Innovative solutions for industry and construction

The Greentech Solutions Summit, which was held at the premises of the Institut de formation sectoriel du bâtiment in Bettembourg on 26 September, paved the way for the official launch of the European Greater Green+ project.

During this intense day of conferences, round tables and presentations, a special focus was given to construction and other industrial sectors through dedicated sessions on the key themes such as clean energy, water and the environment, recycling technologies, sustainable construction and renovation and the bioeconomy.

"The various speakers were able to present a number of innovative projects and sustainable, circular solutions in the field of construction. It is important both to inform and to create synergies between the different players present, with a view to generating future collaborative projects in the Greater Region," explains Charles Albert Florentin, Cluster Manager - Cleantech, at Luxinnovation, the coordinator of the "Construction" session.

"Our speakers presented both practical cases and innovative technological solutions under each of the key themes of the Greater Green+ project. The objective is to unite the industry around these green solutions, while addressing profitability challenges faced by companies," says Caroline Muller, Luxinnovation’s Cluster Manager - Materials & Manufacturing, in charge of the "Industry" session.

Here is a quick overview of these different presentations:

Clean Energy

• Prof. Dr. Kennel, professor at the Hochschule Trier (Birkenfeld Environmental Campus) detailed the concept of the "smart home". It is an autonomous control of networked applications and devices (temperature, lighting, security and access, household appliances, etc.) allowing for optimised energy demand.
• Jacques Piroux, country manager of Belgian company Karno Energy, specialising in the development of zero-carbon heating networks, focused his speech on waste heat recovery techniques. He recalled the European objective of having 45% of the thermal energy produced pass through the networks (compared to less than 1% currently...)
• Paving the way for zero-emission steel by 2050 is the goal of global giant ArcelorMittal. Pascal Jehanno, Head of Energy and Decarbonisation at ArcelorMittal Long Products Luxembourg, detailed some of the programmes put in place by the group (SteelUp!, Heat4Steel, replacement of natural gas by hydrogen) to achieve this.
• Brigitte Roeser Herlin, Senior Advisor at Metron, explained the benefits of digitalising energy management to decarbonise the industrial sector, through energy management and optimisation solutions.

Water and Environment

• Eng. Emmanuelle Ciota, Innovative Project Manager at the Luxembourg technological innovation cluster for sustainable construction, Neobuild, reviewed the challenges and approaches to water reuse... But, beyond that, she also emphasised better overall management of this resource, which is becoming a critical economic issue in more and more regions of the world.
• The Skywater Clear project, implemented by two French companies, Soprema and Aquatiris, aims to reuse greywater using a vegetated filter bed, allowing water savings of up to 30%. Clara Jarnigon, Project Engineer, gave a detailed overview and highlighted future prospects.
• Dr. Eng. Kathrin Gantner, Technical Consultant Pure Water at Zahnen Technik, a company specialising in providing innovative solutions for water and wastewater treatment, presented Flexbed Filter, a space-saving and resource-efficient technology for various industrial and wastewater treatment applications.
• The Cetamine® technology, developed by the Kurita Group, was the subject of a detailed presentation by Alice Feller, Sales Engineer Benelux at the company. It is a method of treating boilers and high-pressure water/steam cycles that allows for substantial reductions in purge water and gas consumption.

The objective is to unite the industry around these green solutions. Caroline Muller, Luxinnovation

Recycling technologies

• Dr. Julia Scheidt, Product Manager and Concrete-Construction Consultant at Dyckerhoff, highlighted best practices in recycling concrete, which, unlike other materials used in construction, is fully recyclable. This also explains a substantial increase in demand in this area.  
• For his part, Eric Dziechciarek, CSR coordinator at the Luxembourg group Polygone (which offers services to companies and local authorities to support building and landscaping trades), stressed the environmental, economic and social benefits of recycling and reuse actions, which are essential to reduce the environmental impact of construction activities.
• Ralph Useldinger, Head of R&D at Ceratizit (a group specialising in the development of hard material solutions for machining and wear protection) outlined some sustainability considerations on hard metals and the roadmap to achieve a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions in their operations by 2040.
• Prof. Dr. Eng. Michael Wahl, another prominent representative of the Hochschule Trier (Birkenfeld Environmental Campus), presented work on plastic recycling technologies for additive manufacturing.

Sustainable construction and renovation

• Yves Biwer, director at the development company Agora, presented the up-and-coming district of Metzeschmelz, for which he is the coordinator. It is a large-scale sustainable and circular urban development project that covers almost 63 hectares on a former industrial site in the south of Luxembourg
• The Walloon District Cleantech initiative was detailed by its COO, Margaux Monforti. This is a vast project to develop a Walloon, Belgian and European economic and innovation hub, aimed at accelerating the transition of Charleroi Métropole companies towards carbon neutrality and the emergence of new circular models.

It is important both to inform and to create synergies between the different players. Charles-Albert Florentin, Luxinnovation

Bioeconomy

• Philippe Jordan, Deputy Managing Director of Build&Connect (the only French competitiveness cluster dedicated to the construction sector) presented some examples of innovative projects using bio-based materials in the construction industry in France (Pavagrowth, ACLIBIO, PHYTAGORE, VERDIGRIS, RIZFLEX, etc.).
• Philippe Courtois, from the Belgian consortium CFE / Woodshapers, presented some remarkable examples of low-carbon buildings using bio-based materials. Among them: the 75,000 m2 of retail and office space at the Tour&Taxis ferry terminal in Brussels; the “Wooden” building, the largest wooden office building (10,000 m2 of office space and 6,600 m2 of parking) developed in Luxembourg; or the 55,000 m2 of the future “Kronos” mixed-use building in Kirchberg in Luxembourg, rebuilt according to a circular approach.
• Philipp Hauser highlighted some innovative technologies for climate neutrality developed by the French group Soler (active in renewable carbon production and smart forest management), for which he is director of business development.
• The University of Liège is working on research projects around bio-based polyurethane foams, allowing the implementation of sustainable solutions that can be developed industrially. This is what Laetitia Urbanczyk, a post-doctoral researcher at ULiège, explained.