Concrete Perspectives December 2021 – January 2022
1. CONCRETE NEWS
Solid UNIT goals
Solid UNIT is a network of the German construction and mineral building materials industries and resarchers from Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria (including our members BIV and FBF). The aim of Solid UNIT is to further promote innovations in research and development through closer networking of the partners. At the heart of the network are so-called network teams, which work together on specific topics such as CO2 savings, resource management or digitisation in construction. Visit the Solid UNIT website to learn more about their recent campaigns and activities.
Dansk Beton Strategy 2022 – 2025
The Danish Precast Concrete Association has just completed its strategy: “Dansk Beton – For a Sustaianble Future 2.0” for the next three years. The new strategy has three main focus areas: sustainability, digitalisation and education. Sustainability and green transition will remain the focus of the association, and two new focus areas have been added: digital opportunities and labor shortages.
In the strategy process, Dansk Beton has included input from decision-makers in the concrete industry’s value chain – including the consulting industry, the architectural industry, education and research, contractors and authorities. The Danish association has been working on green transformation for a long time, initiatives in the field of education, recruitment and digitalisation will be launched very soon.
The Danish Precast stategy can be found here.
BetonTage 2022 – new date
F Betondienst GmbH has postponed the 66th BetonTage congress originally scheduled for February 2022. Instead, the leading event of the concrete and precast industry will take place from 21 to 23 June 2022 at Congress Centrum Ulm/Maritim Hotel Ulm. The multi-day industry gathering usually hosts about 2,300 attendees. Accordingly, the program including the panels and lectures as well as the exhibition will be shifted to the new date.
For more information, please visit www.betontage.de.
14th International Symposium on Concrete Roads – call for abstracts
The 14th International Symposium on Concrete Roads (14ISCR) in Kraków, Poland, organized by EUPAVE (European Concrete Paving Association), together with the Polish Cement Association, has been postponed to 25-29 June 2023. The motto of the international conference is “Concrete Roads to the Green World”.
Anyone interested is invited to submit an abstract – around 300 words, written in English – related to the themes listed here. The participant has to fill in the abstract submission form by 15 February 2022 at the latest.
2. BIBM NEWS
Public consultation and feedback
Scenarios for a transition pathway for a more resilient, greener and more digital construction ecosystem
The Commission services have prepared a Staff Working Document to outline possible scenarios for a transition pathway for a more resilient, green and digital construction ecosystem. For the creation of this Staff Working Document, the service responsible engaged in dialogue with the construction ecosystem.
The survey will be open until 28 February 2022.
Chemicals legislation – revision of REACH Regulation to help achieve a toxic-free environment
The European Green Deal sets out the ambition to reach zero pollution for a toxic-free environment. As part of this ambition, the chemicals strategy for sustainability announces actions to better protect people and the environment against hazardous chemicals and to encourage innovation to develop safe and sustainable alternatives. Achieving these goals requires revising the rules governing the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals in the EU.
Feedback deadline: 15 April 2022.
Certification of carbon removals – EU rules
This initiative will propose EU rules on certifying carbon removals. It will develop the necessary rules to monitor, report and verify the authenticity of these removals. The aim is to expand sustainable carbon removals and encourage the use of innovative solutions to capture, recycle and store CO2 by farmers, foresters and industries. This represents a necessary and significant step towards integrating carbon removals into EU climate policies.
Public consultation and feedback deadline: 2 May 2022.
3. BIBM AGENDA
| FEBRUARY 2022 | MARCH 2022 | APRIL 2022 |
| 02/02: CPE Sustainability WG Confcall | 07/03: ECP Board Confcall | 06/04: CEN/TC 104 WG19 – Decarbonisation Confcall |
| 08/02: BIBM Wastewater Engineering Group Confcall | 09/03: Construction 2050 Alliance Confcall | 07/04: BIBM Board Confcall |
| 18/02: ECP (tbd) TF HEH Confcall | 10/03: BIBM Environment Commission Confcall | |
| 18/02: ECP (tbd) TF HEH Microplastics WG Confcall | 24/03: BIBM Directors’ meeting Confcall | |
| 24/02: The Concrete Initiative Confcall |
4. WEBINARS / ONLINE EVENTS
| DATE | ORGANISER | INFORMATION |
| 01/02 | Euractiv | Supporting SMEs post-pandemic – How can policymakers ensure digital helps SME growth? |
| 07-09/02 | The ZEIT Publishing Group | Europe 2022 |
| 09-11/02 | European Commission | EU Industry Days 2022 |
| 09/02 | The Concrete Centre | Surface Design Show |
| 09/02 | Euractiv | Green steel: CBAM and ETS – do their current designs aid EU climate ambitions? |
| 09/02 | European Demolition Association | Meeting CDW management challenges in Greece |
| 10/02 | Aachen Building Experts | Building in existing structures and the circular economy (language: German) |
| 14/02 | The Concrete Centre | Rebar detailing to Eurocode 2 |
| 15/02 | GCCA | Carbon Capture Use and Storage |
| 22/02 | Euractiv | (Re)constructing Europe: What challenges are Member States facing? |
| 23/02 | Construction Products Europe | Webinar: Digital Construction – Back to basics |
5. BIBM PARTNERS NEWS
New Managing Director of Fire Safe Europe
Eugenio Quintieri became a new Managing Director of Fire Safe Europe, succeeding Juliette Albiac in the role. Eugenio is a former Secretary General of the European Builders Confederation, successfully representing construction SMEs in Europe. Commenting on his new role, Eugenio Quintieri stated: ‘Providing an adequate level of fire protection for European citizens is crucial to ensure the sustainability of the European built environment. To achieve this goal, my focus will be to place fire safety high on the list of political priorities of the European Union by creating key alliances with industry stakeholders, European institutions as well as national actors.’
