2012 Annual Report - Italcementi Group

5.4 Sustainable construction
Italcementi Group commitment to research and innovation is of strategic importance as a guarantee of growth,
global competitivenessIn line with its Sustainability Policies, the Group prioritizes the design and promotion of a
“sustainable portfolio” as part of the answer to growing market requests and to regulatory drive for construction
product labeling. The Group, therefore, strives to provide solutions addressing integrated design, allowing
applications of our products to satisfy requirements of holistic and internationally recognized rating systems.
For construction sites, this means, solutions to treat and recover construction demolition waste and make use
of locally sourced materials (spread out production). For surfaces, it entails the use of materials combating the
heat island effect and promoting natural water draining mechanisms while for structures, materials with
enhanced properties of thermal insulation, resistance, recycled content and durability. Products designed for
specific applications form part of this portfolio which is intended to become the Group Production Portfolio.
Bearing in mind the three pillars of sustainability: Economic, Environmental and Social, and wishing to go
beyond environmental impact assessments, Italcementi has introduced Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in
products design and Environmental Production Declaration (EPD) for disclosure of innovative products.
One of the Group ongoing activities in the WBCSD-CSI involves the definition of Product Category Rules for
Cement and Concrete needed for EPDs. This activity is of great importance in harmonizing multiple
methodologies coming up as the need for EPDs becomes more and more evident. Moreover, the recently
published PCR under the International EPD System is in line with results from various international work such
as the BS EN 15804 (Sustainability of construction works. Environmental product declarations. Core rules for
the product category of construction products) and will go a long way to ensure transparent, consistent and
credible EPDs in the construction sector. Besides Group-wide actions, some of our subsidiaries are positioning
themselves in this new challenge. The Italian Subsidiary is working together with the Italian Cement
Association (AITEC) to define an average EPD for Italian produced cement. It is in the midst of these activities
that the Italian Subsidiary decided to carry out the EPD of Alipre and Alicem, sulfoaluminate based clinker and
cement special for their rapid setting properties. Alipre and Alicem were suitable candidates for this pioneer
experience following the innovative production technology involved and the high recycled materials content;
603 kg/t and 506 kg/t respectively. In particular, the Alipre technology allows for a lower kiln temperature
(