Industrial-Scale Production of Hollow Core Slabs with 75% Lower Emissions
In Finland, Consolis and Betolar, a material technology company, have validated the industrial potential of manufacturing hollow-core slabs with significantly less cement, resulting in emissions up to 75 percent lower than traditional precast hollow-core slabs.
The development project is now entering the production phase. YIT, the largest Finnish construction company, is interested in testing the new slabs.
“Our collaboration with Betolar is an excellent example of how the keys to climate solutions are already in our hands today. Genuine change also requires customers like YIT who are willing to embrace our new solutions. I strongly believe that with courage and collaboration, we can solve the environmental challenges of our industry ahead of time,” says Mikael Stöhr, CEO of Consolis.
Several industrial-scale production tests have been effectively conducted at the Consolis Hyrylä facility, employing the Betolar solution Geoprime®. The outcomes of these experiments demonstrate the feasibility of achieving emission reductions of up to 75 percent compared to regular precast hollow-core slabs when utilizing Betolar’s solution. The test castings have undergone comprehensive full-scale initial testing with various cross-sections, adhering to standard requirements.
“The test results show that it is possible to produce structural precast products almost without cement,” says Mikael Stöhr, CEO of Consolis.
The development program is now transitioning from the laboratory and factory testing phase to piloting low-carbon hollow-core slabs in real test sites.
“This is the first time our Geoprime solution is being used for structural purposes. After the pilot phase, we have great potential to scale the solution across the entire Consolis Group,” says Janne Rauramo, EVP, Strategic Projects at Betolar.
YIT shows strong green light for pilot projects
Construction group YIT plans to be the first construction company to test new, even lower-carbon hollow-core slabs.
“We welcome with great pleasure and interest the news about the results of the development work done by Consolis and Betolar. The deliveries of Consolis Parma’s low-carbon hollow-core slabs to our ongoing projects have proceeded smoothly, and we are very interested in testing the even lower-carbon alternative resulting from this development work in practice,” says Antti Inkilä, EVP, Housing at YIT.
As Finland’s largest construction company, YIT took a significant step towards low-carbon construction by starting to use low-carbon hollow-core slabs based on the Consolis PARMA Green™ technology in its residential production at the end of last year.
“We build sustainable homes and living environments. As part of our strategy, we are committed to reducing both our own emissions and those of our value chain according to the Science Based Targets initiative. We continuously seek new ways to decrease the climate impact of construction,” says Inkilä.
For more information:
Helen.Spalding, Helen Spalding. Group Communications Director, Consolis, +46 72 5197 782, helen.spalding@consolis.com
Janne Rauramo, EVP, Strategic Projects, Betolar, +358 50 475 4900, janne.rauramo@betolar.com
Maija Taimi, Communications Director, YIT, +358 50 487 1561, maija.taimi@yit.fi
Consolis
Consolis is a European leader in precast concrete solutions, providing intelligent and sustainable solutions for the construction and utilities sectors. Together with their customers, they create beautiful buildings and infrastructure with qualities to serve communities for centuries to come. Well-built for well-being is the Consolis motto.
Consolis believes in responsible industry leadership and is committed to leading the sustainable transformation of the construction industry. The group employs over 9,000 people in 17 markets worldwide. The group had a turnover of nearly EUR 1.3 billion in 2022. Read more: www.consolis.com/
Betolar
Betolar Plc is a Finnish materials technology company that offers the production of sustainable and low-carbon concrete with the Geoprime solution. The solution converts industrial side streams into a cement substitute.
Betolar’s artificial intelligence innovation can significantly reduce CO2 emissions compared to traditional cement-based concrete production by optimizing existing manufacturing processes, supporting solution development with advanced analytics, and creating global markets for side streams. Betolar’s mission is to help reduce CO2 emissions and the use of virgin resources.
Betolar was founded in 2016 and is domiciled in Kannonkoski, Finland. Betolar is listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market. Read more: www.betolar.com
YIT
YIT is the largest Finnish and a significant North European development and construction company. We develop and build sustainable living environments: functional homes, future-proof public and commercial buildings, infrastructure for smooth mobility, and renewable energy solutions to benefit the climate. We employ around 5,000 professionals in nine countries: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. Our revenue in 2022 was EUR 2.4 billion. YIT Corporation’s share is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. Read more: www.yitgroup.com
