Concrete Perspectives October – November 2020
CONCRETE NEWS
3rd Annual GCCA Conference 2020
The Global Cement and Concrete Association’s (GCCA) 3rd Annual Conference: ‘Building the Sustainable World of Tomorrow’ took place virtually on 6-7 October, 2020. Cement and concrete industry leaders met to discuss their commitment to act now on climate change and to work together to turn risks into opportunities.
The conference followed the GCCA’s Climate Ambition, which outlines the industry’s aspiration to deliver society with carbon-neutral concrete by 2050.
The first day ‘Industry and Business Action – Towards Building the Sustainable World of Tomorrow’ and the second day under the heading ‘Industry Transition: Global Policy Perspectives – Towards Building the Sustainable World of Tomorrow’ involved an impressive line-up of top global business figures. They discussed health and safety, best practices and reporting, thought leadership and resilience, and the role of innovation in building a more sustainable world.
SCIP database ready for use
SCIP is the database for information on Substances of Concern In articles as such or in complex objects (Products) established under the Waste Framework Directive (WFD). The SCIP database was launched on 28 October and companies can submit data on substances of very high concern (SVHCs) in their articles. The WFD requires companies to submit their data as of 5 January 2021. Consumers and waste operators can access and use the data from February 2021 onwards.
The database has been developed in close cooperation with stakeholders and a dedicated IT user group of more than 60 members. Based on industry feedback, the database includes mechanisms that simplify the work for companies. For example, a system-to-system submission function helps companies submit notifications in an automated way. It also allows them to work together so they can submit notifications by referring to data that has already been submitted.
For support, companies can consult the material published on ECHA’s website or contact ECHA’s helpdesk. A webinar on SCIP, including a demo of the tools and new features, will take place on 19 November.
The database ensures that the information on articles containing SVHCs on ECHA’s Candidate List is available throughout the whole lifecycle of products and materials, including the waste stage. The information in the database is made available to waste operators and consumers.
Precast concrete elements are identified as “articles” in the framework of both REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) and CLP (Classification, Labelling and Packaging) directives. An article is defined as “an object which during production is given a special shape, surface or design which determines its function to a greater degree than its chemical composition”.
It is therefore necessary to assess whether precast concrete products may contain substances of very high concern (SVHCs) on the Candidate List in a concentration above 0.1% weight by weight (w/w) on the EU market. To do this, precast manufacturers shall consider the Safety Data Sheets (section 3) received by their suppliers. As a general principle, precast concrete products do not have to be registered in the SCIP database because none of the substances of the candidate list is regularly found above the mentioned 0.1% weight by weight (w/w).
(Source: ECHA)
Precast Week 2020
British Precast has adapted its annual conference and exhibition ‘Precast 2020’ into a virtual event – ‘Precast Week 2020’: a series of free online webinars from 2 – 6 November. The event was a chance to highlight and discuss some of the issues facing the construction industry and explore how the precast sector is addressing them.
‘Precast Week’ was split across 5 days and 10 packed sessions related to water, sustainable homes, carbon, fire and innovation. The first day started with the presentation by Steve Wilson from the Environmental Protection Group who addressed Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and flood mitigation solutions, including a recent change in the adoption code for drainage & sewerage systems where multi-functional SuDS systems can now be adopted and maintained by water authorities. The last “Innovation Webinar” was focused on emerging technologies, products and processes that help members and suppliers make the most of developing materials and stakeholder needs to stay ahead of changing construction product needs in the UK.
BIBM NEWS
Public consultation and feedback
EU Action Plan Towards a Zero Pollution Ambition for air, water and soil
BIBM provided feedback and will respond to public consultation on the EC’s Communication: EU Action Plan Towards a Zero Pollution Ambition for air, water and soil.
To secure clean air, water and soil, healthy ecosystems and a healthy living environment for Europeans, the EU needs to better prevent, remedy, monitor and report on pollution, mainstream the zero pollution ambition into all its policy developments and decouple economic growth from the increase of pollution, in line with United Nations driven efforts.
