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“Being involved<br />
and innovating<br />
for a more<br />
sustainable<br />
world<br />
”<br />
Head Office<br />
61, rue des Belles-Feuilles – BP 40<br />
75782 Paris Cedex 16 – France<br />
Phone: + 33 1 44341111<br />
Fax: + 33 1 44341200<br />
www.lafarge.com<br />
4<br />
| C R E S C E N D O | LAFARGE BIANNUAL MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2007 |<br />
Number 4 November 2007<br />
La mer, l’avenir<br />
de l’homme ?<br />
Managing<br />
Urban Growth<br />
Frank O.Gehry<br />
<strong>The</strong> Rawang River<br />
won’t burst<br />
its banks anymore<br />
Symply creative<br />
When<br />
waste<br />
becomes<br />
a resource
© Frédéric Borel<br />
EXPLORING<br />
A WORLD ON THE MOVE<br />
06 Future challenges of marine construction<br />
10 Managing urban growth<br />
14 Frank Gehry: creation is pleasure in motion<br />
16 Frédéric Borel: architecture, a multi-sensory journey<br />
MOVING FORWARD<br />
IN OUR BUSINESSES<br />
20 When waste becomes a resource<br />
26 Quality of service: an impressive<br />
competitive advantage<br />
30 India on the road to growth<br />
CONTRIBUTING<br />
TO A SUSTAINABLE WORLD<br />
36 Memory will not weaken at the Camp des Milles<br />
38 <strong>The</strong> Rawang River won’t burst its banks anymore<br />
40 Concrete on top form!<br />
42 Saving time with Chronolia <br />
44 A road paved with challenges<br />
STRIVING<br />
TO ATTAIN OUR FULL POTENTIAL<br />
48 <strong>Lafarge</strong> news<br />
50 Insight and perspectives<br />
t<br />
BRUNO LAFONT<br />
Chairman and<br />
CEO of <strong>Lafarge</strong>.<br />
wice a year, Crescendo opens its pages to listening and thought, thanks to the<br />
contributions of researchers, economists and architects who help to renew our<br />
vision of this ever-changing world. This edition focuses on the challenges of<br />
increased urbanisation around the world and construction in marine contexts,<br />
taking us into the creative world of talented architects, as responsible and<br />
stimulating contributors to society and our Group.<br />
Crescendo is also a forum for expressing the challenges involved in the<br />
transformation currently taking place in our Group to achieve our ambition of<br />
being the best in our sector over time. This not only entails achieving the best<br />
performance in<br />
In an ever-changing world,<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> steps up its transformation<br />
terms of employee<br />
safety, but also<br />
being the most<br />
innovative in our<br />
response to the issues of sustainable construction, the most profitable for<br />
shareholders, and the most socially and environmentally responsible. In this<br />
edition, we have decided to present you our approach and results in industrial<br />
ecology – an expertise developed over time by <strong>Lafarge</strong> to respond to the<br />
question of saving natural resources, global warming and recycling of waste,<br />
as well as the economic issues specific to our activity. We are also presenting<br />
some examples of how we contribute to sustainable economic development<br />
of those around us.<br />
<strong>The</strong> stories of our progress and future challenges included in this edition of<br />
Crescendo serve to remind each of us that <strong>Lafarge</strong> is a Group for which<br />
anticipation and our demand for high standards are the driving forces of<br />
progress to achieve excellence.<br />
BRUNO LAFONT<br />
C R E S C E N D O | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | P A G E 0 3<br />
© Gérard Uferas /Rapho
exploring<br />
a world on the move<br />
© Getty images
EXPLORING A WORLD ON THE MOVE<br />
P A G E 0 6 | L A FA R G E | O C T O B R E 2 0 0 7 | C R E S C E N D O<br />
© Jacques Rougerie architecte<br />
From lake dwellings, the city of Venice and oil platforms to Dubai’s<br />
artificial islands, man has always had both the desire and need<br />
to build on water. This architectural and technical challenge has today<br />
taken on a new significance with the increasing world population<br />
and climate change.<br />
Future Challenges of<br />
Marine Construction<br />
<strong>The</strong> Alexandria Museum<br />
of Underwater Archeology<br />
designed by Jacques<br />
Rougerie will be built<br />
underwater in the bay.<br />
l<br />
iving on, or even under water is not a new concept. <strong>The</strong> dream dates<br />
back to Greek mythology with Poseidon, the god of the sea, controlling the<br />
waves and stirring up storms with his trident. Closer to home, in Jules<br />
Verne’s famous “20,000 Leagues under the Sea”, Captain Nemo discovers<br />
the legendary lost continent of Atlantis. <strong>The</strong> leap between dream<br />
and reality is often a small one.<br />
Men were building villages on piles as far back as Neolithic times and<br />
there have been many examples over the centuries: the Mekong area in<br />
Asia, the “aquatic” districts of Benin in Africa, the amazing European<br />
city of Venice built on piles, and the construction of polders in the Netherlands.<br />
Not forgetting Tokyo and Monaco's extensions into the sea, and<br />
those in the Arab peninsula off the United Arab Emirates which are under<br />
construction.<br />
Today's ever-changing world is prompting more and more marine<br />
constructions to be built. Demographic change (the question of where<br />
to house the planet’s increasing population), climate change (the<br />
expected rise in water levels means that new building standards need<br />
to be introduced), and technological developments are all influencing<br />
factors. New materials now enable us to build structures that are more<br />
resistant to "the ravages of seawater".<br />
From myth to reality<br />
Although marine constructions seem to offer numerous opportunities<br />
at the moment, living on them raises a number of issues, not all of them<br />
technical. “<strong>The</strong> ocean remains synonymous with death and fear for many<br />
people,” points out Jacques Rougerie, an architect specializing in the<br />
marine environment. “But it continues to fascinate and the population<br />
C R E S C E N D O | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | P A G E 0 7
Tokyo, Japan, is<br />
extending its river<br />
banks. Tougher and<br />
cheaper materials<br />
mean that the town<br />
can extend onto<br />
the water.<br />
is migrating to the coast en masse. Maritime infrastructures are developing,<br />
such as off-shore platforms, airports (Nice, Seoul, Kobe, etc.), waterfront<br />
holiday villages like the Port-Grimaud water sports centre in Saint<br />
Tropez bay, and ‘underwater’ business and residential complexes being<br />
built in Dubai. We are expanding our living and working space into the sea<br />
and this is set to increase in the future."<br />
From hydro turbines to floating islands<br />
That is why marine environment projects are gaining momentum. “Financial<br />
obstacles are becoming less marked,” explains Jean-Philippe Zoppini,<br />
architect and chairman of the ‘Cités marines’ (ocean cities) association.<br />
“Costs are coming down all the time. <strong>The</strong>y are still higher than for land<br />
construction, but for how much longer?”<br />
Construction in the marine environment offers solutions for man to take<br />
control of his future and environment. One example is the principality of<br />
Monaco. Faced with a serious lack of space, it invited international architects<br />
to come up with new solutions for extending into the sea to tackle<br />
population, land use and economic growth issues.<br />
Architects are now able to design fully independent floating cities. On the<br />
Ile d’AZ, Jean-Philippe Zoppini has even devised a system of mini trams<br />
P A G E 0 8 | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | C R E S C E N D O<br />
and conveyor belts to help residents to get around. Other projects involve<br />
harnessing water, wind, wave and solar power; water desalination<br />
systems; seafood production and satellite communication: a range of<br />
solutions providing the necessary services to marine developments.<br />
However, technological progress falls short in certain areas such as waste<br />
treatment, for example. According to Jacques Rougerie, “it is possible<br />
to treat waste, but only partially. Any constructions on water must<br />
be absolutely faultless in terms of waste as any risk of contaminating the<br />
oceans must be avoided at all costs," he concludes. By all means take the<br />
plunge, but be careful!<br />
Strength and durability of structures<br />
Most marine construction issues are of a technical nature, particularly<br />
in terms of the strength and durability of the materials (see boxed text).<br />
Concrete has undergone numerous changes since it was first used<br />
in the mid 19th century. Today's high-performance (HP) and very highperformance<br />
(VHP) concretes can produce high quality structures with<br />
a lifespan of up to 150 years. Marine constructions have to withstand<br />
two types of stress: mechanical stress (wind, waves, sea spray, tidal<br />
pressure, etc.) and chemical stress partly due to chloride weakening<br />
CONCRETE IS AT THE HEART<br />
OF TECHNICAL CHALLENGES<br />
“Right from when it was created in the mid 19th<br />
century, concrete has always served the same purpose:<br />
to make solid, reliable structures with an ever-increasing<br />
lifespan,” explains Richard Cavailles, team leader,<br />
products application and development at <strong>Lafarge</strong>.<br />
From the ‘rocky’ concrete of the 1850’s used for artistic<br />
structures, hydraulic, reinforced and pre-stressed<br />
concrete through to High-Performance and Very High-<br />
Performance concretes, the history of concrete in the<br />
marine environment has always faced a major<br />
challenge: how to withstand the effects of sea water<br />
and its environment. “We now have very high-quality<br />
concrete,” explains Richard Cavailles. “Our research<br />
and admixtures ensure that structures in or near to<br />
water have an excellent level of resistance, particularly<br />
to chloride, and a lifespan of over a century!" ■<br />
© Getty Images<br />
EXPLORING A WORLD ON THE MOVE<br />
JACQUES ROUGERIE<br />
Marine architect.<br />
JEAN-PHILIPPE<br />
ZOPPINI<br />
Architect and<br />
president of the Cités<br />
Marines (Ocean<br />
Cities) association.<br />
the concrete and oxidizing its metal framework, and partly due to sulphate<br />
attack. For thirty years, clear progress has been made to slow down these<br />
phenomena by using highly compact concrete made with less water and<br />
adding admixtures to strengthen and increase the lifespan of structures.<br />
Cement quality standards have also been introduced, such as the French<br />
PM (pris de mer) standard. “Concrete’s exceptional qualities provide<br />
it with a long lifespan and low maintenance requirements,” confirms<br />
Jean-Philippe Zoppini.<br />
So, what about the future? According to Jean-Philippe Zoppini “it lies<br />
in floating systems that enable sites to be moved according to ocean<br />
conditions." One such system is the Ile d’AZ, his floating city concept<br />
designed in partnership with Alstom’s innovation department at its Saint<br />
Nazaire shipyard in France. This urban cruise liner would be home<br />
to nearly 10,000 people!<br />
Whether it is fantasy or reality the ocean obviously still stimulates our<br />
