Interview: “The construction industry is a conservative field
Performance is a key factor when it comes to convincing customers. Alexandre Franceschini, Technical Support Manager for Southern Europe at Imerys, knows what advantages and limitations dry-mix can bring to the building site.
To what extent are regulations driving R&D activities?
Alexandre Franceschini: Sustainability, regulations and trends on this topic act as a catalyst for fundamental change in the construction industry. At Imerys, all research projects are designed with sustainability in mind, whether it is to make our products more sustainable or to allow our clients to design more sustainable solutions. All research projects must meet in-house criteria on sustainability value.
They must be consistent with our ambitions as a group to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions resulting directly from our operations by 36 %, relative to revenue, by 2030. Regulations also act as a frame for our R&D. An entire team is dedicated to product stewardship to ensure that research projects comply with local regulations and are consistent with regulatory trends, which they also monitor.
Besides sustainability, what is the biggest social trend impacting on construction chemicals at present?
Franceschini: Sustainability is followed in second place by safety, which is of huge importance – and rightly so. Dry-mix itself is designed to make the job site safer compared with on-site mortar blending, and dry-mix mortars are safer than petroleum-based chemicals in terms of VOCs and fire hazards, for instance.
Nowadays, dry-mix producers are also working towards safer products, with less dust and fewer GHS labels. At Imerys, safety is a group-wide focus. It benefits our operations through the implementation of programmes, such as Take 5 and Serious 7. It also positively impacts the way we design our products and solutions, because the product stewardship team ensures compliance with safety regulations and trends from the very start of a research project.
Where do you see the biggest limitations of current technology?
Franceschini: The construction industry is a conservative field. While the industry’s habits and inertia act as important safeguards, they also impose limitations, as they can slow down the penetration kinetics of newly designed and more sustainable technologies.
In addition, portland cement with a significantly smaller carbon footprint than CEM I lacks the regularity, reactivity and reliability necessary for meeting the specific needs of the dry-mix industry. To overcome these limitations, Imerys has designed an efficient binder, such as “Leap” (an ultra-reactive calcium aluminate), and a metakaolin, such as “Argical”, to allow sustainable dry-mix formulations to deliver a high performance. In addition, we believe that new construction methods and solutions, such as additive manufacturing, bio-based concrete blocks, and insulating mineral foam, have an important role to play in increasing the sustainability of the construction industry as a whole.
