Futurecem is an innovative, validated and patented cement technology. This technologiy allows more than 35% clinker substitution in cement with limestone and calcined clay. Leveraging on their synergy, this combination of materials in Futurecem has resulted in a more sustainable and well-performing cement. It has up to 30% lower carbon footprint compared to ordinary Portland cement. Additionally, it will achieve the low-carbon benefits of Futurecem while preserving performances and quality consistency.
After full-scale testing in infrastructure and buildings in the Danish project Green Concrete II, Futurecem has been officially launched in Denmark in January 2021, placing Cementir Group at the forefront as the market leader in sustainable and low-carbon cement by leveraging on limestone calcined clay technology.
“Futurecem is a giant step on the path towards more sustainable cement production. This is immensely important not only for Cementir Group but also as key contribution to the green transition for the concrete, construction and cement-based industries in general. We are very confident that Futurecem will play a key role in decarbonizing the entire value chain.,” commented Cementir Chief Sales, Marketing and Commercial Development Officer Michele Di Marino.
Immediate impact
Concrete is the most used building material in the infrastructure and building construction. Its performance and wide availability are not comparable to any other building material. As there is an increasing interest in reducing CO2 along the construction value chain, Futurecem reduce the carbon footprint of 30% per cent on cement and thus 25 per cent on concrete, which results in a significant reduction from a single building material in the total CO2. As the main ingredient in concrete, Futurecem is a key driver to achieve the targets of CO2 footprint reduction in concrete by 2030.
One of the first projects with Futurecem is the ambitious sustainable building UN17 Village in Ørestad, Copenhagen. When completed in 2024, it will be known as the world’s first housing project that integrates all 17 UN world goals in the same building.
“Sustainability has been central to the UN17 Village construction project. Therefore, Futurecem has been an obvious choice to use in the concrete structures and thereby achieve significant CO2 savings. At CG Jensen, we have an ambition to become climate neutral as early as 2029. Therefore, we warmly welcome products such as Futurecem, which can help reduce our CO2 footprint. Our experience is that Futurecem based concrete works well and fully on par with traditional concrete in most contexts.” Said CG Jensen Project Manager Rasmus L. Frederiksen.
Roll-out in Europe
Following the launch in Denmark, Futurecem s roll-out is ongoing in Europe. CCB is the Cementir Group subsidiary in Belgium. The group is targeting to commercialize Futurecem in France from 2022 and in Benelux by 2023.
Unicon is a Group subsidiary in the RMC business. This company has fully embraced Futurecem cement, embedding it into a complete green product offer. They are marketing it under the name of “UniGreen” to promote the use of CO2-reduced RMC in all buildings across the country.
Together with external customers, Cementir Group is promoting down the value chain an eco-sustainable RMC offer through C-Green within all its plants in Belgium and France, by leveraging circularity (use of recycled aggregates) and a low CO2 emission footprint (futurecem limestone – calcined clay technology and other blended cements).
Cementire is the global market leader in white cement. The group has invested in further developments and commercialization applying limestone-calcined clay technology. Currently, Cementir Group is incorporating sustainable technology to more cement types in its product range: this includes white cement and white cement-based solutions with Futurecem.
About Futurecem
Cementir Group’s extensive applied research has led to the Futurecem technology. This research covers the whole production process, from raw materials assessment to manufacturing and cement application. It is a proprietary technology that holds patents in US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, India, China and Australia. The product relies on the synergy between calcined clay and limestone filler. This allows over than 40% clinker replacement in cement, depending on clay type. However, it maintains the same performance of a pure Portland cement. It is a proven innovation. The product is even in use for building two bridges in Denmark (project “Green Concrete II”).
Futurecem technology is fully recognized as a solution for clinker ratio reduction in the roadmap for “Low Carbon transition in the cement industry” by the International Energy Agency –2018 and as “low clinker cements” in the “Cementing the European Green Deal”-2020, making Cementir Group the frontrunner. www.cembureau.eu/about-our-industry/innovation/lower-clinker-cements/
It is also formally recognized into EN 197-5 European standard for even further clinker substitution with II/C-M cements (up to 50%).
Find out more at www.cementirholding.com/Futurecem