imagination! ■<br />
C R E S C E N D O | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | P A G E 0 9<br />
© ARR<br />
© REA
Managing<br />
Urban Growth<br />
b<br />
P A G E 1 0 | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | C R E S C E N D O<br />
2007: the balance has tipped! For the first time in history,<br />
half of the world’s population now live in towns and cities.<br />
And the trend is increasing. We take a look at the city of the<br />
future with the help of geographer Cynthia Ghorra-Gobin<br />
and urban planner Djamel Klouche.<br />
y 2030, 70% of the population will live in cities. Global-scale urban<br />
development is an indication of the way our societies are changing.<br />
It highlights both cultural particularities and problems that are common<br />
to all modern metropolises.<br />
According to well-known geographer and researcher Cynthia Ghorra-<br />
Gobin: “globalization has led to the emergence of a two-speed metropolization<br />
on a global scale.” Southern countries are seeing their cities<br />
grow on a dangerous scale and their “rapid expansion does not benefit<br />
from the economic drive of globalization,” she says.<br />
According to Djamel Klouche, architect and urban planner: “one single<br />
cause – globalization – has radically different effects. Towns are still<br />
marked by their cultural heritage.” <strong>The</strong> co-founder of the architecture<br />
and urban planning agency AUC contrasts the gigantic scale of Chinese<br />
urban projects, followers of the tabula rasa, with Vietnamese urbanization,<br />
which favors the juxtaposition of small initiatives. Furthermore,<br />
compact European urbanity, which makes a basic distinction between<br />
town and non-town, is a stark contrast to the Japanese view of urbanity<br />
linked to nature, as illustrated by Tokaido, an indeterminate urban<br />
spread encompassing Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka which includes towns<br />
and areas of countryside. Making something old into something extraordinary<br />
is what Djamel Klouche is promoting in Europe by developing<br />
the concept of urban planning with recycling. “Town expansion has<br />
had its day,” he explains. “Urban changes are now taking place using<br />
what is already built.” His standpoint? Focus on recycling to provide<br />
a model for new uses.<br />
Motorway interchange<br />
in Arizona.<br />
Transport access points<br />
are the town's nerve<br />
centre.<br />
© Getty Images<br />
EXPLORING A WORLD ON THE MOVE
“ According<br />
to numerous analysts,<br />
the greatest danger<br />
our towns face<br />
is not dispersal<br />
but segregation.”<br />
Manhattan landscape.<br />
Anarchical or mapped<br />
out, how cities develop<br />
is telling of the local<br />
culture.<br />
<strong>The</strong> extended and fragmented city<br />
Today’s towns are growing. Individual houses have multiplied the world’s<br />
urbanized area by four. Changes that are just starting to occur will not<br />
reverse the trend of the phenomenal extension of towns or the waves<br />
of urban populations that are growing every day by some 180 thousand<br />
people!<br />
As Cynthia Ghorra-Gobin notes: “the 20th century underwent major<br />
urban changes: a spreading out accompanied by a loss of centrality<br />
and the emergency of ‘polynuclear’ cities, organized around access<br />
points for express transport.” Indeed, the extended city now raises the<br />
issue of mobility. Temporal proximity is now just as important as spatial<br />
proximity, meaning that urban planning is increasingly concerned with<br />
reducing isolation. <strong>The</strong> issue of accessibility is thus behind the creation<br />
of large urban areas made up of several towns, such as the conurbations<br />
of Ruhr in Germany or Randstad Holland in the Netherlands.<br />
But the inhabitants are not necessarily equal when it comes to accessing<br />
this fluidity. “Certain poor urban populations are now assigned<br />
to land,” points out the geographer. “A town is more than its developments<br />
and buildings, it also defines human groups. According<br />
to numerous analysts, whichever way they develop, by extension<br />
or congestion, there is always a risk of representing social divisions<br />
through geographical segregation.<br />
<strong>The</strong> social fragmentation of urban areas is expressed by the appearance<br />
of urban ghettos and ‘bunker’ neighborhoods, but also by<br />
a segmentation of the residential market – housing for retired people,<br />
students or businesspeople in need of temporary accommodation.<br />
Pushed to the extreme, this leads to the establishment of gated communities.<br />
A product of the need for security and a sense of belonging, the<br />
phenomenon is increasing in the United States where nearly three<br />
P A G E 1 2 | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | C R E S C E N D O<br />
© Getty Images<br />
© ARR © ARR<br />
DJAMEL KLOUCHE AND<br />
CYNTHIA GHORRA-GOBIN<br />
> Architect and urban planner<br />
Djamel Klouche is studying the<br />
constraints of constructing and<br />
reconstructing a town using the<br />
existing town: urban recycling.<br />
He set up the AUC agency in<br />
Paris with Caroline Poulin and<br />
François Decoster.<br />
> Geographer Cynthia Ghorra-<br />
Gobin, research director at<br />
CNRS and professor at the IEP<br />
de Paris and the Sorbonne, is<br />
analyzing the globalization of<br />
the world economy and its<br />
effect upon urban spaces.<br />
EXPLORING A WORLD ON THE MOVE<br />
million homes in twenty thousand 'private towns’ have opted for this<br />
segregating set-up.<br />
Towards a more moderate management of resources<br />
Furthermore, the impact of cities in terms of use of space, ecological<br />
footprint and plundering of natural resources is on the increase.<br />
Towns occupy just 2% of the earth’s surface but consume threequarters<br />
of resources and account for 80% of greenhouse gases.<br />
In response to this situation, three hundred American town mayors<br />
decided to apply the Kyoto Protocol and twenty-seven European urban<br />
planning ministers signed a ‘Charter on Sustainable European Cities’<br />
in May, setting out the main joint actions. Several recent projects, such<br />
as the Dongtan eco-city in China, aspire to become a yardstick for urban<br />
ecology.<br />
New human-scale urban planning<br />
Making the global city sustainable is what supporters of new American<br />
urbanism are proposing. <strong>The</strong> city will be denser, give priority to pedestrians,<br />
favor 'neotraditional’ architecture, provide top quality public<br />
spaces, foster neighborhood relationships and decompartmentalize<br />
residential areas. ‘New urbanism’ is based mainly on the principle that<br />
space is a rare commodity that must be optimized and made denser.<br />
This way of thinking is relatively new on the vast North American continent.<br />
It rethinks the configuration of housing estates and focuses<br />
on public spaces. “Since the middle of the 20th century, urban development<br />
has been characterized by no conceptualization of public spaces,<br />
apart from in historic quarters,” points out Djamel Klouche. <strong>The</strong><br />
enormously increased and deregulated consumption of land is accompanied<br />
by a move away from planning the town and its overall development.<br />
For the last ten to fifteen years we have cast aside this logic.<br />
<strong>The</strong> new urban ‘utopia’ has taken shape in prototypes that have<br />
received a lot of media coverage such as Playa Vista in California and<br />
Seaside in Florida.<br />
<strong>The</strong> political challenges of the town of the future<br />
According to Cynthia Ghorra-Gobin, tomorrow’s challenge will involve<br />
creating ‘metropolitics’: a democratic system at the level of the metropolis,<br />
its labor market area and travel network. “We have to move away<br />
from the idea of competition between towns making up large metropolises,”<br />
she believes. “<strong>The</strong>y behave like competing companies. We need<br />
to devise a new citizenship, on the scale of the metropolis.” A multidisciplinary<br />
approach to urban phenomena is essential: “the urban planner<br />
cannot address the issues the city faces alone (sustainable development,<br />
social segregation, etc.),” concludes Djamel Klouche. “He can<br />
only play a part in it. <strong>The</strong> urban planner’s work must take into account<br />
the opinions of the inhabitants and be part of a democratic process<br />
which will require institutional innovations.”■<br />
C R E S C E N D O | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | P A G E 1 3
EXPLORING A WORLD ON THE MOVE<br />
Frank Gehry has mesmerised architects of the last 50 years<br />
with his monumentaly lyrical pieces of work.<br />
His design partner and close collaborator Edwin Chan offers<br />
a glimpse into Gehry’s creative world.<br />
Frank Gehry<br />
Creation is pleasure in motion<br />
“g<br />
<strong>The</strong> satisfaction<br />
is not just the<br />
final product but<br />
the journey, the<br />
creative process<br />
itself.<br />
P A G E 1 4 | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | C R E S C E N D O<br />
ehry likes to say that he grew up as a Modernist<br />
and as such learned to scorn decoration.<br />
Only materials remained as a way to humanise<br />
a building”, Edwin Chan sums up. Actually<br />
Gehry certainly knows how to use industrial<br />
materials in surprisingly poetic ways. Voluptuous<br />
forms curve, billow and dance. Metallic<br />
cladding reflects and transforms light. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
have become his trademark.<br />
Already in 1977, when Gehry worked on his<br />
own house in Santa Monica, “all the important<br />
early influences are on view, the "unfinished"<br />
aesthetic, the use of industrial materials”,<br />
says Edwin Chan. Gehry added an<br />
exuberant, oddly angled structure of glass,<br />
chain-link and corrugated metal around a prim,<br />
pink Dutch colonial that peeks out from inside.<br />
Edwin Chan insists that Gehry strives for a new<br />
style and approach in every project. <strong>The</strong> satisfaction<br />
is not just the final product but the<br />
journey, the creative process itself."<br />
Creations never without technics<br />
Gehry is famous for refining his creations via<br />
a series of scale models in different sizes.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se follow manic pen-and-ink scribbles,<br />
and crude miniatures in which Gehry's assistants<br />
patiently clip, fold, corrugate and tape<br />
together endless bits of cardboard under the<br />
master's feverish gaze.<br />
But once pen, ink, cardboard and tape have<br />
yielded up his quirky vision, Gehry's team uses<br />
state-of-the-art computer tools, based on<br />
aeronautics design software, to ensure that<br />
every twist and turn can be adequately<br />
rendered in concrete, glass and metal – and<br />
according to code. "He uses the computer to<br />
build, not to visualise," explains Edwin.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se days Gehry is concentrating on his<br />
design for a new sports arena, housing, and<br />
mixed-use development in Brooklyn's Atlantic<br />
Yards. "We try to preserve a sort of ecosystem<br />
of large and small projects", says Edwin. "<strong>The</strong><br />
small projects are our testing grounds for new<br />
