FUSIOVRAC, the Cem’In’Eu cement with reduced carbon footprint, has already had its first major application in the Rhône-Alpes region of France.
Since its creation, the Cem’In’Eu company has continued to pursue its objective of reducing the carbon footprint of its cement products at each stage of the value chain. Taking a step further, and going beyond the simplification of its logistics model and of its optimised processes, an additional milestone has now also been reached with the launch of FUSIOVRAC, a pozzolan-based cement (CEM II / B-M (P-LL) 42.5 N CE NF) featuring an 18% reduction in carbon footprint when compared to a cement of traditional CEM II 42.5 classification, on the Rhône Ciments site in Portes-Lès-Valence (French Department 26).
It is thanks to the combined commitment of the Artea group, a major player in sustainable real estate development, of the Gibello construction company, and of the concrete production company 3 Béton, specialists in decarbonised concrete in the Rhône-Alpes region, that it has been possible to use this new cement during the construction of one of the buildings of a major sustainable real estate development, the Meylan Arteparc, near to Grenoble (French Department 38).
The Meylan Arteparc is a large-scale, third generation business park with 25,000 m² of office space developments based around a central square, with a « village atmosphere » offering a work environment which has been designed for the well-being of its salaried employees working in buildings with a very high level of environmental performance.
The ARTEA group, precursor of positive energy campuses in France, is at the origin of this ambitious project which aspires to HEQ (High Environmental Quality) certification with an Excellence Level rating of 9 stars and with the E+C - (positive energy / reduced carbon), LEB Low Energy Building (French equivalent “Bâtiments à Basse Consommation” BBC), Effinergie 2017 labelling.
One of the five office buildings, with a surface floor area of 5,600 m2, has been built thanks to the supply of 6,450 m3 of concrete of which 3,250 m3 are of low-carbon concrete produced by the 3 Béton company, a supplier of ready-mixed concrete based in the Isère region of France, and executed by the GIBELLO company based in the Savoye region of France. The concrete of C25/C30 XF1 type (a concrete with high resistance to significant incidences of freezing/thawing) and used for concrete shell structure reinforcement has allowed us to confirm the excellent performance, comfortable casting and satisfactory formwork of the concrete.
The carbon footprint of this concrete is 179 kgs per m3 of concrete i.e. 21 % less than a cement formulation of C25/C30 XF1 using Portland cement.
The Meylan Arteparc, an ambitious programme geared towards low carbon excellence.
MEYLAN ARTEPARC Building C
Ground-floor +2 floors:
• Project management: ARTEA
• Supplier of RMC (ready-mixed concrete): the 3 Béton company
• Structural work: the Entreprise Gibello company
• Surface area concerned : 9,650 m2 of concrete flooring and 2,464 m2 of concrete foundation slabs making a total of 12,114 m2
• Concrete cast in situ: 6,450 m3 of which 3,250 m3 is low-carbon concrete
• Concrete type used for the shell structure reinforcements: C25/C30 XF1
• Delivery - in progress
FUSIOVRAC a new, low carbon, multi-use cement using pozzolan from natural local sources
FUSIOVRAC, a breakthrough development in France, is a cement produced by Rhône Ciments and is based on using pozzolan from natural local sources. This product development forms part of the decarbonisation strategy of the cements produced by Cem’In’Eu, a strategy which has already been initiated by the simplification of its logistics supply chain and the optimisation of its cement formulations.
With FUSIOVRAC, by substituting clinker with pozzolan, the clinker content is 70% and the carbon footprint is reduced by more than 130 kg of CO2 per tonne of cement compared to a traditional CEM II / A 42.5 classification.
FUSIOVRAC, a breakthrough low-carbon product for the French loose-form concrete market, provides considerable leverage for Cem’In’Eu customers to respect the commitments of the concrete industry to reduce the carbon footprint of the construction sector within the context of the latest environmental norm RE2020.
With FUSIOVRAC two-fold insurance and serenity :
• Certified performance : FUSIOVRAC is a certified product respecting French NF standards : CEM II / B-M (P-LL) 42.5 N CE NF meeting with the requirements of the NF EN 195 standard. It corresponds to recommended use according to the NF EN 206-1 concrete standard, and offers levels of resistance altogether comparable with those of traditional CEM II 42.5 concrete.
• An approved carbon footprint : The FUSIOVRAC CO2 data, as well as for the entire Cem’In’Eu product range, are derived from the individual Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) corresponding to the 2023 LCI (Life Cycle Inventory) conforming to the NF EN 15804+A2 standard and its national standards supplement NF EN 15804+A2/CN.
This data has been collected in compliance with prevailing standards, verified by an independent third party, and is available on the INIES environmental database.
The ambitions of the different stakeholders of the Meylan Arteparc low carbon construction site :
Franck SNAUWAERT - Director of the AURA Regional Agency , Artea :
« For the last 20 years, Artea has been designing its own ecosystems, as well as that of its customers, to move towards a world of low CO2 emissions. Our decentralised consumption model, strengthened by our smart, localised and pilot-able infrastructures, has allowed us to have a positive carbon footprint rating for the group since 2020. »
Nicolas PERRAUD - Works Supervisor, Gibello Entreprise:
« This low carbon worksite, with its exemplary characteristic thanks to the resolve of Artea, has allowed us to move forwards towards achieving the French RE 2020 building regulation environmental standard as, in the short term, all of our worksites will use this type of concrete. »
Emmanuel GARCIA - Technical Director, 3 Béton :
« The rationale of 3 Béton, our DNA, is to offer low carbon concrete and local supply. Our objective is to supply different types of concrete offering a lower carbon footprint of between 30 to 50 % less compared to traditional equivalents, each and every day. Eventually we envisage the supply of one of our five concrete mixing plants using solely FUSIOVRAC. »
Fabien CHARBONNEL – Managing Director - Cem’In’Eu :
« Since its creation, the Cem’In’Eu group has been entirely focused towards the objective of reducing the carbon footprint of the construction industry. This desire has motivated all of its strategic choices, as much in terms of logistics as of product development. »