Value instead of quick profit

The world has not come to an end. Contrary to all speculations, we are kicking off the new year 2013. Economic crises, financial crises, and euro crises continue. The majority of EU citizens came to accept all of this long ago – except for the people in Greece, Spain, and Portugal, who are suffering the most.

The organizers of the 57th BetonTage, which will take place in early February in Ulm, Germany, were obviously very conscious of the present situation when they chose their motto “Creating value.” Because these crises have certainly also affected the construction industry. On the one hand, as a strongly impacted sector, the turnovers in most EU countries have seriously declined. On the other, it appears that the construction business was a contributor to this situation – it was speculation with property and new construction in the USA and Spain that initiated the crises.

The motto “Creating value” is open to several interpretations. It can mean that in future greater stock will again be placed on construction of buildings of greater quality. Manufacturers – in many EU countries driven to the brink of ruin by trends to ever cheaper construction and to lower quality – would then be able to again obtain a fair price. The advantages for buyers of real estate are also obvious: buildings of greater quality have longer service lives and suffer less loss in value.

But the motto has most of all an ethical dimension. It means that buildings must be constructed so as to be sustainable and environmentally compatible. Improvement in the life-cycle assessment belongs in this context, as does building removal as well as separation and reuse of materials. The program of the 57th BetonTage reveals a comprehensive overview of the efforts of the precast industry to develop high-quality, sustainable, and environmentally compatible construction materials and applications.

x

Related articles:

Issue 09/2012

The 57th BetonTage – Creating Values

From February 05 to 07, 2013, everything will again concentrate on the building material concrete at the Edwin-Scharff-Haus Conference Center in Neu-Ulm, Germany. Under the motto “Creating Values”...

more
Issue 05/2009 Towards Industrialization of residential buildings

The “Casa Kyoto” project in Spain

We must focus on the production capacity of the current industrial structure in Spain and apply it to residential construction, to broaden its supply, and to use its production strengths and...

more
Issue 01/2018 FBF Betondienst

62nd BetonTage congress: The future of building

The construction industry is facing major challenges as there is a large gap to be closed in terms of new residential developments, infrastructure comprising bridges, roads, and sewers are in the need...

more
Issue 06/2022

Grupo Avintia industrializes at highspeed Spain‘s construction sector

In the Iberian Peninsula, the share of industrial construction is less than 1%, compared to 45% in Central and Northern Europe in 2020. Against this background, Grupo Aviantia, one of Spain‘s leading...

more
Issue 03/2023 FBF/BETONTAGE 2023

Turning point in concrete construction – 67. BetonTage congress 2023

The construction industry accounts for a significant portion of greenhouse gas emissions. The Green Deal of the European Union, which envisages Europe to be carbon-neutral by 2050, therefore places...

more