Construction World August 2019

MARKETPLACE

CONTINUING CARBON EMISSION REDUCTION FOCUS

AfriSam's Dudfield Cement operation in Lichtenburg, North West Province.

It is not business as usual for AfriSam, which has been working hard towards reducing its impact on the environment for many years. Since 1990, this leading supplier of construction materials has reduced its C0 2 emissions by 35%. But this, according to Hannes Meyer, cementitious executive at AfriSam, is not where it ends.

S peaking at a presentation to media at its Dudfield cement plant near Lichtenburg in the North-West province, Meyer said AfriSam continues to cut the carbon footprint of its cement. Efforts focus on using less energy in the production of clinker, while making more use of extenders like fly-ash and slag. “We are probably South Africa’s leading company in our understanding and application of extenders in cement,” he said. He emphasised that this field holds great scope for creating more environmentally friendly cements, but required considerable technical expertise. With its many years of experience, AfriSam was applying that expertise in its ongoing cement innovation.

rail, as well as its own bagged cement. There are 65 years of proven limestone reserves on AfriSam Dudfield’s 3 608 ha mining licence. AfriSam invests constantly in energy saving strategies at its cement plants. Since 1990, it has achieved a cumulative reduction of 31% of cement-specific thermal consumption, measured in megajoules per tonne of cement. Meyer highlighted the potential of the new carbon tax – in force from 1 June 2019 – to incentivise energy-saving innovation. “The depressed state of the economy has dampened many of industry’s good ideas, and if carbon tax revenues could cover industry incentives, the resulting innovations would have a range of positive spin-offs. Apart from easing demand on Eskom’s grid, this would also contribute toward the country’s Paris Agreement obligations,” Meyer said. AfriSam’s commitment was clear to see, he said, being the country’s first cement manufacturer to equip all its kilns with bag filters. This brought emissions to below even the European standard of 30 mg/m 3 . 

Limestone mining at Dudfield began in 1949, with the first kiln established in 1965. Today, the plant produces over a million tons of clinker on its Kiln 3 plant to meet market demands. The plant has a cement production capacity of over 1,3 million tons. The plant also has the flexibility to supply bulk cement by both road and

Hannes Meyer, cementitious executive, AfriSam.

DIGITAL MATERIALS TRANSFER PLATFORM INCUBATED

DigiYard, conceptualised for an internal Arup ideas competition, will be a digital platform that looks to facilitate the flow of usable construction waste and surplus building material from construction sites to informal settlement upgrading projects. The platform aims to reduce construction waste in landfills whilst addressing the need for affordable, quality building materials in the informal housing sector.

A rup has made a commitment to help realise the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). The competition ‘Shaping [y]our better wold’ required participants to incorporate at least three of the SDG’s into an idea that could be taken to execution with the intent of making a positive impact in the built environment. DigiYard speaks to many of the SDG’s, particularly Sustainable Cities & Communities (11), Responsible Consumption & Production (12) and Climate Action (13). The engineering and construction industry is the world’s largest consumer of raw materials. Currently there is a break in the value chain with large quantities of usable materials going straight to landfill. Construction companies are also losing up to 30% of pre-tax profits in waste management and disposal costs. Many are looking for alternatives but claim there are no convenient mechanisms in place to change the business as usual approach of dumping at landfills. At the same time, there is a dire need for affordable, quality materials in informal settlements. Arup fire engineers recently experienced this first hand when working with local NGO’s to understand mitigation measures around the spread of shack fires. The prevalence of unsafe dwellings built in township areas is perpetuated by the lack of government housing rollout, access to quality material and education in building safe homes. DigiYard, created by Kausar Khan, Jaco Kemp and Carin de Beer of Arup, is currently in pilot phase. The objective of the pilot is to

learn, gather data and progress towards turning this idea into a sustainable platform with longevity in the sector. Arup have engaged external partners in construction industry operating both in the formal and informal sector to help execute this. Most recently, there has been a proof of concept between two such organisations confirming a model of willing seller/willing buyer. The long-term vision is for DigiYard to empower and enable people living in informal settlements to improve their living conditions by allowing access to a broad range of quality, cost effective building materials. Through the data gathered from the platform, construction companies will be able to have a detailed understanding of their material waste streams in order to minimise waste and increase efficiencies. The hope is that the platform will eventually operate as a progressive web or mobile application including features such as machine learning algorithms to enable the smart recognition of materials. This would allow quick measurements and descriptions of items to be uploaded to a cloud portal instantaneously, providing convenience to suppliers. Mobile payments and a transport option to providing door to door delivery will also be explored in future to provide convenience for end-users. “We are excited to bridge the gap between the supply and demand of these valuable resources. Technology could allow us to solve this problem in a way that is not only convenient but also sustainable and uplifting,” concludes co-creator Carin de Beer. 

8

CONSTRUCTION WORLD AUGUST 2019