materials and new ideas. We'd love to do an<br />
exterior in concrete – though that definitely<br />
takes a good knowledge of the materiel and a<br />
certain level of budget," especially for the<br />
curved surfaces that Gehry is fond of. "But<br />
we're looking out for an opportunity." ■<br />
© REA<br />
GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM<br />
<strong>The</strong> Guggenheim Foundation’s<br />
museum opened in 1997 in Bilbao<br />
(Spain).<br />
FRANK GEHRY<br />
Born in Canada in 1929,<br />
Frank Gehry studied<br />
architecture at USC and<br />
Harvard's Graduate School<br />
of Design. In 1989 he won<br />
the Pritzker Prize for<br />
lifetime achievement, but<br />
Gehry had only just begun.<br />
<strong>The</strong> most significant<br />
achievements in Frank<br />
Gehry's prolific career<br />
include LA's Disney concert<br />
hall and of course the<br />
Guggenheim Bilbao – but<br />
also Frank's own house in<br />
Santa Monica.<br />
© Hémisphère
© ARR<br />
FRÉDÉRIC BOREL<br />
Frédéric Borel opened up<br />
an agency three years after<br />
obtaining a degree from<br />
the École Spéciale<br />
d'Architecture in 1982.<br />
He built several apartment<br />
buildings in Paris then<br />
numerous public buildings,<br />
namely the Faculty of<br />
Science in Agen and the<br />
law courts in Narbonne.<br />
He sees the role of an<br />
architect as carrying out<br />
work that no computer<br />
can do as each project is<br />
a forward-looking personal<br />
interpretation requiring<br />
a highly global approach.<br />
© Frédéric Borel<br />
What role does the building really have in teaching students<br />
to be architects? To find out, we interviewed Frédéric Borel,<br />
the architect of the new national school of architecture<br />
in Paris-Val de Seine, France.<br />
“Architecture<br />
should not<br />
convey rigid<br />
values.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> new École<br />
nationale supérieure<br />
d’architecture de<br />
Paris-Val de Seine<br />
(national school of<br />
architecture) is a new<br />
building in a former<br />
factory.<br />
Frédéric Borel<br />
How did you see the relationship<br />
between the architecture of the building<br />
and its educational purpose?<br />
Frédéric Borel : <strong>The</strong> impact of architecture<br />
on learning is significant. I thus set out to<br />
create a welcoming, relaxing place that is<br />
conducive to using the imagination, a place<br />
where students feel comfortable and can give<br />
the best of them. <strong>The</strong> building is a flexible<br />
and changing tool which should not be fixed.<br />
It operates differently at different times:<br />
certain parts have set opening times while<br />
others are accessible day and night, particularly<br />
the workshops. I included active and<br />
open spaces, a cafeteria, an auditorium and<br />
exhibition rooms designed to welcome students<br />
as well as local residents.<br />
Can the school’s architecture be used<br />
as an architecture teaching aid?<br />
F.B.: In my opinion, architecture should not<br />
convey rigid values so this building should<br />
not be used as an example in any way. It is<br />
meant to be educational and can be broken<br />
down according to teaching needs. <strong>The</strong> building<br />
draws attention to its structure, sometimes<br />
through the load-bearing walls and other<br />
times through the framework. It uses a wide<br />
range of materials and specific implementations.<br />
How did this take concrete shape<br />
in your project?<br />
F.B.: Paradoxically, a good building should<br />
be able to express itself in a few words at the<br />
same time as being indescribable. Here, there<br />
EXPLORING A WORLD ON THE MOVE<br />
Architecture,<br />
a multi-sensory journey<br />
is a platform housing the admin department<br />
and supporting the workshops, with the<br />
amphitheatres clinging on below. But there<br />
are also paths which offer an infinite number<br />
of contradictory views of the surroundings<br />
and of the building itself. <strong>The</strong> building lets<br />
people experience different sensations<br />
through the various ways of moving through<br />
the space, showing them contrasting effects<br />
or new colors. Several experiments were<br />
conducted to obtain the different textures<br />
of concrete. Molded, polished or waxed<br />
concrete was used to achieve rough and<br />
smooth surfaces. <strong>The</strong>re is an infinite number<br />
of emotional and sensory experiences, ranging<br />
from contemplation to giddiness, from<br />
calm to excitement.<br />
So architecture is changing… what about<br />
its teaching and workplaces?<br />
F.B.: Teaching has changed. It is less focused<br />
on charismatic characters and professors with<br />
innate knowledge, and more about groups<br />
of teachers holding discussions with students.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se new teaching methods are developing<br />
partly due to the increased use of IT, which<br />
is a real data bank and design tool. <strong>The</strong> screen<br />
has supplanted paper so the layout of the<br />
workshop has changed to accommodate these<br />
new uses and practices. <strong>The</strong> space must be<br />
comfortable, functional, well-equipped, welllit<br />
and able to accommodate individual and<br />
group work, allowing people to move around<br />
and interact with one other. ■<br />
C R E S C E N D O | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | P A G E 1 7
© Ignus Gerber<br />
moving forward<br />
in our businesses
P A G E 2 0 | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | C R E S C E N D O<br />
Industrial ecology is a sustainable production<br />
philosophy. Taking nature as a model, it minimizes<br />
losses of materials in consumption and production<br />
processes mainly thanks to waste recovery.<br />
When waste<br />
becomes a resource<br />
t<br />
o push the bounds of space exploration it is necessary to create<br />
a means of independent survival in shuttles that have a limited<br />
capacity. That is the issue the European Space Agency is addressing<br />
in its Aurora program. <strong>The</strong> project involves providing astronauts<br />
with oxygen, food and water by collecting and processing their waste<br />
products (CO 2, sweat, urine, etc.). Like in nature, this processing<br />
relies mainly on biosynthesis. A permanent cycle is thus created,<br />
perfectly illustrating the goal of industrial ecology.<br />
“It involves taking a leaf out of nature’s book,” explains Dominique<br />
Bernard, Senior vice-president – Industrial Ecology for <strong>Lafarge</strong>.<br />
“Natural biological systems have reached an equilibrium based<br />
on a minimum consumption of water, materials and energy and each<br />
species finds its place in a cycle. Industrial ecology seeks to create<br />
synergies between human and industrial activities where waste<br />
products from one activity are resources for another.”<br />
An urgent issue<br />
Over the last 50 years the burning of fossil fuels has risen by 500%,<br />
water use has doubled and the number of vehicles in the world has<br />
increased tenfold. Each of the earth’s inhabitants simultaneously<br />
produces an average of 1kg of waste each day. It is easy to imagine<br />
the scale of the challenge when we think that the planet will house<br />
3 billion more human beings by 2050. Industrial ecology attempts to<br />
tackle these issues. “Human activity,” continues Dominique Bernard,<br />
“has always favored an open system linking resources, production of<br />
goods and discharge of surplus, waste and pollution. This open<br />
system exhausts non-renewable resources and creates pollution.”•••<br />
Tulsa cement<br />
plant’s tire stocks<br />
used as alternative fuels<br />
in the kiln. Oklahoma, USA.<br />
© ARR Mediatheque <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
MOVING FORWARD IN OUR BUSINESSES
MOVING FORWARD IN OUR BUSINESSES<br />
DOMINIQUE BERNARD<br />
Senior vice-president – Industrial<br />
Ecology, <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
A GROWTH SECTOR IN BRAZIL<br />
“We transform waste which would otherwise be incinerated or put<br />
into the sewage system into a product that is useful for society,"<br />
says Francisco Leme, director of Eco-processa, a waste<br />
management company created by a joint venture between<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> and Cimpor in Brazil. “In 2006, our company coprocessed<br />
115,000 tons of waste and our target for 2009<br />
is 350,000 tons." Eco-processa was set up in 2004 to supply<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> and Cimpor’s factories with waste to be used<br />
as alternative fuel and is one of the largest waste management<br />
companies in the country. Through its network of 10 factories<br />
it covers a large geographical area and is used as a model for the<br />
whole of Latin America. In its factories in Cantagalo, Matozinhos<br />
and Arcos, <strong>Lafarge</strong> has reduced fossil fuel consumption<br />
by 25,000 tons and raw material consumption by 10,000 tons<br />
thanks to the collection and recycling of waste. ■<br />
P A G E 2 2 | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | C R E S C E N D O<br />
© Christophe Boulze<br />
<strong>The</strong> Rawang and Kathan<br />
cement plants in Malaysia<br />
use palm kernel shells<br />
as an alternative fuel.<br />
••• Industrial ecology, on the other hand, involves creating symbioses<br />
between human and industrial activities, particularly through reusing<br />
waste, within a loop limiting the use of rare and non-renewable<br />
resources. This system is a practical response to the requirements<br />
of sustainable development as it reduces the consumption of natural<br />
resources, limits CO 2 emissions, provides a service to the community<br />
by dealing with waste and can reduce costs.<br />
Challenges faced by cement manufacturers<br />
<strong>The</strong> extent of the challenges faced by the cement industry in general<br />
and <strong>Lafarge</strong> in particular can be illustrated by a few figures: 2 billion<br />
tons of cement are consumed each year throughout the world.<br />
It takes 1.6 tons of raw materials and 100kg of oil equivalent as fuel<br />
to produce 1 ton of cement. “It is our responsibility to find solutions,”<br />
explains Dominique Bernard.<br />
Replacing raw materials with waste<br />
Fortunately there are ‘opportunities’ in cement manufacturing<br />
methods which will help to turn things around. For example, the<br />
consumption of bauxite as a raw material can be reduced by using<br />
waste or by-products that are rich in aluminium, or by using waste<br />
instead of iron and silica. In Japan, where there is a shortage of<br />
space for waste, up to 350kg of waste per ton of cement is recovered<br />
and used as a raw material.<br />
Replacing fossil fuels with waste<br />
Waste products can also be used instead of fossil fuels for firing,<br />
carried out at an extremely high temperature of 2,000ºC. All the<br />
organic compounds are destroyed, like those used in the composition<br />
of tires for example, without having a negative impact on the<br />
environment. <strong>The</strong> circulating raw material is converted into lime<br />
which is then used to clean the combustion gases. “This means,”<br />
says Dominique Bernard, “that the gas scrubber is directly integrated<br />
