Think Concrete, Go Precast!
Innovative Pathways to sustainable construction
Circular Construction Through Prefabrication: The Role of Precast Concrete in Sustainable and Responsible Engineering (Wit Derkowski)
Prefabrication offers a unique opportunity to shift the construction industry from a linear to a fully circular model, with precast concrete playing a central role in this transformation. From a technical perspective, the presentation discusses design strategies enabling disassembly, material traceability, and the reuse or recycling of precast elements, while accounting for structural performance and durability requirements. It concludes by emphasizing the ethical and social responsibility of engineers and designers to promote circular and socially sustainable solutions as a vision for the future of construction.
Thin concrete solutions for safety and resilience (Dr. Stephan Hauser)
DUCON is a micro-reinforced UHPC, which offers thin (30-90mm) and lightweight solutions at high strength. DUCON has unique characteristics, which also lead to a high sustainability for the full life-cycle. Besides architectural concrete, facades, strengthening and impervious overlays it is used for hardening measures against blast, ballistics and impact for critical infrastructures.
Two Innovative Pathways to Sustainable Construction with hollowcore flooring (Dr. Wim Jansze)
Smarter construction with hollwcore flooring. On the one hand, use of less materials and on the other hand, use concrete with low CO2 print. The two paths Illustrate how design and materials can accelerate the transition to a low-carbon built environment. The presentation contains practical examples from housing and non-residentials, with reference to tests and design calculations.
Circular Economy: Practical Examples in Precast Concrete (Ronald Klein-Holte, Topi Paananen)
The speakers present a number of practical experiments and executed building projects, fitting to the scope of circular economy. They aim to present paths how the circular theory can and has already been used in real experiments and projects successfully.
NextGen Precast Concrete Buildings - S 4 : Safer, Sustainable and Smart - Raising the Bar to Enhance Community Resilience and Sustainability (Prof. Ing. Stefano Pampanin)
The construction Industry as a whole is facing an extraordinary challenging era with increasingly higher expectations from our Society: developing and delivering safer, durable, architecturally appealing, high- and multi-performance, smart yet affordable buildings and infrastructures capable to respect and meet the targets in terms of Climate, Energy, Safety, Resilience and Sustainability. The Precast Industry has a unique opportunity to raise the bar through a unprecedented synergy and collaboration within its whole supply-chain and with the various stakeholders, shareholders and end-user. Building on and referring to the latest high-performance precast concrete technologies and manufacturing/design methodologies developed for seismic-resisting systems, often acting as the “Formula 1” R&D factory for entire segments of the Construction Industry as in the Automotive industry, this presentation will discuss current solutions and opportunities for the Next Generation of Precast Concrete Buildings to Enhance Safety, Sustainability and Community Resilience.
Future proof precast concrete for housing (Niki Loonen)
With housing an labor shortage in Europe there is a great future for sustainable precast concrete housing shells. Where precast concrete is currently the least sustainable production method it has the opportunity to become carbon neutal and highly circular. And with automated and robotized production methods high production rates can be achieved.
Precast concrete as a foundation for climateresilient infrastructure (Stef Maas)
Climate change requires infrastructure to move beyond rapid drainage towards managing water locally through infiltration and storage. Precast concrete enables this transition by providing durable, reliable, and adaptable solutions that reduce flood risks, support groundwater recharge, and enhance long-term performance. Its robustness and lifecycle efficiency make precast concrete a key foundation for resilient and sustainable infrastructure.
Industrial landscaping (Stefano Gri)
GEZA is an architectural firm that has been working for 25 years on matching industrial buildings with the local landscape. We will present the project completed in Tuscany between 2020 and 2023 for a major Italian luxury fashion company. Customizing a prefabricated concrete building and designing a rich landscape are the main themes of this industrial complex: the quality inside and outside the building is meant for both people and the environment.
