News Nigerian conglomerate plans $2.4bn cement plant in Kebbi State Nigeria’s Kebbi State has signed a preliminary agreement with Nigerian conglomerate MSM to build a factory capable of producing 3 million tonnes of cement a year, equal to about 5%…
News Trump’s tariffs will stoke US housing crisis, builders say Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, announced Saturday, will raise the cost of vital materials used in residential construction and fuel the housing affordability crisis,…
News Saudi Arabian team to standardise use of seawater in concrete production A team led by Saudi Arabian developer Neom has announced plans to research new forms of concrete, including ones that incorporate seawater, plastics, fine sand and construction waste. The NovusCrete…
Innovation London researchers help build Indian school with ‘Sugarcrete’ Researchers at the University of East London (UEL) have built a school in India out of a new low-carbon building material made from the pith left after sugar cane is…
Companies Bouygues agrees to use low-carbon cement brand after testing it Bouygues Construction has made a deal with low-carbon cement company Ecocem to use its ‘ACT’ cement in projects after thoroughly testing it. Dublin-headquartered Ecocem says its proprietary cement, launched in…
News Hong Kong could cut building costs by using Chinese standards, association says The Hong Kong Construction Association says Hong Kong could adopt mainland Chinese standards for construction materials instead of using British and EU standards to cut building costs, which are currently…
News European firms plan to build rice-straw houses in Nigeria Companies from Sweden and Czechia have teamed up with the Nigerian government to offer houses built partly from rice straw. Sweden’s Our Ecolution and Czech firm Ekopanely both make boards…
Perspectives Can we use more old buildings to build new ones? Experts’ view We know that the linear way we build now – where materials make a one-way trip from the earth to landfill – is dangerously unsustainable. It assumes too many infinites:…
News China sends prototype Moon bricks into space Chinese scientists working on the creation of a Moon base have sent fragments of brick into space to determine how they deal with its hostile environment, Space Daily reports. The…
Innovation Researchers probe rubber roads’ carbon credentials to boost take-up Researchers from the University of Missouri’s College of Engineering have been given a $1.2m grant to develop environmental product declarations (EPDs) for asphalt made with ground rubber tires. Their goal…
News Microsoft is building a timber data centre Microsoft is building a data centre with some cross-laminated timber (CLT) as it tries to become carbon-negative by 2030. The demonstration project in northern Virginia will aim to use enough…
News Icelandic exhibit to explore the use of (cooled) lava in sustainable building Iceland’s pavilion at next year’s Venice Bienniale is to showcase a “Lavaforming” exhibit. This will be designed by Arnhildur Pálmadóttir of S.AP architects, and will demonstrate how controlled lava flows…
News Concrete bosses jailed for years-long price-fixing scam Four executives and a corporation were sentenced last week in the US state of Georgia for participating in a long-running conspiracy to fix prices, rig bids and allocate jobs for…
News US states, cities, developers, builders make low-carbon cement pledges The Biden-Harris administration this week unveiled a series of pledges made by some state and city governments along with cement manufacturers, construction firms, developers and tech companies to use lower-emission…
News Strabag and Liebherr unveil world’s first hydrogen-powered wheel loader Austrian contractor Strabag and German–Swiss machinery-maker Liebherr have begun a project that will showcase the world’s first-ever hydrogen-powered wheel loaded. The work in Kanzelstein Quarry, in Gratkorn, Austria, will feature…
News Saudi Arabia to set up $186m concrete factory to supply 170km-long city Plans have been announced to build a $186m concrete plant as part of the huge Neom development programme in Saudi Arabia’s northwestern Tabuk Province. Saudi building materials company Asas Al-Mohileb…
News MIT team finds way to print glass bricks A team at MIT has published a research paper detailing its work on printing bricks made from recycled glass that can be interlocked like Lego pieces. The use of printing…
News Ethiopia doubles cement-making capacity with advanced factory Ethiopia has doubled its cement-making capacity with a mega-factory in the Amhara region in the north of the country, Addis Insight reports. The $600m Lemi National Cement Factory will produce…