Awards 2010

Strongly committed to promoting sustainable construction, Lafarge devotes more than 50% of its annual research budget to sustainable construction issues. This is why we are launching the Lafarge Invention Awards, to reward and accompany the most inventive projects being developed by researchers and entrepreneurs from across Europe that can contribute to ever more sustainable construction methods.

The Lafarge Invention Awards 2010 final took place on January 5th, 2011 at the Lafarge Technology Center, near Lyon, France. Each of the 10 finalists presented their invention to the Jury, which was chaired by Lafarge Chairman and CEO Bruno Lafont and included other senior Lafarge executives, as well as renowned economic and scientific experts from across Europe.

The winning projects were announced the same day during an Awards Ceremony at the Lafarge Technology Center:

1st prize: P.R.O.M.E.S.S (Protecting Marine Ecosystems and Structure against Scour) developed by SM2 Solutions Marines in France, represented by Sven-Michel Lourié & Michèle Cabanis.

P.R.O.M.E.S.S is an Artificial Reef, made of concrete incorporating shell waste, with an anti-scour system, containing a layer of artificial seagrass which enable to fix the reef. The system is rapidly colonized by invertebrates, algae epiphytes and fish. It fosters biodiversity and fisheries, while also providing scour protection for underwater structures such as offshore windpower piles, cables and pipelines.

2nd prize: Thermal Barrier, developed by Marek Kraczek from Gdansk University of Technology in Poland.

The thermal barrier system maintains a constant temperature of around 19°C in a building throughout the year, thanks to an indirect heating and cooling technology which supplies energy into the external walls of a building rather than into internal air. It combines a roof-collecting solar energy and ground heat storage system to heat polypropylene U-pipes placed inside external walls. This limits temperature variations in the external walls, or energy losses.

3rd prize: New building construction technology with continuously insulated pre-fabricated concrete panel system, developed by Mr. Jovan Nikolic of Quattro Construction in Serbia.

This new construction technology features a concrete panel system, with internal insulation to avoid "thermal bridges" and thus improves energy efficiency. Multi-functional tools are used to produce pre-fabricated panels of various dimensions before installation on-site. Connecting panels both ‘wall to wall', but also ‘wall to ceiling' connections ensures the building's insulation with an estimated 80% reduction in energy consumption through the avoidance of "thermal bridges".

* A prize of €20 000 for each of the 3 winners.

* Each prize winner will benefit from Lafarge support to set up an action plan to develop his/her project.