Public consultation deadline: 10 February 2021
Sustainable products initiative
BIBM provided feedback to the European Commission’s Sustainable products initiative. This proposal will revise the Ecodesign Directive and suggest additional legislative measures as appropriate, aiming to make products placed on the EU market more sustainable.
Consumers, the environment and the climate will benefit from products that are more durable, reusable, repairable, recyclable, and energy-efficient. The initiative will also address the presence of harmful chemicals in products such as: electronics & ICT equipment, textiles, furniture, steel, cement & chemicals.
Industrial pollution – European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (updated rules)
BIBM will provide answer to the public consultation on the European Commission proposal for a regulation on the EU rules on addressing pollution from large industrial installations. The register contains key data on pollutants emitted by industrial facilities in Europe.
This initiative aims to:
- Improve public access to environmental information;
- Support the revision of closely related legislation on industrial emissions;
- Help achieve the European Green Deal goals on zero pollution, climate neutrality, biodiversity and a cleaner, more circular economy.
Environmental performance of products & businesses – substantiating claims
BIBM provided feedback and will respond to public consultation to the European Commission’s initiative: Environmental performance of products & businesses – substantiating claims. This initiative will require companies to substantiate claims they make about the environmental footprint of their products/services by using standard methods for quantifying them. The aim is to make the claims reliable, comparable and verifiable across the EU – reducing ‘greenwashing’ (companies giving a false impression of their environmental impact). This should help commercial buyers and investors make more sustainable decisions and increase consumer confidence in green labels and information.
Public consultation deadline: 3 December 2020
EU energy efficiency directive (EED) – evaluation and review
BIBM will provide answer to the public consultation on the European Commission’s review of the Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency.
Under the European Green Deal, the Commission has committed to stronger action on climate change. It aims to assess how the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions could responsibly be reduced by at least 50% to 55% by 2030.
As the efficient use of energy is key to achieving such a target, the review aims to provide insights into how the EED could be revised to:
- achieve a higher level of greenhouse gas reduction by 2030
- contribute to other European Green Deal initiatives.
Public consultation deadline: 9 February 2021
BIBM Congress postponed to November 14 – 16, 2021
Due to the recent COVID-19 developments and in order to protect the health of our participants, exhibitors and speakers, BIBM, host of this years congress, and BCF, the organizer, have decided to re-schedule the event to November 14 – 16, 2021.
Registrations for both, stands and tickets, can be made as usual. We are already looking forward to welcoming you in Copenhagen at the end of 2021 and to enjoy networking and future driven lessons.
We confide in your help to raise awareness within your clients and stakeholders, through organising “national” visits, providing possible exhibitors and sharing the available promotional materials.
REGISTRATION DEADLINES/UPDATES:
- BIBM Congress is rescheduled to November 14 – 16, 2021
- Congress Delegate online registration and price list here
- Download the final program here
- The BIBM Congress 2021’ official slogan: “The Future of European Construction – Precast Excellence in Nordic Countries”
- LinkedIn and Twitter BIBM Congress hashtag: #BIBMCongress2021 (please follow the hashtag to keep up with related images and posts)
- Learn more about the Speakers and Exhibitors on the Building Congress Forum LinkedIn page here
- Abstract submission: the Speakers are invited to send 1 to 2 pages summary of their presentation to mh@bibm.eu
- The final VEEP workshop in the framework of the BIBM Congress has been cancelled – more information forthcoming
BIBM AGENDA
| NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY |
| 3: The Concrete Intitiative Confcall | 3: ECP Board | 11: BIBM Environment Commission Confcall |