New European Bauhaus Prizes 2022
On 18 January 2022, the European Commission launched the second edition of the New European Bauhaus Prizes 2022.
Following the success of the first prizes that received more than 2,000 applications last year, the 2022 edition will celebrate new inspiring examples of the transformations the initiative wants to bring about in our daily lives, living spaces and experiences.
The New European Bauhaus prizes will award young talents’ ideas, as well as existing projects for beautiful and sustainable transformations together, bringing the New European Green Deal to people and local communities.
Applications will be open from 18 January 11:00 CET until 28 February 2022 – 19:00 CET.
GCCA’s Environmental Product Declaration tool updated and relaunched
On 16 December 2021, GCCA announced the global verification of its Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) 3.1 tool, which will help cement and concrete manufacturers better understand the environmental impact of their products and processes and ultimately enable designers to design the lowest whole life carbon buildings and infrastructure.
EPDs are independently verified and provide registered documents that communicate transparent and comparable information about the life-cycle environmental impact of products in a credible way. This formal and independent verification enables companies from all markets across the world to compare cementitious products across key environmental indicators, and includes evaluation of the natural CO2 uptake of a cementitious product to provide a complete environmental picture. Designers can then use this information as part of whole life carbon impact evaluation of their whole project.
6. LIVE FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION
France takes over EU Council Presidency
France took over the EU’s rotating presidency on January 1 for the next six months. The motto of the tenure of France’s EU presidency is ‘recovery, strength, belonging.’ The Presidency’s priorities circulate around three main themes: Europe’s sovereignty; Climate, Social and Digital transition; and Europe for 2030: investment, values, youth, culture, health. France hopes to promote an EU-wide minimum wage, a carbon tax and greater regulation of big tech. With regard to the ecological transition, priority will be given to the establishment of carbon pricing at the EU borders for imported products, as a matter of economic and ecological efficiency.
Communication on Sustainable Carbon Cycles
On 15 December 2021 the EC released a Communication on sustainable carbon cycles. It is the first step towards regulating carbon sinks, removals and recycling. The Commission plans to put in place measures for eliminating or dramatically reducing carbon dependence, recycling carbon from waste, and scaling up carbon removal solutions. The Communication focuses on carbon farming, blue carbon farming, carbon recycling and carbon capture, storage and utilization, with significant emphasis on carbon farming monitoring, reporting and verifying.
On 31 January 2022, EU officials, public authorities, industry representatives and civil society gathered together online to exchange on the role and potential of carbon removals in the EU, feeding into the discussion on the upcoming regulatory framework for their certification.
EPBD recast proposal
On 15 December 2021, the EC published its proposal for a recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, in the framework of the Fit for 55% Package. The proposed revision of the EPBD introduces new standards for energy performance to decarbonise the building sector, with changes to definitions of energy performance standards, revisions to national building renovation plans and a new requirement for life-cycle emission calculations for new builds.
The proposal introduced several new definitions under Article 2 which increase the ambition of renovation efforts:
- ‘Zero-emission building’, a building with very high energy performance, where the low amount of energy required is covered by renewables generated onsite, by an energy community, or via district heating and cooling. This will be the standard for new buildings and the level to be achieved by deep renovations as of 2030;
- ‘Nearly-zero energy building’, a building meeting the above standards with performance no lower than a cost-optimal level;
- ‘Deep renovation’, meaning transforming a building into nearly-zero emission building (up to 2030) or a ‘zero-emission building’ (after 2030).
EU Taxonomy climate Delegated Act approved
On 9 December 2021, the European Council approved the EU Taxonomy climate Delegated Act (DA), confirming into EU law the adoption of Technical Screening Criteria (TSC) for activities that contribute substantially to climate change mitigation and adaptation objectives. As a result of multiple years of work and cross-sector collaboration, it is an important milestone for the EU’s sustainable finance agenda. It also provides essential momentum to ensure that the integrity of the EU Taxonomy is maintained, with all climate criteria remaining objective and technology-neutral.
New President of the European Parliament
The European Parliament has elected Roberta Metsola (EPP, Malta) as president until 2024, after the sudden death of office-holder David Sassoli (S&D, Italy). As President of the EP, Roberta Metsola will direct the activities of the legislature’s plenary sessions, and maintain order during sittings. The president also gives the floor to speakers, signs laws, and customarily speaks at the opening of EU summits.
A 43-years old centre-right lawyer will lead the most fragmented chamber in decades as it tackles issues such as curbing carbon emissions, upholding the rule of law and setting out rules for major technology companies.
7. OUTSTANDING PRECAST CONCRETE PROJECTS
Concrete Facade of the Year 2021 award, Finland
The winner of the Concrete Facade of the Year 2021 architectural award is Arkkitehtitoimisto Futudesign Oy with the facades on the extension part of the Scandic Grand Central Helsinki hotel. The new extension part of the Scandic hotel is integrated into the building complex of the Helsinki Main Railway Station, designed by architect Eliel Saarinen and completed in 1909.
The colour palette of the precast facade panels follows that of the existing buildings. The dyed concrete on the facade has been precisely adapted to the tone of the plastered surfaces of the adjacent buildings. The reddish cladding units on the plinths with an exposed-aggregate surface match the red granite plinths of the old building.