into the process.” In the final grinding phase, it is also possible<br />
© ARR Mediatheque <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
to replace natural gypsum with gypsum resulting from the desulphurization<br />
of the gases emitted by coal power plants.<br />
Growing commitment<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> is a pioneer in the field. Since the late 1970's, the Group has<br />
been replacing raw materials and fossil fuels with waste, particularly<br />
in developed countries. It went one step further in the late 90's<br />
by defining a real industrial ecology strategy, and a unique expertise<br />
developed, allowing for complete management of industrial processes<br />
integrating waste. Placing the impact of its activities on the environment<br />
on a par with corporate responsibility and governance issues, <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
has a long-term approach to managing its business.<br />
Industrial ecology has therefore become a real business in addition<br />
to its core business of cement. <strong>The</strong> Group’s Cement business has<br />
developed in terms of its professionalism and expertise and at the<br />
same time a dedicated organization at Group and business unit level<br />
has been set up. “It is the role of each business unit’s Resource<br />
Recovery department to develop professionalism in this area”, •••<br />
A TOWN-WIDE INITIATIVE<br />
Located a hundred kilometers west of Copenhagen<br />
on the North Sea, Kalundborg is a town with a<br />
population of twenty thousand which is home to an<br />
original industrial ecology experiment. Companies,<br />
authorities and farmers exchange energy, waste and<br />
reprocessed materials in a loop. For example, the oil<br />
refinery provides hot water to greenhouses, and gas<br />
and cooling water to the power station, which<br />
supplies it with steam in return. <strong>The</strong> power station<br />
provides heat to the pharmaceutical factory, hot<br />
water to the town and fertilizing mud to farmers who<br />
provide residual water to a plaster factory which<br />
receives synthetic gypsum from the power station,<br />
and so on. ■<br />
C R E S C E N D O | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | P A G E 2 3
MOVING FORWARD IN OUR BUSINESSES<br />
••• Dominique Bernard continues.<br />
A very clear commitment has also been made: <strong>Lafarge</strong> makes every<br />
effort to reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources by<br />
recovering waste whenever possible. Modernizing old, less efficient<br />
factories by installing modern technologies has improved energy<br />
efficiency and reduced CO 2 emissions. Nearly €100 million is spent<br />
each year in technical centers to increase factory efficiency.<br />
Service business<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> uses all the means at its disposal in the different countries<br />
in which it operates. Fuels <strong>Lafarge</strong> now uses in its plants include<br />
<strong>The</strong> Milaki cement plant in Greece<br />
uses industrial waste waters as an<br />
alternative to some raw materials<br />
of its cement production process.<br />
tires, waste oil, palm oil, rice, coffee and sunflower hulls, as well as<br />
purification plant sludge, bone meal, wood, household waste, ground<br />
plastic, composite packaging, solvents, paint sludge, ink, varnish<br />
and hydrocarbon waste. In 2006, the Group recovered 6.5 million<br />
tons of waste throughout the world. Twenty-six of the forty-six<br />
countries in which <strong>Lafarge</strong> produces cement have undertaken an<br />
industrial ecology strategy. <strong>The</strong> Group has developed its expertise<br />
relating to the use of raw materials and alternative fuels and, by<br />
working alongside waste collection and treatment operators throughout<br />
the world, has immersed itself in the specific industrial issues<br />
of this high-stake business. ■<br />
Suren Erkman<br />
“What could be the point<br />
of unsustainable growth?”<br />
SUREN ERKMAN<br />
Founder and Director of the<br />
Institute for Communication<br />
and Analysis of Science<br />
and Technology (ICAST)<br />
in Geneva, Switzerland.<br />
Why is the study of the biosphere of<br />
interest to industrial activity?<br />
Suren Erkman : First of all because it<br />
supports all activity. It is something we<br />
were not aware of when the economic<br />
system was still limited. But as it has<br />
developed, with globalization, we can see<br />
that human activity has a significant impact<br />
on the biosphere. We now need to take into<br />
account the constraints and limitations it<br />
imposes.<br />
Next, man must learn from the biosphere.<br />
It is a complex and sustainable system and<br />
we need to draw inspiration from it by<br />
creating sustainable economic systems<br />
in its image. We could, for example, mention<br />
inter-company networks drawing inspiration<br />
from food chains that are finely controlled<br />
systems, particularly through the efficient<br />
use of resources.<br />
This does not mean that we need to copy<br />
the way the biosphere works. It is more a<br />
matter of drawing inspiration from it, which<br />
is different. To do this, man's system must<br />
be based on scientific ecology. For example,<br />
recycling is a necessary activity, but that is<br />
not to say we should do it without making<br />
a distinction. Certain types of recycling are<br />
desirable while others are not.<br />
How can we ensure that industrial ecology<br />
develops within companies?<br />
S.E.: <strong>The</strong> key factor lies in the fundamental<br />
realization that sustainable development is<br />
in no way a question of image or advertising.<br />
On the contrary, it is a fundamental strategic<br />
challenge, not only for the company but for<br />
society as a whole. It involves overhauling<br />
the economic system at company and global<br />
level. It is not a question of decoration,<br />
making a good impression or following<br />
fashion. Sustainable development must be<br />
at the heart of company strategy, an integral<br />
part of the way the company is managed.<br />
Too often the approach is incomplete,<br />
transplanted from the outside and seen<br />
as conflicting with the interests of<br />
shareholders. This is a short-term view.<br />
What is needed is a redefinition of the<br />
notions of benefit and growth. Nothing is<br />
possible if we keep the current analysis<br />
framework.<br />
Northern European countries are often<br />
cited as an example. But what about<br />
emerging countries like China and India?<br />
S.E.: I am quite impressed by what is<br />
happening in China. <strong>The</strong> country’s leaders<br />
have understood that sustainable<br />
development is a major strategic challenge<br />
and that it is a question of survival. Of<br />
course, implementation is complex and<br />
difficult but there is a real desire to make<br />
progress at the highest level. <strong>The</strong> situation<br />
in India is more worrying. <strong>The</strong> people in<br />
charge still see sustainable development as<br />
an obstacle to economic growth. However,<br />
the fact that there is a highly active civil<br />
society in India means that we can hope<br />
that things will develop in the right<br />
direction. ■<br />
P A G E 2 4 | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | C R E S C E N D O C R E S C E N D O | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | P A G E 2 5<br />
© ARR Mediatheque <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
© ARR<br />
Scientist and teacher, Suren Erkman is the author of<br />
Towards Industrial Technology.
P A G E 2 6 | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | C R E S C E N D O<br />
In increasingly competitive world markets, the quality of products<br />
and materials is no longer enough to establish a competitive edge.<br />
Quality of service is key. An innovative vision of the industry<br />
where the focus is very much on the customer.<br />
Quality of service:<br />
an impressive<br />
competitive advantage<br />
i<br />
n the building materials sector, customer satisfaction has become<br />
a strategic element in company performance. Resources that have<br />
previously been associated with IT, telecommunications and insurance<br />
are being rolled out, such as call centers, tailored services, satisfaction<br />
surveys, sharing of best practices… <strong>The</strong> market is experiencing<br />
a real revolution! <strong>Lafarge</strong> also uses its culture of innovation to develop<br />
high value-added services and anticipate customer needs.<br />
Concrete: looking ahead<br />
For many years <strong>Lafarge</strong> has adapted to its customers' needs by using<br />
dedicated technical teams at numerous plants – in targeted customer<br />
catchment areas. In the ready-mix concrete segment, quality of service<br />
is boosted by coming up with innovative logistics solutions. <strong>The</strong> strategy<br />
developed by the Group led to the creation of a network of ready-mix<br />
concrete plants close to customers’ markets. “We need to move<br />
towards a more service-focused industry. Where ready-mix concrete<br />
is concerned, this means placing logistics at the heart of our business,”<br />
explains Gaëlle Monteiller, president of <strong>Lafarge</strong> Béton Vallée de Seine<br />
in France. Indeed, the quality of deliveries is now one of the main<br />
factors for customer satisfaction in the segment. It is at the forefront<br />
of <strong>Lafarge</strong>'s thinking at the moment. “Concrete is a fresh product that<br />
cannot be used after two hours and some structures have to be worked<br />
on continuously and at a steady pace. Our customers' main requirement<br />
is therefore to have good quality concrete in the right place at the right<br />
time. It is up to us to make sure this happens.” •••<br />
River transport<br />
is used whenever possible<br />
to make deliveries and<br />
collect excavated material.<br />
Here, along the<br />
River Seine, France.<br />
© ARR Mediatheque <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
MOVING FORWARD IN OUR BUSINESSES
AGGREGATES:<br />
PRESERVING RESSOURCES<br />
To provide its customers with more added<br />
value, <strong>Lafarge</strong> Aggregates is making<br />
improvements by focusing on river transport,<br />
the complementary nature of its offering and<br />
waste management. In several areas,<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> Aggregates decided to use an<br />
alternative mode of river transportation<br />
to deliver materials from the production site<br />
and collect excavated material from its<br />
customers’ premises. Customers find the<br />
excavated material collection service<br />
useful and it also benefits <strong>Lafarge</strong> as it<br />
recycles the material to redevelop or fill in<br />
quarries. Moreover, river transport is an<br />
environmentally-friendly, competitive,<br />
consistent and safe mode of transport.<br />
Certain <strong>Lafarge</strong> Aggregates sites already<br />
crush the concrete from demolished<br />
buildings then resell it to road builders<br />
who use this recycled material in the<br />
capping layer.<br />
In the United Kingdom and France, another<br />
service, developed at the initiative<br />
of <strong>Lafarge</strong> Aggregates, involves delivering<br />