| 9: BIBM Communication Commission Confcall | 9: BIBM Communication Commission Confcall | 19: BIBM Board Confcall |
| 10: CEN/TC 229 WG5 Product category rules Confcall | 10: NEPSI Council Brussels | 21: SeRaMCo Seramco Advisory Board Meeting Confcall |
| 12: ECP TF Fire and Eurocodes Confcall | 26: ECP TF Health, Environment and Hygiene Confcall | |
| 16: BIBM General Assembly Confcall | 28: CEN/TC 350 WG3 Products Confcall | |
| 18-20 : German ministry of the interior Construction products – Fit for the Future Web Conference | ||
| 19-20: CEN/TC 250 Plenary Confcall | ||
| 23: Construction products Europe CPR implementation Confcall | ||
| 24: CEN/TC 350 WG3 Products Confcall | ||
| 25: BIBM Technical Commission Confcall | ||
| 26: CEN/TC 350 Plenary Confcall | ||
| 27: The Concrete Intitiative Confcall | ||
| 30: CEN/TC 229 WG4 Horizontal issues Confcall |
WEBINARS / ONLINE EVENTS
| DATE | ORGANIZER | INFORMATION |
| 2-6 November | British Precast | Precast Week 2020 |
| 3-4 November | European Commission | Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference |
| 2-6 November | EU2020DE | Climate change and the European water dimension – Enhancing resilience |
| 9 November | The Concrete Centre | Visual Concrete – achieving texture, colour and pattern Registration |
| 10 November | Euractiv | The 2030 Climate Target Plan: What will it take to reach the target? Registration |
| 10 November | European Builders Confederation | CONDAP – green, digital & communication skills for mentors in construction Registration |
| 10 November | The Concrete Centre | Concrete Futures lecture: A new generation of low carbon concretes Registration |
| 16, 17, 24 November | European Commission | “Green claims initiative” Stakeholder workshops Registration |
| 16-20 November | Climate Action | Sustainable Innovation Forum 2020 Registration |
| 18-19 November | RTOs | The 2nd RTO Innovation Summit Registratio |
| 19 November | FSEU | Digital Roundtable “Improving fire safety by assessing the toxicity of smoke from burning construction products” Registration |
| 2 December | Construction 2050 | The role of construction in the national Recovery Plans Registration |
| 20 January | SeRaMCo | Web Conference Registration |
BIBM PARTNERS NEWS
Launch of the EP Intergroup
The new European Parliament Intergroup ‘Sustainable, long-term investments & competitive European industry’ was established by MEPs from across the political spectrum seeking to promote dialogue on the future of industry and investment in Europe.
The Integroup launch event on 26 October started with a keynote by Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, about the need to invest in a way that is sustainable and that will lead to a new economy with reduced emissions and increased resilience.
The web event provided a unique platform, bringing together the industry and long-term investors, to discuss which steps the EU needs to prioritise to become green, digital and more resilient and to recover stronger from this unprecedented crisis.
This is the first intergroup focused on EU industry from a competitiveness and sustainability perspective and is steered by a Bureau co-chaired by MEPs Carvalho (EPP), Riquet (Renew Europe) and Bonafè (S&D), with a number of further MEPs opting to join the group as members.
BIBM is a Partner of the Intergroup. The partners are entities that support the Intergroup and can submit proposals for debate as well as technical contributions to the Intergroup. Find out more here.
Follow the Intergroup on Twitter (@SLICEI_IG) for more news!
CEMBUREAU 2020 Summit
This year’s CEMBUREAU Summit: “Cementing Europe’s Future: Building the Green Deal” was held online.
The event focused on the Cembureau 2050 Carbon Neutrality Roadmap and how cement & concrete, together with the construction industry, will help build the European Green Deal. It was an opportunity to hear key stakeholders, ranging from national and European policymakers, senior executives of cement companies, as well as a wide range of industry stakeholders, NGOs and academics.
Tha event was divided into to sessions entitled “The Road to 2050: decarbonising our industry” and “A Sustainable Built Environment: An Environmental Agreement for Construction”. You can watch the conference highlights here.
The first European Fire Safety Community Digital Summit
On 29 October Fire Safe Europe has organised its first European Fire Safety Community Digital Summit, titled “Envisaging a fire safety rating scheme”.
