Project reduces CO2 emissions and water consumption by 50% when using concrete
InterCement and USP test out new technology on the foundations of the Sustainable Construction Innovation Center (CICS) building
São Paulo, January 17, 2020 – InterCement and USP (University of São Paulo) have completed tests demonstrating the viability of a new technology capable of reducing the CO2 generated in concrete production by 50%. LEAP (low CO2 emission, advanced performance) concrete requires less water to ensure its durability, and a report by the United Nations Environment Program (PNUMA) rated it as one of the best technologies for lowering carbon gas emissions at a low cost.
The new concrete was developed in partnership between the USP Engineering School and InterCement, using the company’s manufacturing facilities, and is now being used for the foundations of the headquarters of the Sustainable Construction Innovation Center (CICS) of the Department of Civil Construction Engineering, USP Engineering School.
“This application demonstrates the viability of producing LEAP concrete on an industrial scale, using conventional concrete plants and mixed with a mixer truck,” says Carlos José Massucato, officer for technical development and institutional relationships at InterCement. Massucato adds that “the company continues to invest in an R&D program aiming to reduce its environmental impact.”
Also according to InterCement’s Director of Environmental Development and Corporate Coprocessing, Alexandre Citvaras, “this work consolidates InterCement’s position as one of the global leading companies in low CO2 footprint concretes and reasserts InterCement’s commitment to the environment and the reduction of emissions of greenhouse effect gases.”
The new formula needed 176 liters of water by cubic meter of concrete – a 52% reduction in relation to the high conventional proportions, between 250-300 liters/m³. “The manufacturing of concretes with low water proportions and, consequently, with low proportion of cement, implies in leaving traditional concrete formula paradigms,” states Prof. Rafael G. Pileggi, Civil Engineering Construction Department, USP’s Polytechnic School. “It is the beginning of an era where state-of-the-art characterization methods and technological control devices are no longer cost and turn into economic and environmental benefits for concrete.”
Besides InterCement and USP, Tuper, ArcelorMittal, Tarjab and Lafaete took part in this testing phase. The foundation piles by coupling clean geothermal power generation systems were developed as part of a project between USP and Tuper. The foundation reinforcements were delivered already assembled by ArcelorMittal, while Tarjab and Lafaete carried out the industrialized assembly of the job site.
According to Vanderley John, from CICS USP coordination, “the achievement of the first industrial application, by using equipment and products available on the market in an emerging country, must consolidate technology as a reliable and scalable option to minimize CO2 in the cement chain”. In the following work stages, foundation blocks and precast concrete structures will also employ LEAP concretes.
About CICS
Considering valuing the necessary multidisciplinary and systemic view to understand challenges and possible solutions and, above all, the today’s complexity of technologies, CICS – Center of Innovation for Sustainable Construction seeks to strengthen the advancement of sustainable civil construction building on the generation of knowledge allowing proper compatibility between economic, environmental and social issues. The Coordinating Committee is made up of professors Francisco Cardoso, Orestes Gonçalves, Vahan Agopyan and Vanderley John, from the Department of Civil Construction Engineering at the Escola Politécnica da USP, who work with the CICS executive coordinator, architect Diana Csillag.
CICS Living Lab, the future headquarters of CICS will comprise an ecosystem aimed at speeding up innovation and the sustainability of construction, bringing together experts from academia, companies, governmental entities and civil society. In the scientific field, CICS brings together researchers from Escola Politécnica da USP (EPUSP), Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC), Instituto de Energia e Ambiente [Energy and Environment Institute] (IEE), Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimento (FZEA), Instituto de Arquitetura e Urbanismo [Institute of Architecture and Urbanism] (IAU), and the Energy Efficiency in Buildings Laboratory of the Federal University of Santa Catarina [Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina] (UFSC).
Back