There are several vectors of action: the choice of materials, the optimization of the transport strategy, and the revalorization strategy in a circular economy approach.<\/p>\n
Let's take the example of cement, the manufacture of which is a heavy and complex process representing 7% of global CO2 emissions according to the GCAA. In addition, its extraction and transport amplify its impact.<\/p>\n
For different materials, numerous initiatives can be cited, all working to reduce the ecological footprint of the manufacturing of construction materials. Following the example of cement, the company Hoffmann green Cement Technologies produces ecological cement based on industrial waste generated in France. Other companies like N\u00e9olithe offer ecological concrete with a promise of a 5% reduction in French CO2 emissions with the idea of transforming household waste into aggregates for the buildings of tomorrow.<\/p>\n
Another area of impact is becoming increasingly important: the circular economy. An example is the use of natural resources such as sand or gravel and taking advantage of the demolition of buildings at the end of their life to produce cement. Given that demand for materials is expected to double by 2060 according to the OECD, recycling of building waste should quickly become widespread.<\/p>\n
Finally, a last significant factor is the optimization and decarbonization of transport. In its roadmap, Vinci estimates, for example, that 44% of its direct impact comes from transport. However, today there are several types of fuel meeting ecological requirements, such as green hydrogen or natural gas. Electric vehicles are also a promising solution, the first constraint remains the lack of autonomy. Certain logistics support tools make it possible to limit the movements of empty trucks or to optimize the filling of trucks to reduce their number. The places where raw materials are resupplied can also play an essential role: the establishment of a fine network of the territory with revalorization platforms will make it possible to significantly reduce the distances currently traveled.<\/p>\n
What are the barriers that still slow down the adoption of these new practices?<\/strong><\/h1>\nThe implementation of these solutions now seems obvious. However, if it were that simple, they would already be widespread. There are still obstacles to the implementation of these solutions.<\/p>\n
The main difficulty for the construction sector, and which is specific to it, lies in the multiplicity of actors and roles, the multiplicity of places, of situations and solutions available. In an environment where margins are very low, choosing the wrong solution can mean going form a profitable contract to a loss-making one. There is therefore a huge challenge in having the right information at the right time to make the appropriate decision when the choice is presented on the ground.<\/p>\n
In theory, the recovery or reuse of waste makes it possible to create a new product of equal or higher quality. In this way, waste becomes secondary raw materials which allows construction companies to limit material losses and considerably reduce the cost of certain projects.<\/p>\n
In practice, however, a large proportion of recycled materials are expensive: the efforts required to identify the availability of these materials from a source site at the time they will be used by the recycling site slow down adoption. It is also necessary to consider a storage area if the dates do not correspond, this double movement may be enough to eliminate the economic interest of the operation. On the other hand, the lack of confidence in the traceability and quality of materials from the first site introduces a risk factor for those who reuse them. Finally, the cost and availability of carriers to bring them from one site to another still needs to be taken into account.<\/p>\n
On the transport side, it is for example not so simple, depending on the location of the waste generating site, to know whether it is necessary to go further to recycle waste, but at higher (environmental and financial) costs, or if they should be put in the recycling center next door. How can you easily make these decisions? The industry needs to be able to make these calculations simply, without systematically consulting impact experts for every small daily decisions.<\/p>\n
Towards digital solutions and broader awareness<\/strong><\/h1>\nSince 1er<\/sup> of January 2022, the State requires the construction ecosystem to share data from waste traceability<\/a> construction, including land, demolition products and sediments in a national waste register. The main goal of this law is to limit waste and promote the circular economy.<\/p>\nOne of the most important advantages of waste traceability<\/a> is that it helps restore confidence in the quality of materials on the one hand, and that it provides information on their availability in real time on the other hand. And alongside the regulatory requirement, solutions have emerged. There are now tools to facilitate this daily traceability for construction site workers.<\/p>\nAt the house of Altaroad<\/a>, we offer a traceability platform for incoming and outgoing flows coupled with means of collecting evidence (cameras, weighing system) so that information on these waste, material and transport flows is accessible in real time by all the people concerned, whether they are on site or not. Beyond making it easy to meet regulatory requirements, the automation of this traceability allows decisions to be made in real time, which both generate financial and environmental savings.<\/p>\n![\"Visuel](\"https:\/\/www.sprint-project.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Etapes3-logo-2_corps_texte-300x220.png\")
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The innovations behind this solution, co-built with stakeholders in the field, enable practical, reliable and systematic data collection. It makes it possible to make treatment decisions by type of material and to have control over the correct destination of waste from a construction site.<\/p>\n
Other platforms help to facilitate the purchase and sale of construction equipment according to the needs of each company, a collaborative and very interesting circular economy model. The start-up Backacia, for example, works to ensure that recovered materials are carefully stored on site rather than throwing them in a dumpster or destroying them. The start-up also acts as an intermediary between the recovered materials and potential buyers, all professionals.<\/p>\n
Finally, other players allow the connection and dematerialized management of transport such as the MyBen solution, which connects carriers specializing in bulk, and companies needing to evacuate their materials and waste in public works skips.<\/p>\n
