for an improved safety and convenience performance and sustainable construction. In Austria about 250 employees work in the cement plants and the headquarter. The production capacity of both plants is about 1,6 million tons per year.

Some people of Lafarge Zementwerke GmbH already took part to the first European Solidia clinker and cement production campaign in the plant of Pecs in Hungary in 2015.

LafargeHolcim Cement Industrial Performance (CIP-TCEA)

CIP (TCEA) consists in a Technical center for performance of the Cement plants of the Holcim Group. Its main tasks consist in troubleshooting industrial problems and bringing innovation in cement plants. This entity already took part to the previous industrial and pilot trials to support the R&D team in handling the cement making process and to produce the new Solidia binder. Moreover they look at larger scale activities like CO₂ capture and/or emissions reduction, environmental impacts of cement activities. Their presence in the SOLID LIFE project is key to ensure the link between R&D staff and the plants.

Lafarge Cement S.A. (Poland)

Responding to market and customers’ needs they are organized by Buildings and Infrastructure segments, B2B and B2C channels. With more than 60 sites and 1500 employees, they are one of the top players in the Polish cement industry, a leader in aggregates and a major provider of concrete value added products and solutions. They were the first to introduce an integrated offer for concrete roads construction, which opens new opportunities for the Group considering EU funds granted to the development of infrastructure in Poland.

Poland ranks second in Europe after UK concerning green buildings with BREEAM and LEEDS system certificates. Thanks to that they were granted BES 6001 certification next to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.

Solidia Technologies^®

Solidia Technologies® patented technology starts with sustainable Solidia Cement™ (a low-calcite, non-hydraulic binder), which is cured with CO₂. Combined, Solidia’s processes reduce the carbon footprint of concrete up to 70 and reduce water use 60-80 in the production of concrete. Using the same raw materials and existing equipment as traditional concretes, Solidia Concrete™ reach full strength after only 24 hours of CO₂ curing, compared to the 28 days required for OPC-based concrete. Solidia Technologies® is a cement and concrete technology company based in Piscataway, N.J. (USA), with patented scientific processes that make it easy and profitable to use CO₂ to create better building materials, construction and industrial products.

Currently in commercialization for large- and small-scale applications, Solidia’s R&D collaborators include many industrial, government and academics partners: Holcim, AirLiquide, CDS Group, US DOT’s Federal Highway Administration, the US DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, the US EPA, Rutgers University, Purdue University, Ohio University, and the University of South Florida.

Building Research Establishment (BRE)

BRE is a Research and Technology Organisation (RTO) which has a long track record of work on the properties of cements and concrete, having major inputs to the development of Codes and Standards, and carrying out major programs on the durability of concrete. BRE have also carried out work to support the development of low CO₂ binders for concrete, including work with the partners of the current project. BRE helps government, industry and business to meet the challenges of our built environment. Today's need to combat climate change, and the significant economic and social issues we now face, are no exceptions. BRE help clients create better, safer and more sustainable products, buildings, communities and businesses - and we support the innovation needed to achieve this.