The Concrete Initiative

BREEAM paper focuses on strategic approach to selection of construction products

On 11 January 2016, the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM) published a briefing paper entitled “Strategic approach to the selection and procurement of construction materials and products”.

Commission publishes report on macro-objectives for resource efficient buildings

In early January, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission published a Working Paper entitled ‘Identifying macro-objectives for the life cycle environmental performance and resource efficiency of EU buildings’. This Working Paper is linked to the Commissions Communication on Resource Efficiency opportunities in the Building Sector, adopted in 2014. This communication identified the need for a common EU framework of indicators for the assessment of the environmental performance of buildings.

Energy storage in buildings – the potential in the Energy Package

Increasing renewable energy uptake will bring the need for greater energy flexibility and storage in order to match supply with demand. What if buildings could play this role, by offering thermal storage capacity that is currently untapped? This event will explore this concept, and make the link between the different elements of the Energy Package, from energy performance of buildings (EPBD) to electricity market design.

Global Alliance on Buildings and Construction launched

On 3 December 2015, the Global Alliance on Buildings and Construction was launched under the leadership of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It gathers together countries, cities and public and private organizations from the building sector value chain, in order to scale up the implementation of ambitious actions towards the "below 2°C" pathway in buildings and construction sector.

International Seminar on Thermal Mass

The International Seminar on Thermal Mass, held in Madrid on 2 March 2016,was organised by IECA (the Spanish Institute for Cement and its Applications), PTEH (the Spanish Concrete Technology Platform) and The Concrete Initiative. The seminar was aimed at a wide range of stakeholders active in the field of construction, including policymakers, architects and engineers.

Q4 2015 Concrete Dialogue now available!

The latest edition of the Concrete Dialogue is now available!

Sharing knowledge to become more energy efficient

With the aim of reducing the fragmentation of data and knowledge in the field of energy efficiency, the European Commission Joint Research Center (JRC) has recently launched the European Energy Efficiency Platform (E3P). The platform plans to use a collaborative approach to tackle the issue of energy efficiency in six areas.