aggregates in large heavy-duty sacks which<br />
are then used as waste sacks on site. ■<br />
••• To optimize its logistics and management planning, <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
is planning to boost its skills in the field of new information technology,<br />
particularly geolocation, which has already proven to optimize and<br />
ensure the smooth running of operations. <strong>The</strong> aim is to deliver<br />
on time, whatever the constraints and conditions. “Deliveries to urban<br />
environments are the trickiest. We have to deal with numerous<br />
unknown quantities such as traffic jams or the weather. We have<br />
started to equip our trucks with GPS linked to our information systems<br />
to optimize planning using real-time data management. Eventually,<br />
our software will include the specific features of each site for a more<br />
customized service."<br />
P A G E 2 8 | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | C R E S C E N D O<br />
CEMENT<br />
OPTIMIZED INVENTORY<br />
MANAGEMENT<br />
In the United Kingdom, the Cement<br />
business line has developed a system of<br />
outsourced inventory management. This<br />
allows customers to optimize their logistics<br />
chains and provides them with improved<br />
visibility of their inventory. Tom Caldwell,<br />
coordinator at Bredero Shaw, a customer<br />
specializing in pipe coating says: “In 2005,<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> set up a remote silo management<br />
system for two of our projects in Scotland.<br />
This outsourced management proved to be<br />
a real bonus for us. Deliveries were<br />
automatically planned by <strong>Lafarge</strong> teams<br />
in Dunbar, which also carried out close<br />
monitoring of the cement tankers. This<br />
prevented us having to constantly carry<br />
out checks or make telephone calls for<br />
commissioning and cancellations. All the<br />
time we saved allowed us to concentrate<br />
on planning the purchasing of other<br />
materials we needed. In the end, we<br />
significantly reduced the risk of stock<br />
outages." ■<br />
In the ready-mix concrete<br />
sector, transport and logistics<br />
are extremely important.<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> moves forward taking its customers’ needs into account.<br />
It adapts to their requirements by breaking down the offer or proposing<br />
specific support. For example, in Chile, the Valdivia site team<br />
offers customers only requiring small quantities ready-mix concrete<br />
packed into 0.5m 3 or 1m 3 plastic cases. <strong>Lafarge</strong> Concrete is also<br />
developing new indicators and management tools to increase customer<br />
satisfaction. “We are going to monitor customer satisfaction in a more<br />
systematic fashion,” explains Gaëlle Monteiller. By implementing<br />
indicators, we can detect sources of dissatisfaction and take corrective<br />
actions immediately. This will enable us to boost our responsiveness<br />
and ensure a consistent quality of service.” ■<br />
© Hamilton de Oliveira / REA<br />
MOVING FORWARD IN OUR BUSINESSES<br />
GYPSUM<br />
GIVING INSTALLERS<br />
A LOCAL SERVICE<br />
Wherever it is located, <strong>Lafarge</strong>’s Gypsum<br />
business line has the same goal: to make life<br />
easier for installers. Backed by specialized<br />
skills and expertise, they are real ambassadors<br />
for the brand and its products, and are<br />
ensured a local service all over the world.<br />
In Australia, <strong>Lafarge</strong> has given all the<br />
franchised stores the same visual identity<br />
(logo, signage, product presentation, etc.)<br />
in order to provide installers with the same<br />
points of reference. A technical manual has<br />
been produced for franchisees to assist their<br />
customers. Similarly, in Thailand all the<br />
products in the range are sold under the brand<br />
Elephant Board® via the Gypsum Express<br />
network. Thai installers, who are extremely<br />
mobile, can thus find the same ranges,<br />
products and services everywhere.<br />
In the United Kingdom and in France, the goal<br />
is to make life easier for installers.<br />
For example, <strong>Lafarge</strong> collects plasterboard<br />
waste from sites and returns it to the factory.<br />
This initiative has been warmly received and<br />
should soon be extended to other countries.<br />
At the end of the chain, customers are<br />
pleased with the OTIFIC program (on time,<br />
in full, invoiced correctly). <strong>The</strong> customer can<br />
also receive a customized response by<br />
contacting one of the Group’s call centers:<br />
a single contact person deals with the request<br />
and ensures entire statisfaction throughout its<br />
relationship with <strong>Lafarge</strong>. In the Netherlands,<br />
Ireland, Romania and Indonesia, <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
gypsum training centers offer our trading<br />
customers a day-long session to become<br />
familiar with the products: after the morning’s<br />
theorical presentation, participants take part in<br />
building a wall. ■<br />
C R E S C E N D O | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | P A G E 2 9
MOVING FORWARD IN OUR BUSINESSES<br />
© Atul Loke / Panos Pictures<br />
India, a multi-cultural land of traditions,<br />
is constantly reinventing and moving fast<br />
to become an economic powerhouse of the 21st century.<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> is stepping up its presence and reaffirming its desire<br />
to invest in India and contribute to the country's growth.<br />
India on the road<br />
to growth<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong>’s Employability<br />
training program, in India,<br />
has enabled many young<br />
people to find work as masons.<br />
“w<br />
ith a population of over a billion people and the emerging middle class,<br />
India is experiencing an unprecedented rise in the demand for new<br />
housing," explains Martin Kriegner, President of <strong>Lafarge</strong>'s Cement<br />
business in Asia. At the same time, major infrastructure investments are<br />
being made (roads, ports, power plants…) and new shopping centers,<br />
hotels and cinemas are springing up at a staggering rate.<br />
India is the second largest cement market in the world, after China,<br />
however, its cement consumption per capita is less than a fifth of that<br />
in China. Furthermore, it uses plasterboard which is 20 times less than<br />
China so the growth potential is huge.<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> launched into the Indian cement market in 1999 and now has<br />
three plants in the country: two cement plants in the state of Chhattisgarh<br />
and a grinding station in Jharkhand. <strong>Lafarge</strong>'s total cement production<br />
capacity in India is currently 5.5 million tons and there are numerous<br />
plans for growth in the pipeline.<br />
Fast growth<br />
“We are one of the major regional players in the cement market<br />
of eastern India. Our products are distributed in the remotest regions<br />
of eastern India through our vast and dedicated network of over 3,000<br />
authorized dealers and numerous sub-distributors. We are uniquely<br />
positioned to fuel the country's strong growth in the cement sector,"<br />
explains Uday Khanna, CEO of <strong>Lafarge</strong> India. And this is just the<br />
beginning. •••<br />
C R E S C E N D O | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | P A G E 3 1
••• <strong>Lafarge</strong> has unveiled its plans to enter the markets of north and<br />
north-east India throught greenfield projects. It has rolled out plans to<br />
increase its production capacity at its existing Sonadih cement plant<br />
in the state of Chhattisgarh and the construction of a grinding station at<br />
Mejia in western Bengal as well as two cement plants; one in the state<br />
of Himachal Pradesh and the other one in the state of Megalaya. This<br />
should increase the total cement production capacity in the country to<br />
13 million tons in the next 4 years. “<strong>The</strong> excellent reputation of <strong>Lafarge</strong>’s<br />
cement business has paved the way for the new businesses like<br />
Gypsum, Aggregates & Concrete in India to enjoy the enormous Indian<br />
market soon," believes Uday Khanna. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Lafarge</strong> Boral Gypsum India<br />
joint venture has seen its plasterboard business develop rapidly and<br />
has set up a new production site in the state of Rajasthan near New<br />
Delhi. Olivier Chaudet - Country Manager, LGBI, is delighted with the way<br />
things are progressing: “In the last three years, we have doubled our<br />
sales every year and we now represent around 20% of the plasterboard<br />
market."<br />
Building the brand thanks to value-added products<br />
In India, over 95% of cement is sold in 50kg bags, 60% of which is<br />
sold to Individual Home Builders, due to a solid network of distributors.<br />
“We have developed Concreto, positioned as a premium cement<br />
that enables the purchasers to reealize their aspirations to own their<br />
own home,” explains Martin Kriegner. <strong>The</strong> Concreto advertising<br />
campaign to brand-conscious customers includes print and television<br />
adverts, outdoor poster campaigns and information is available through<br />
the Home Building Centre, a highly innovative information center<br />
relating to materials and construction methods to help home builders.<br />
Buoyed by the success of Concreto in the local market, <strong>Lafarge</strong> Boral<br />
Gypsum India (LBGI) recently launched a new plasterboard range under<br />
the name of Lagyp®. “<strong>The</strong> plasterboard sector is a burgeoning market<br />
here so we need to create a brand and raise its awareness to rival less<br />
effective traditional systems," comments Olivier Chaudet.<br />
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MARTIN KRIEGNER<br />
President the Group’s Cement<br />
business in Asia<br />
© Sébastien Le Clézio<br />
Groundbreaking ceremony for<br />
the second production line with<br />
Bruno Lafont, Chairman and<br />
CEO of <strong>Lafarge</strong>, Sonadih cement<br />
plant, state of Chattigarh, India.<br />
Investing in a sustainable future<br />
As in the rest of the world, <strong>Lafarge</strong> is pursuing a sustainable development<br />
and corporate social responsibility strategy in India. All <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
India manufacturing sites are thus ISO 9002, ISO 14000 and<br />
ISO 18000 compliant. An extensive quarry restoration program has<br />
already led to the planting of over 1.5 million trees. Out of a number<br />
of local health initiatives, <strong>Lafarge</strong> has helped to create best in class eye<br />
hospital in the state of Chhattisgarh. Mobile clinics provide medical<br />
care to around 25,000 people in 75 villages. <strong>Lafarge</strong> also works with local<br />
governmental organizations to support health information campaigns,<br />
particularly in Tuberculosis through Direct Observation of Treatment,<br />
HIV, AIDS, etc.<br />
Employment opportunities for young people<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> facilitates computer education to 1,500 young girls in ten<br />
schools near to the factories. <strong>The</strong> course is conducted with specialized<br />
institutions in line with Indian Government school curricula and it supplements<br />