Measuring the impact of the construction site: moving to real time using a reference base?<\/strong><\/h1>\nToday, the measurement of the environmental impact of a construction site is estimated (when it is) first upstream of the construction site, within the tender phase, while all the parameters of the construction site are not yet determined. As there is no reference database, these estimates are made based on the knowledge of people available on similar sites. It is therefore far from systematic.<\/p>\n
A final assessment can also be carried out at the end of the project. It is then the work of an archaeologist for the person responsible for this study to find in the slips and excels all the history of supplies and shipments from the site, as well as consumption on site. Again, the view is very partial.<\/p>\n
But based on the traceability of entrants\/outputs precisely implemented in the traceability approaches linked to the circular economy, it becomes possible to generate a real-time image of the evolution of this impact, to have a vision accurate compared to an initial estimate and to measure any deviations.<\/p>\n
Even more useful, and a feedback from using the solution Altaroad<\/a>, the availability of this information in real time for different site profiles, allows common multi-criteria decisions and corrective actions to be taken. For example, the choice of a supplier cheaper by a few cents per ton but significantly further away, which today could be decided unilaterally for reasons of economic optimization, becomes immediately visible to the QSE manager, thus allowing the discussion on its relevance, instead of observing it months later, when no action is possible.<\/p>\nFinally, the systematic generation of data on construction sites makes it possible to build a knowledge base allowing a virtuous circle of estimation for the following phases, and a source of continuous improvement.<\/p>\n
Sources:<\/span><\/h6>\nLAW no. 2020-105 of the 10th of February, 2020 relating to the fight against waste and the circular economy<\/span><\/p>\nDemand for materials will double by 2060, with sand and gravel in the lead \u2013 <\/span>novathic.fr<\/span><\/a><\/p>\nCement-concrete, third \u201ccountry\u201d in greenhouse gas emissions \u2013 <\/span>geo.fr<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since 1er<\/sup> of January 2022, the State requires the construction ecosystem to share data from waste traceability<\/a> construction, including land, demolition products and sediments in a national waste register. The main goal of this law is to limit waste and promote the circular economy.<\/p>\n One of the most important advantages of waste traceability<\/a> is that it helps restore confidence in the quality of materials on the one hand, and that it provides information on their availability in real time on the other hand. And alongside the regulatory requirement, solutions have emerged. There are now tools to facilitate this daily traceability for construction site workers.<\/p>\n At the house of Altaroad<\/a>, we offer a traceability platform for incoming and outgoing flows coupled with means of collecting evidence (cameras, weighing system) so that information on these waste, material and transport flows is accessible in real time by all the people concerned, whether they are on site or not. Beyond making it easy to meet regulatory requirements, the automation of this traceability allows decisions to be made in real time, which both generate financial and environmental savings.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The innovations behind this solution, co-built with stakeholders in the field, enable practical, reliable and systematic data collection. It makes it possible to make treatment decisions by type of material and to have control over the correct destination of waste from a construction site.<\/p>\n Other platforms help to facilitate the purchase and sale of construction equipment according to the needs of each company, a collaborative and very interesting circular economy model. The start-up Backacia, for example, works to ensure that recovered materials are carefully stored on site rather than throwing them in a dumpster or destroying them. The start-up also acts as an intermediary between the recovered materials and potential buyers, all professionals.<\/p>\n Finally, other players allow the connection and dematerialized management of transport such as the MyBen solution, which connects carriers specializing in bulk, and companies needing to evacuate their materials and waste in public works skips.<\/p>\n Today, the measurement of the environmental impact of a construction site is estimated (when it is) first upstream of the construction site, within the tender phase, while all the parameters of the construction site are not yet determined. As there is no reference database, these estimates are made based on the knowledge of people available on similar sites. It is therefore far from systematic.<\/p>\n A final assessment can also be carried out at the end of the project. It is then the work of an archaeologist for the person responsible for this study to find in the slips and excels all the history of supplies and shipments from the site, as well as consumption on site. Again, the view is very partial.<\/p>\n But based on the traceability of entrants\/outputs precisely implemented in the traceability approaches linked to the circular economy, it becomes possible to generate a real-time image of the evolution of this impact, to have a vision accurate compared to an initial estimate and to measure any deviations.<\/p>\n Even more useful, and a feedback from using the solution Altaroad<\/a>, the availability of this information in real time for different site profiles, allows common multi-criteria decisions and corrective actions to be taken. For example, the choice of a supplier cheaper by a few cents per ton but significantly further away, which today could be decided unilaterally for reasons of economic optimization, becomes immediately visible to the QSE manager, thus allowing the discussion on its relevance, instead of observing it months later, when no action is possible.<\/p>\n Finally, the systematic generation of data on construction sites makes it possible to build a knowledge base allowing a virtuous circle of estimation for the following phases, and a source of continuous improvement.<\/p>\n LAW no. 2020-105 of the 10th of February, 2020 relating to the fight against waste and the circular economy<\/span><\/p>\n Demand for materials will double by 2060, with sand and gravel in the lead \u2013 <\/span>novathic.fr<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Cement-concrete, third \u201ccountry\u201d in greenhouse gas emissions \u2013 <\/span>geo.fr<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\nMeasuring the impact of the construction site: moving to real time using a reference base?<\/strong><\/h1>\n
Sources:<\/span><\/h6>\n
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