Reducing construction costs and contributing to more affordable housing
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Our challenge: housing costs are critical for billions of people worldwide. We must offer affordable and cost-effective building solutions to our customers and end-users.
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LafargeHolcim R&D answers:
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We develop sustainable and environment-friendly construction solutions with innovative materials or systems.
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For example, a new binder specifically formulated for stabilized soil bricks production was launched in the end of 2013 in Malawi, with an innovative economic model: manual press machines are lent to our customers to manufacture bricks while contractors and developers are trained to use them.
Minimizing our environmental footprint through process innovation
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Our challenge: reducing the CO2 emissions resulting from cement manufacturing to minimize our impact on climate change.
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LafargeHolcim R&D answers:
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We leverage our R&D resources to constantly improve our manufacturing processes, by capturing and thermal energy, recycling it back into the process, and sourcing power from renewable sources.
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Our expertise in cement chemistry has allowed our R&D teams to design lower-carbon cements over the years.
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To go further, we partner with some of the world's most innovative and advanced start-ups. For instance, with Solidia, we are working on new cement and concrete technology that could reduce CO2 emissions up to 70%.