class-room learning.<br />
© Hamilton de Oliveira / REA<br />
THE INNOVATIVE HOME BUILDING CENTRE<br />
<strong>The</strong> recently refurbished Home Building Centre in Kolkata brings<br />
together everything under one roof that a homeowner dream of. It<br />
offers information, advice and services to homebuilders and organizes<br />
meetings and sessions with architects. A professional database – from<br />
plumbers to engineers – is available, as well as a wide selection of<br />
books, <strong>magazine</strong>s and audiovisual documents. Some pre-drawn up<br />
house plans are also available. Homebuilders can bring their plans and<br />
see a 3D view of their future house and ask for the advice and opinions<br />
of experts on architectural styles and construction materials, thus<br />
saving a lot of time and money. In response to high demand, <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
has set up a specially-equipped mobile version of Home Building<br />
Centre. This mobile centre travels around eastern India countryside<br />
offering solutions to its customers, builders, masons, contractors and<br />
architects outside the large cities, where most residential constructions<br />
are built. It is an effective way of bringing the very best construction<br />
expertise right to customers. ■<br />
MOVING FORWARD IN OUR BUSINESSES<br />
To curb widespread unemployment in the youth around its plants and<br />
to augment their earning potential, <strong>Lafarge</strong> runs an innovative project<br />
on employability i.e. training unqualified and unemployed youths<br />
in masonry techniques. This program also intends to reduce the qualified<br />
labor shortage in the construction sector. <strong>The</strong> masons are made<br />
aware of safety issues and good practices at the construction site,<br />
are offered insured against accidents. <strong>The</strong> success of the initiative<br />
attracted numerous young people from neighboring villages and new<br />
courses, particularly in plasterboard installation, will soon be organized.<br />
Think global, act local<br />
Although the sharing of knowledge between <strong>Lafarge</strong>'s international<br />
technical center and the Indian operations has significantly let to improving<br />
operational efficiency, the real secret of <strong>Lafarge</strong>'s success in India<br />
lies in its ability to adapt to local conditions. For Martin Kriegner, it is all<br />
about finding “very Indian solutions” rather than importing foreign skills.<br />
“We fully adapted to India,” he explains. “An expertise is arising that we<br />
may export to other <strong>Lafarge</strong> subsidiaries all over the world.” ■<br />
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contributing<br />
to a sustainable world<br />
© ARR Mediatheque <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
36 Mécénat, le camp des 1000 I<br />
38 La rénovation d’un village en roumanie I<br />
40 La formation en Afrique du Sud I<br />
42 Visite d’un chantier Chronolia I<br />
44 sur les routes de la réunion I<br />
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CONTRIBUTING TO A SUSTAINABLE WORLD <strong>The</strong> former tile factory<br />
that was turned into an<br />
internment camp during<br />
the war will house<br />
a memorial.<br />
P A G E 3 6 | L A FA R G E | O C T O B R E 2 0 0 7 | C R E S C E N D O<br />
© Geoffroy Mathieu<br />
Long after production ceased in this clay tile<br />
factory, each square inch is still covered in<br />
a thick layer of red dust.<br />
<strong>The</strong> artists’ camp<br />
It is hard to imagine that between September<br />
1939 and March 1943, 10,000 people were<br />
crammed into these vaulted furnaces, these<br />
enormous halls that afforded no privacy.<br />
Among them were many artists and intellectuals<br />
including painters, one of whom was Max<br />
Ernst, musicians, men of letters and Nobel<br />
Prize winners, who tried to brighten up their<br />
gloomy days by creating an active cultural life.<br />
<strong>The</strong> walls still bear the traces here and there.<br />
<strong>The</strong> tile factory strikes an imposing figure<br />
in this inner suburb of Aix-en-Provence and<br />
is the only camp out of the two hundred that<br />
existed in France to remain almost intact.<br />
As unbelievable as it may seem, the existence<br />
of this heritage site was kept under wraps until<br />
1983 when the imminent demolition of one<br />
of the camp's buildings was announced, spurring<br />
people into action. A wagon memorial<br />
(in 1992) and the wall paintings in the former<br />
canteen (in 1997) were opened up to the<br />
public. Today, a group of associations 1 , backed<br />
by a coalition of public and private partners 2 ,<br />
is getting ready to set up a space dedicated to<br />
memories, culture and citizen education on<br />
the site’s 6 hectares. Part of it will be opened<br />
at the end of 2008 with the rest opening<br />
in late 2009.<br />
FR ANCE<br />
<strong>The</strong> Camp des Milles, a huge tile factory which was transformed into an<br />
internment, transit and deportation camp from 1939 to 1943, is a unique<br />
heritage site in France. With the support of the <strong>Lafarge</strong> Group, which has owned<br />
the site since 1998, it is about to be dedicated to citizen education.<br />
Memory will not weaken<br />
at the Camp des Milles<br />
<strong>The</strong> only memorial<br />
of its kind in the world<br />
Political pundit and sociologist Alain Chouraqui,<br />
research director at CNRS, started up the<br />
“Memory of the Camp des Milles” project and<br />
has chaired the steering committee since its<br />
creation in 2002. <strong>The</strong> Camp des Milles memorial<br />
will include a tour of the main building,<br />
which has remained 85% intact since 1943.<br />
<strong>The</strong> purpose of the restoration is to preserve<br />
its emotive power by creating a discrete<br />
museography. “This special place is rich in<br />
universal lessons,” explains Alain Chouraqui.<br />
“It is an analysis of how everyday stereotypes<br />
could result in the unthinkable horrors of<br />
Auschwitz. It aims to raise the awareness and<br />
level of responsibility, particularly of young people,<br />
when confronted with the threat of racism,<br />
fanaticism and totalitarianism.” A tour of the<br />
outside of the camp reveals the canteen and<br />
its frescos, the wagon memorial and Serge<br />
Klarsfeld’s exhibition “<strong>The</strong> 11,000 Jewish children<br />
deported from France”. With the aid<br />
of various educational means (films, interactive<br />
displays, etc.) and based on historical illustrations<br />
(Shoah, Armenian and Rwandan<br />
genocides), the project invites the visitor<br />
to reflect and make a critical judgment. It is<br />
quite different from focusing solely on the past.<br />
We are reminded of the words of the poet Paul<br />
Eluard: “If the echo of their voices weakens,<br />
we shall perish.” ■<br />
THE CAMP<br />
DES MILLES<br />
served three functions<br />
during World War II.<br />
Until June 1940,<br />
‘enemy subjects’,<br />
mainly German anti-<br />
Nazi refugees, were<br />
held there then for the<br />
next two years it was<br />
a transit camp for<br />
foreigners awaiting<br />
exile. In August 1942,<br />
even before the<br />
occupation<br />
of unoccupied France,<br />
10,000 Jews were<br />
detained there. 2,500<br />
of them, including<br />
a hundred children,<br />
were deported from<br />
the Camp des Milles<br />
to Auschwitz via<br />
Drancy or Rivesaltes.<br />
1 Foundation for the memory<br />
of Shoah, Representative<br />
committee of Jewish<br />
institutions in France,<br />
Association du wagon<br />
souvenir et du site mémorial<br />
des Milles (wagon and Milles<br />
memorial association), Shoah<br />
memorial.<br />
2 Ministries of National<br />
Education, Culture and<br />
Defence, PACA Region,<br />
Bouches du Rhône Council,<br />
Aix-en-Provence Council,<br />
Pays d’Aix urban community<br />
and several private sponsors,<br />
including the <strong>Lafarge</strong> Group<br />
and its former subsidiary<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> Couverture, joined by<br />
the Caisse d’Épargne, France<br />
Télécom and the city of<br />
Marseille.<br />
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In October 2006, 124 families were given the<br />
keys to their newly built houses in the new village<br />
of Desa Kuala Garing: the result of a close<br />
collaboration between <strong>Lafarge</strong> Cement in<br />
Malaysia and the State of Selangor, where the<br />
town of Rawang is situated.<br />
Tailor-made solutions<br />
Following the flood in March 2001, <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
started to study the problem of Rawang River<br />
flooding which poses a constant threat to the<br />
population. It quickly became apparent to the<br />
Group’s management that the river needed to<br />
be diverted and widened to protect local residents.<br />
A particularly exposed community<br />
of homeless families had been living in a highrisk<br />
area along the banks of the river for over<br />
thirty years. Part of the area belongs to <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
Cement in Malaysia. “A study of flooding in<br />
recent years revealed that it was completely<br />
unpredictable and represented a constant<br />
threat to people working and living in the<br />
area,” explains Alain Croüy, CEO of <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
Cement in Malaysia.<br />
<strong>The</strong> defined action plan had two parts: the<br />
construction of a residential area to rehouse<br />
homeless families living in the area, and river<br />
development work to prevent flooding.<br />
Supporting local initiatives<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong>’s project, which had been submitted<br />
to the local authorities, received the full sup-<br />
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MAL AYSIA<br />
In 2001, floods engulfed the town of Rawang in Malaysia. To prevent such<br />
a disaster happening again, <strong>Lafarge</strong> carried out a large-scale project to protect the residents<br />
which involved diverting and widening the Rawang River and building a new village.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Rawang River<br />
won’t burst<br />
its banks anymore<br />
port of the State of Selangor in 2003. As stressed<br />
by YB Dato’s Tang See Hang, a member<br />
of the executive committee of the State of<br />
Selangor and a congressman in Rawang: “This<br />
project will prevent the risk of flooding at the<br />
same time as helping to resolve the housing<br />
problem in our community." <strong>The</strong> combined<br />
efforts of the State of Selangor and <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
have led to the State granting a piece of land,<br />
provided all families with access to property<br />
and obtained subsidies for the construction<br />
of housing. <strong>Lafarge</strong>’s contribution in terms of<br />
material and financial resources has exceeded<br />
€2.5 million.<br />
In 2004, a relocation agreement was signed<br />
with the families. In addition to the construction<br />
of an 80m 2 house for each family, <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
created a play area, a school, the village hall,<br />
a few stores and a basketball court.<br />
