New campaign on energy-efficient and sustainable construction
Increasing economic benefits while at the same time reducing global warming potential: How products from the Master Builders Solutions range contribute to this is the focus of the new Europe-wide campaign “Quantified Sustainable Benefits – Reduce your Footprint and Boost Your Bottom Line.”
Through a series of ads and a dedicated website, BASF’s Master Builders Solutions experts together with European customers present selected cases that demonstrate how superior chemistry enables customers to increase their productivity as well as decrease operational costs and carbon footprint. Externally validated evaluation tools like BASF’s Eco-Efficiency Analysis and Life Cycle Analyzer quantify the obtained benefits.
Faster concrete hardening with Master X-Seed
Here is an example: Through the use of Master X-Seed, German precast manufacturer FDU Betonwerke was able to achieve a 50 percent reduction in concrete hardening time. Master X-Seed is an advanced hardening accelerator that is added to the concrete mix. The crystals incorporated in the admixture improve the early strength of the concrete. The high early strength of the concrete enables FDU to reduce the energy-intensive heat treatment of the fresh concrete, reducing production energy costs by up to 15 percent per site.
Thomas Beike, Managing Director FDU Betonwerke, explains: “The formworks for concrete elements usually have to remain in the heat chamber for twelve hours to harden. That is time-, energy- and cost- intensive. Through the use of Master X-Seed, we have reduced curing time from twelve to six hours. The elements can be demolded earlier to be delivered to the construction sites much faster. The CO2 footprint has also been reduced significantly”, he adds.
MasterProtect 8000 CI for efficient repair
Another customer testimonial comes from Spain: The Fundació Joan Miró is one of the most exciting museums in Barcelona. Its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, however, caused serious corrosion damage to the steel-reinforced concrete structures over the years. Instead of relying on conventional repair methods which would have required closing the museum for extended periods of time, Fran Talavera, project manager of the Fundació Joan Miró refurbishment project, opted for a leading product for corrosion protection: MasterProtect 8000 CI from Master Builders Solutions. “Application of MasterProtect 8000 CI was surprisingly easy – with very remarkable results”, Talavera says. At the Fundació Joan Miró, renovation costs remained approximately 60 percent below the costs for a complete refurbishment, and downtime was reduced by 70 percent. Moreover, the effective corrosion protection significantly extended the time between renovation cycles, resulting in additional substantial savings over the service life of the building.
These and other examples of more efficient use of resources, an improved life cycle assessment, and significant cost reductions thanks to Master Builders Solutions products for the construction industry are available at: //www.sustainability.master-builders-solutions.basf.com" target="_blank" >www.sustainability.master-builders-solutions.basf.com:www.sustainability.master-builders-solutions.basf.com. The campaign is also featured across the industry’s leading trade journals and online portals and will be presented at trade fairs for construction across Europe within 2017.