The aim of the Summit was to set the first steps towards building a Fire Safety Rating Scheme. The participants could explore concrete projects around four topics which FSEU believes to be the cornerstones of a holistic and accessible fire safety assessment for buildings: data collection & analysis, sustainability, social justice and model fire safety assessment. The Digital Summit gathered policymakers, industry representatives, academics, national and European associations, firefighters and construction actors who have the desire to shape fire safety in our buildings by defining a pertinent fire safety rating scheme, meeting economical, societal and environmental goals.
To become a Community member, you are welcome to register here.
LIVE FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION
Renovation Wave Strategy published by the European Commission
On 14 October the European Commission has published its Renovation Wave Strategy to improve the energy performance of buildings. The Communication insists on the need to double the building renovation rate during the next ten years to achieve the goals set by the EU Green Deal. The main legislative measure to be proposed is yet another revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). The strategy also includes references to Ecodesign and the Construction Products Regulations as important instruments to achieve the aims of the initiative.
The seven key principles listed by the EC can be summarised as follows:
- The “Energy-efficiency first” principle
- Affordability
- Decarbonisation and inclusion of renewables, the latter is linked to the cooling and heating targets
- Lifecycle thinking and circularity
- High health and environmental standards, including air quality, water management, resilience, harmful substances and fire resistance
- Green and digital transition (“smart buildings”)
- New European Bauhaus – an intersectional project that transforms environmental, economic, and cultural goals for Europe
The EC has recognised the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the construction industry. That is why the Commission’s post-COVID-19 recovery plan identified doubling the rate of renovation as a specific aim for kick-starting the European recovery.
You can find the Renovation Wave Communication here.
Level(s) methodology publication
Level(s) is the first ever European Commission framework for improving the sustainability of buildings, living by the values of flexibility, resource efficiency, and circularity.
Level(s) is a voluntary reporting framework, which can be used by all stakeholders in the building and construction value chain. Level(s) also allows its users to set their own targets and progress at the desired pace. The final release of Level(s) is available now on the EC website. The package includes two manuals and a separate report for each indicator The test phase was concluded in early 2020 and the framework has been officially launched on 15 October.
Moreover, Level(s) is the EU Green Deal’s preferred approach to long-term sustainability in the built environment. It has also been included in the new Circular Economy Action Plan as a tool to “integrate life cycle assessment in public procurement and the EU sustainable finance framework and exploring the appropriateness of setting of carbon reduction targets and the potential of carbon storage”.
EC adopts new Chemical Strategy
The European Commission adopted the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability. The Strategy is the first step towards a zero pollution ambition for a toxic-free environment announced in the European Green Deal. The Strategy will boost innovation for safe and sustainable chemicals, and increase protection of human health and the environment against hazardous chemicals. This includes prohibiting the use of the most harmful chemicals (such as endocrine disruptors, chemicals that affect the immune and respiratory systems, and persistent substances such as PFAS) in consumer products unless proven essential for society, and ensuring that all chemicals are used more safely and sustainably.
The Strategy is also ensuring that producers and consumers have access to information on chemical content and safe use, by introducing information requirements in the context of the Sustainable Product Policy Initiative.
OUTSTANDING PRECAST CONCRETE PROJECTS
Curragh Racecourse, Ireland
This entry is based on the redevelopment of one of the most famous racecourses in the world, The Curragh, Co Kildare. It has been shortlisted for a World Architectural Festival award 2019 and is the largest capital investment in Irish racing to date. Boasting a new architecturally spectacular grandstand, parade ring and refurbished stable-yard racing recommenced in May 2019.
The unique grandstand roof measures an impressive 7,000 square metres, and the entire structure contains some 1,400 tonnes of structural steel, 8,900 tonnes of precast concrete (2,162 units) and 4,300 square metres of glazing. All precast was supplied and installed by Banagher Precast ConcreteProject – Curragh Racecourse
Sector – Commericial
Technology – BIM
Company – Banagher Precast Concrete
(Source: www.offsitehub.co.uk)