River diversion work, which got underway<br />
in early 2007, is expected to be completed<br />
by the end of the year and should protect the<br />
area from the risk of flooding for many years<br />
to come. ■<br />
<strong>The</strong> village of Desa Kuala<br />
Garing created to host<br />
the homeless families.<br />
© ARR Mediatheque <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
CONTRIBUTING TO A SUSTAINABLE WORLD
CONTRIBUTING TO A SUSTAINABLE WORLD<br />
© © Paulo Romeu / Myzoom<br />
In addition to the concrete<br />
for the velodrome, <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
supplied plasterboard for<br />
the construction of Rio’s<br />
Engenhão stadium.<br />
Concrete<br />
on top form!<br />
<strong>The</strong> velodrome is part of a new sports complex<br />
in Rio de Janeiro dedicated to speed<br />
sports and hosted the speed skating and<br />
cycling events in this summer’s Pan American<br />
Games. <strong>The</strong> construction of the velodrome<br />
involved <strong>Lafarge</strong> Brazil's technical team, made<br />
up of engineers and salespeople, analyzing<br />
both the technical challenges and the customer’s<br />
requirements. “Our approach consisted<br />
of coming up with an end-to-end proposal,<br />
particularly in terms of services and solutions,<br />
focusing on the customer’s expectations and<br />
needs rather than on the product itself, as is<br />
often the case,” explained Leonardo Gonçalves,<br />
Strategy and Marketing Manager at<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> Concrete in Brazil.<br />
Opting for<br />
a custom-made product<br />
<strong>The</strong> team also had to work within a tight timeframe.<br />
“We had about two months to build the<br />
tracks’ foundations, which is a relatively short<br />
time,” said the Strategy and Marketing Manager.<br />
From a technical point of view, the surface<br />
had to be extremely smooth and tough to<br />
cover it with a special woodfloor imported from<br />
Siberia. “That is why, after analyzing the objectives,<br />
we proposed Especial II concrete. It is a<br />
strong, high-quality concrete which pours well,<br />
making it easy to apply,” explained Leonardo<br />
BR AZIL<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> Brazil helped to build the track at the new velodrome for the<br />
Pan American Games held in Rio de Janeiro this year. <strong>The</strong> project<br />
involved tailoring a solution to the customer’s requirements.<br />
Gonçalves. Easier and therefore quicker<br />
to apply, the product fulfilled the construction<br />
requirements and offered <strong>Lafarge</strong> Brazil teams<br />
greater leeway, allowing more checks to be<br />
carried out.<br />
Proposing Especial II concrete, combined with<br />
standard concrete, which the customer was<br />
planning at the outset, was a value-added<br />
solution. “By focusing our attention on customer’s<br />
needs, we are able to offer a service that<br />
better suits their requirements and provide<br />
solutions that they might not have thought of,”<br />
said Leonardo Gonçalves.<br />
A total of 1,300m 3 of concrete was required to<br />
construct and cover the cycle tracks, which<br />
have been admired by the 1,500 velodrome<br />
spectators during recent competitions. ■<br />
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Chronolia <br />
Saving time with<br />
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FR ANCE<br />
This construction site on the French Riviera looks like any other with its busy<br />
workers and cranes transporting equipment and materials. It is, however, a pilot<br />
site, one of the first to use a revolutionary quick-set concrete called<br />
Chronolia TM , <strong>Lafarge</strong>’s latest concrete product.<br />
In a few months’ time, there will be thousands<br />
of square meters of office space, but for the<br />
time being this district of Nice is still a building<br />
site which springs into life at 8am every morning.<br />
“We are always looking for ways to<br />
reduce cycle times. We constantly need to<br />
save time,” explains Arnaud Comino, works<br />
foreman. So how can this race against time be<br />
reconciled with the time required for the<br />
concrete to achieve optimum performance?<br />
<strong>The</strong> answer is Chronolia TM .<br />
Efficiency<br />
On your marks! Arnaud Comino gives the<br />
orders on site. His men are busy with the formwork.<br />
At 11am, the laborers are pouring the<br />
cement. A few hours later, at 3pm, the<br />
concrete is ready for the formwork to be removed.<br />
It is a real revolution in the building world!<br />
“With this new concrete we can pour twice in<br />
the same day. After one stripping, we pour<br />
again straight away so it is ready the following<br />
morning,” explains Arnaud Comino.<br />
<strong>The</strong> project’s main feature is 30,000m 2 of floor<br />
for the offices (16,000m 2 ) and the four basement<br />
levels (14,000m 2 ). As the workers recognize,<br />
“completing the floors more quickly<br />
means that we can get on with work on the<br />
walls of the upper floors.”<br />
Simplicity<br />
Another benefit is that with Chronolia TM everything<br />
is ready to use. So, how is Chronolia TM<br />
different from “normal” concrete? It becomes<br />
perfectly resistant in record time! French<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> Concrete unit’s Marketing Director<br />
Guillaume Francqueville explains it in technical<br />
terms: “this new concrete is just as easy<br />
to use and has the same 2-hour workability<br />
time before pouring, but the setting time is<br />
much shorter, meaning that the formwork can<br />
be removed sooner. It rapidly develops mechanical<br />
strength so is ready for form removal<br />
within a third of the usual time.<br />
Chronolia TM offers a variety of applications on<br />
all construction sites. Formwork can be reused<br />
more quickly (thus reducing hire costs)<br />
and the new concrete makes it easier to deal<br />
with the unexpected, particularly in terms of<br />
the weather, and to meet deadlines. Furthermore,<br />
by reducing time on site, Chronolia TM<br />
helps to reduce nuisances.<br />
In a construction sector in which safety and<br />
time are key, Chronolia TM is the solution to<br />
a productivity issue that gives new meaning to<br />
the old adage “time is money!". ■<br />
<strong>The</strong> exceptional properties<br />
of <strong>Lafarge</strong>’s new concrete,<br />
Chronolia, reduce time<br />
on site.<br />
CHRONOLIA<br />
Chronolia came out<br />
after five years of lab<br />
research aimed at meeting<br />
customer needs.<br />
It involves a new<br />
formulation and a new<br />
admixture technology.<br />
This unique formula is<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong>’s closely guarded<br />
secret, but the key words<br />
remain the same: rapid<br />
strength and ready mix<br />
concrete.<br />
Wide use in all areas of<br />
construction, for all<br />
building industries: tertiary,<br />
collective and individual.<br />
Chronolia cuts the<br />
overall cost of the<br />
construction project due to<br />
a shorter production cycle<br />
and reduced overheads.<br />
Launched in 2007 in<br />
France, the United<br />
Kingdom and North<br />
America, Chronolia will<br />
be rolled out in Chile, South<br />
Africa and Spain in 2008.<br />
© ARR Mediatheque <strong>Lafarge</strong> / Serge Henri<br />
CONTRIBUTING TO A SUSTAINABLE WORLD
One of the largest construction projects at the moment is underway<br />
on Reunion Island against the breathtaking backdrop of the Indian Ocean.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Route des Tamarins braves the heights of the steep wild coast carved out by<br />
the ocean. Opening up the area will require a series of extraordinary structures.<br />
IN FIGURES<br />
33.7km of motorway<br />
between Saint-Paul and<br />
l’Étang-Salé<br />
9 interchanges (Saint-<br />
Paul, Plateau Caillou,<br />
l’Éperon, l’Hermitage, le<br />
Barrage, les Colimaçons,<br />
Stella, Le Portail, l’Étang-<br />
Salé)<br />
Investment of 850<br />
million<br />
4 outstanding<br />
engineering structures<br />
3 tunnels<br />
23 non-standard<br />
bridges<br />
Over 120 ravines<br />
crossed<br />
A road<br />
paved with challenges<br />
Carrying out such an enormous construction<br />
project in very difficult geological and climatic<br />
conditions is a real challenge both in terms of<br />
design and implementation. <strong>The</strong> highest levels<br />
of expertise and standards are required to<br />
build a 33.7km motorway when there are 120<br />
ravines to contend with. Numerous engineering<br />
structures are needed to overcome the<br />
obstacle of these deep openings cut into the<br />
rock by the water. Four outstanding structures<br />
are on the agenda to tackle this huge challenge:<br />
the Saint-Paul viaduct, a 750-metre<br />
S-shaped infrastructure, and the Trois Bassins,<br />
Grande Ravine and Fontaine bridges which<br />
are 350m, 300m and 200m long respectively.<br />
<strong>The</strong> first two are the equivalent of the Eiffel<br />
tower in one piece!<br />
A technical challenge<br />
Construction groups Vinci, Eiffage, Colas and<br />
Razel have pooled their expertise to work on<br />
this remarkable project. Alongside them,<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> is supplying the concrete, aggregates<br />
and cement. “<strong>Lafarge</strong> is offering fully tailored<br />
solutions to its customers for this project,”<br />
explains Noël Le Floch, manager of <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
Sobex. “Two concrete plants with an annual<br />
capacity of 70,000m 3 were specially set up<br />
for them. As they cannot change cement once<br />
the work is in progress and as there is no<br />
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REUNION<br />
cement plants on the island, we also decided<br />
to secure a continuous supply from the Bamburi<br />
factory in Kenya.” It took months to develop<br />
the on-site manufacture of high-performance<br />
products which are extremely closely<br />
monitored and for which a quality charter has<br />
been signed. <strong>Lafarge</strong> also helped to finance<br />
a road built to access its concrete plants<br />
in order to reduce dust emissions.<br />
As of 2009, the motorway between Saint-Paul<br />
and l’Étang Salé will make it easier to drive<br />
around the western part of Reunion Island. Its<br />
main purpose is to provide better links between<br />
the north and south of the island at<br />
a time of strong demographic growth. <strong>The</strong> opening<br />
of the new road between now and 2015<br />
will alleviate traffic congestion on the coastal<br />
road. This enormous €850 million construction<br />
project is expected to generate 1,500<br />
direct jobs. ■<br />
<strong>The</strong> project includes<br />
the construction of<br />
a 750-meter viaduct<br />
and three bridges over<br />
200 meters long.<br />
RESPECTING<br />
THE ENVIRONMENT<br />
Another objective of the<br />
Route des Tamarins project<br />
is to build a road that fits<br />
harmoniously into its<br />
surroundings, which is why<br />
all the structures will be<br />
given landscape and<br />
architectural treatment.<br />
For example, the spans<br />
of the Saint-Paul viaduct<br />
increase the higher it gets,<br />
giving it an elegant flowing<br />
appearance.<br />
Care is also taken not<br />
to damage the flora and<br />
