Research & Innovation
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Research

The Lafarge research teams work closely with customers to understand their needs, developing new products that add value for all players in the building industry and contribute to more sustainable ways of building.

Customer-oriented research

Artevia® decorative outdoor concretes

 

Artevia® decorative concretes are designed for outdoor applications. They offer many advantages:

  • excellent adaptation to complex shapes
  • quick installation and low maintenance
  • resistance to wear and tear
  • creative freedom with a wide choice of colors and surface appearances

 

Lafarge's research orientation is driven by customers' needs. Understanding how customers use its products enables Lafarge to develop innovative, high-performance solutions. Lafarge research and marketing teams build close relationships with the construction industry to create breakthrough products that add value for everyone.

 

One example: Artevia®, a range of decorative outdoor concretes, is among more than 500 different formulations of concrete Lafarge has developed in response to customers' expectations for robustness, resistance, durability, esthetics and control of setting and hardening.

Toward sustainable construction

Lafarge Research Center

 

Lafarge boasts the world's leading research center for building materials.  Fundamental and applied research focuses on 3 main areas:

  • end-user performance, in both product finish (quality, aesthetics, functionality) and product implementation (ease of use, productivity)
  • industrial performance, notably in production processes and environmental performance (e.g. reducing CO2 emissions from cement production)
  • preparation for the future, to develop products and solutions that contribute to a more sustainable, environmentally friendly industry

 

Lafarge Technical Centers

 

Lafarge Cement has technical centers in:

  • Vienna,Austria, serving Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East (Cement Technical Center - C.T.E.C.)
  • L'Isle d'Abeau,France, serving Western Europe and Africa (Technical Center Europe and Africa - T.C.E.A.)
  • Montreal,Canada, serving the Americas (Corporate Technical Services - C.T.S.). The C.T.S. has a branch in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia, serving Asia (Asian Technical Center - A.T.C.). The A.T.C. has a branch in Beijing,China.

 

Lafarge Gypsum's central research and technical center is in Avignon, France.

 

Working at CTEC

Bernhard Köck, Process Manager

"In 1995, a handful of experts were responsible for providing support to 5 factories in 3 European countries. By 2007, CTEC (Cement Technical Center for Central and Eastern Europe ) has become a recognized center of excellence, working on behalf of 40 factories in 14 countries on 3 continents. My colleagues come from 20 different countries and speak 16 languages." 

 

Lafarge R&D teams work to develop environmentally friendly products in order to:

  • decrease CO2 emissions in cement production
  • conserve natural resources - for instance, by using a higher proportion of recycled raw materials in the production process
  • create value-added products for sustainable construction
  • improve health and safety for employees and subcontractors
  • optimize the performance and uses of Lafarge products

 

Centralizing research, decentralizing development

 

Lafarge R&D is organized to optimize research while responding through development to the needs of local markets.

 

The Lafarge Research Center, the world's leading research center for building materials, is staffed by 200 researchers and houses state-of-the art labs, pilot workshops, and buildings for large-scale testing.

 

A decentralized network of technical centers enables Lafarge to adapt product innovation to local markets. Working with production sites, country teams and main business units, they develop products that are suited to local needs and improve industrial performance.

 
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Low-energy housing

Take the owner's tour!

Combining 20 sustainable construction rules with innovative solutions produced by Lafarge's R&D, low-energy housing is explained in this flash animation. From the foundations and the exterior to the insulation and the interior - see how a low-energy house is created!