fauna and a comprehensive<br />
study was carried out on<br />
the cliffs in order to<br />
preserve the ecosystems.<br />
© Régis Bouchu / Actophoto<br />
CONTRIBUTING TO A SUSTAINABLE WORLD
© Jean-Philippe Mesguen<br />
striving<br />
to attain our full<br />
potential
© Benoît Fougeirol<br />
STRIVING TO ATTAIN OUR FULL POTENTIAL<br />
Thiais RATP Bus Center, near Paris,<br />
made with Ductal®. Architects: ECDM.<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> reports<br />
a record 2007 first half<br />
Sales up 4% to €8,385 million, current operating income up 20% to €1,360 million (up<br />
23% in the Cement business and 30% in the Aggregates & Concrete business) and net<br />
income of €934 million (up 70% year-on-year).<br />
H1 2007 results, announced in August, augur well for the latter half of the year.<br />
This performance that we have achieved, in spite of the difficult economic climate in the<br />
United States, “reflects the structural improvement of our operations and the cost-cutting<br />
initiatives taken throughout the Group,” explains Chief Executive Officier Bruno Lafont. ■<br />
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© Samuel Ashfield<br />
RECOGNITION<br />
Environmental<br />
policy receives<br />
award<br />
In July, <strong>Lafarge</strong> UK<br />
received a Business<br />
in the Community Award<br />
for Excellence at the Royal<br />
Albert Hall in London<br />
in the presence of Al Gore<br />
and the Prince of Wales.<br />
This Eco-Award recognizes<br />
the Group’s commitment<br />
to the environment and<br />
the effectiveness of its<br />
resource recovery policy.<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong>’s policy involves<br />
reducing greenhouse<br />
gas emissions and<br />
conserving non renewable<br />
energy and material<br />
resources by substituting<br />
them with recycled waste<br />
in the cement production<br />
process. ■<br />
SITE<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> expands<br />
its Gypsum<br />
business in Asia<br />
To increase its production<br />
capacity and strengthen<br />
its position in a highpotential<br />
Asian market,<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> Boral Gypsum<br />
in Asia (a <strong>Lafarge</strong>-Boral<br />
© Nian Zeng / Rapho<br />
joint venture) has invested<br />
$28 million in<br />
the construction of two<br />
plasterboard plants.<br />
<strong>The</strong> factories, which<br />
arein Chengdu (China)<br />
and near to New Delhi<br />
in India, each have<br />
a production capacity of<br />
10 million square meters.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y are expected to<br />
begin production in the<br />
first quarter of 2008. ■<br />
INNOVATION<br />
Chronolia <br />
and Extensia ,<br />
two revolutionary<br />
concretes<br />
<strong>The</strong> result of many years<br />
of research, <strong>Lafarge</strong>’s<br />
two new concretes<br />
Chronolia and Extensia <br />
meet today’s specific<br />
construction needs.<br />
By becoming resistant<br />
in four hours instead<br />
of between twelve<br />
and twenty hours<br />
for traditional concrete,<br />
Chronolia saves<br />
precious time!<br />
Meanwhile, Extensia <br />
concrete, which has<br />
been specially designed<br />
for concrete flooring<br />
Disvestment<br />
of <strong>Lafarge</strong> Roofing<br />
completed<br />
In March, Europe’s<br />
leading private equity<br />
firm PAI Partners<br />
completed its acquisition<br />
of <strong>Lafarge</strong> Roofing<br />
for an enterprise value<br />
of €2.4 billion.<br />
Wishing to maintain<br />
a link with the business,<br />
which operates in<br />
41 countries, <strong>Lafarge</strong> has<br />
reinvested €215 million<br />
alongside PAI Partners<br />
to take a 35% stake<br />
in the new entity. ■<br />
A new production<br />
line in China<br />
At the beginning of 2007,<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> Shui on Cement<br />
opened a new production<br />
line at its Dujiangyan<br />
cement plant in China.<br />
This injection of<br />
$58 million has enabled<br />
the Sichuan factory, which<br />
was already one of the<br />
country’s most modern<br />
plants, to double its<br />
production capacity.<br />
This is a major asset<br />
for <strong>Lafarge</strong>, enabling<br />
it to keep up with the<br />
exponential growth of<br />
the world’s largest cement<br />
market and shore up<br />
its leadership position<br />
in south-west China. ■<br />
© Serge Henri<br />
© ARR Mediatheque <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
applications, can cover<br />
a large surface area<br />
without joints, steel mesh<br />
or steel fibers, limiting<br />
later cracking problems.<br />
Two new materials that<br />
are a real technological<br />
revolution in concrete. ■<br />
ACQUISITION<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
increases its stake<br />
in Héraclès<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> now holds<br />
a 78.70% in Héraclès’<br />
capital. In April, the Group<br />
bought over 18 million<br />
shares in Greece's leading<br />
cement producer from the<br />
Greek National Bank for<br />
the sum of €322 million.<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong>, which already<br />
held 52.70% of the<br />
company’s capital, has<br />
increased its stake<br />
by 26%. ■<br />
© ARR Mediatheque <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
REDUCING CO 2<br />
And that<br />
makes three!<br />
After Morocco and<br />
Malaysia, <strong>Lafarge</strong> has<br />
now introduced a third<br />
Clean Development<br />
Mechanism (CDM) in<br />
India. <strong>The</strong> project,<br />
set up at the Arasmeta<br />
cement plant, involves<br />
replacing part of the<br />
clinker making up the<br />
cement with fly ash,<br />
a by-product of coal-fired<br />
power stations.<br />
A highly effective way<br />
of reducing greenhouse<br />
gas emissions<br />
linked to the cement<br />
manufacturing process,<br />
it is expected to reduce<br />
CO 2 emissions by<br />
around 70,000 tons<br />
a year. ■<br />
C R E S C E N D O | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 | P A G E 4 9
STRIVING TO ATTAIN OUR FULL POTENTIAL<br />
Based on its environmental strengths, <strong>Lafarge</strong> has announced<br />
its ambitions for 2012 in the field of sustainable development.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Group is committed to a set of challenges based<br />
on target figures, deadlines and measurable objectives.<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong> 2012 Ambitions:<br />
sustainable leadership commitments<br />
© ARR Mediatheque <strong>Lafarge</strong><br />
Farming use of lands around Bouskoura<br />
cement plant in Morocco.<br />
P A G E 5 0 | L A FA R G E | N O V E M B R E 2 0 0 7 | C R E S C E N D O<br />
As part of our "Excellence 2008" strategic plan<br />
launched in June 2006, we renewed our<br />
commitment to be one of the world's most<br />
driving and efficient industrial groups in terms<br />
of employee health and safety, environmental<br />
protection, social responsibility and corporate<br />
governance. This means running our business<br />
in the future better than we do today so<br />
that we can satisfy our customers, employees<br />
and shareholders, acting in a way that cares<br />
for the well-being of the environment and<br />
communities where we operate, as outlined<br />
in our Principles of Action.<br />
It means challenging ourselves regularly in an<br />
ever-changing world and therefore requires<br />
us to anticipate change and constantly adapt<br />
to make continual progress in the interests of<br />
our world.<br />
This is what our Sustainability<br />
Ambitions 2012 are all about.<br />
With these new guidelines, developed with<br />
the assistance of our stakeholders and the<br />
involvement of the Group's senior management<br />
team, we have chosen to focus on major<br />
issues: the areas where we have real impact,<br />
the major environmental and social challenges<br />
that we face and areas where we can make<br />
a real difference and lead the way to positively<br />
influence our industry:<br />
- the fight against global warming<br />
- biodiversity<br />
- the health and safety of our employees and<br />
the local communities in which we operate.<br />
Real changes<br />
We have set our goals in an endeavour to<br />
accomplish significant progress within the<br />
next five years. <strong>The</strong>y are measurable and dated<br />
and target figures have been set. <strong>The</strong>y apply<br />
to our 2,000 industrial sites in over 70 countries:<br />
it is therefore a worldwide project. We<br />
will report on our performance every year. We<br />
are committed to achieving our goals regardless<br />
of how ambitious they are. We are determined<br />
because we believe that this progress<br />
could help change the scheme of things, to<br />
the advantage of the environment and society.<br />
In a constantly evolving world, the building<br />
materials sector is in the throes of change.<br />
We are now picking up speed so that we can<br />
take up these new challenges. ■<br />
For further information on our Sustainability<br />
Ambitions 2012, log on to www.lafarge.com<br />
BRUNO LAFONT<br />
Chairman and CEO<br />
of <strong>Lafarge</strong>.<br />
GUILLAUME ROUX<br />
Executive Vice-<br />
President, Co-<br />
President of the<br />
Cement business<br />
CHRISTIAN<br />
HERRAULT<br />
Executive Vice-<br />
President, President of<br />
the Gypsum business<br />
A new team<br />
running<br />
the Executive Comittee<br />
JEAN-CARLOS<br />
ANGULO<br />
Executive<br />
Vice-President,<br />
Co-President of the<br />
Cement business<br />
THOMAS FARRELL<br />
Executive Vice-<br />
President, Co-President<br />
of the Aggregates &<br />
Concrete business<br />
JEAN-JACQUES<br />
GAUTHIER<br />
Executive Vice-<br />
President, Finance<br />
ISIDORO<br />
MIRANDA<br />
Executive Vice-<br />
President, Co-<br />
President of the<br />
Cement business<br />
GERARD KUPERFARB<br />
Executive Vice-<br />
President, Co-President<br />
of the Aggregates &<br />
Concrete business<br />
ERIC OLSEN<br />
Executive Vice-<br />
President,<br />
Organization and<br />
Human Resources<br />
© ARR Mediatheque <strong>Lafarge</strong> – Gérard Uféras, Jacques Grison / Rapho.<br />
CONTACTS<br />
Senior vice-president,<br />
Group Communications<br />
Philippe Hardouin<br />
philippe.hardouin@lafarge.com<br />
Phone: + 33 1 44 34 11 71<br />
Fax: + 33 1 44 34 12 08<br />
Vice-president, Group External<br />
Communications<br />
Stéphanie Tessier<br />
stephanie.tessier@lafarge.com<br />
Phone: + 33 1 44 34 92 32<br />
Fax: + 33 1 44 34 12 23<br />
Registered with the AMF, the French<br />
market authority, the French version<br />
of the <strong>Lafarge</strong> 2006 annual report and<br />
2006 reference document (document de<br />
référence), as well as the U.S. version on<br />
form 20-F, registered with the Securities<br />
and Exchange Commission (SEC) may<br />
be downloaded at www.lafarge.com.<br />
Editor-in-chief<br />
Stéphanie Tessier<br />
Concept<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong>, Textuel<br />
Copy<br />
<strong>Lafarge</strong>, Textuel, François Bernheim<br />
Impression<br />
E-Graphics<br />
Cover<br />
In the Philippines, <strong>Lafarge</strong> uses rice<br />
husks as alternative fuel in its cement<br />
plants’ kilns up to 35% susbtitution.<br />
© Redlink, Gamma, Eydea