Skanska and Holcim Romania join forces to develop sustainable buildings

Skanska, one of the largest developers of office buildings and Holcim Romania, one of the most important manufacturers of construction materials, announce a strategic collaboration through which to accelerate the transition to greener buildings.

The partnership is based on the direction towards sustainability of the two companies, assumed at international level, each company on its field of activity. The Skanska Group aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, and the Holcim Group aims to achieve CO2 neutrality by 2050.

An example of this collaboration is the Equilibrium 2 project, where the Holcim Romania Group supplies concrete. The solutions offered by Holcim have significantly contributed to the reduction of the CO2 footprint incorporated in the construction, the project thus benefiting from a low carbon footprint in terms of structure and, implicitly, optimized values ​​in the life cycle assessment.

“Sustainability is an integral part of our business and translates into a series of actions and solutions implemented systematically. We pay attention not only to how the buildings can be used in a way that is as environmentally friendly as possible, but also to the way we build them and the materials used in this process. We are pleased with this partnership with Holcim and see it as another step towards achieving our carbon footprint reduction goals, but also to promote these practices and encourage other companies to implement innovative solutions in their projects, which only bring benefits to society, the environment and the economy. Together with Holcim, we strive to minimize the impact on the environment more and more. We want to make sure that the materials used are obtained responsibly and used in the most appropriate way based on sustainability and, implicitly, on the principles of a circular economy,”says Andrei Ivan, Projects Director within the commercial development division of Skanska in CEE.

According to the World Green Building Council, the construction sector is currently responsible for 39 percent of global CO2 emissions, with embedded carbon accounting for 11 percent of the global carbon footprint. Moreover, embedded carbon could account for as much as half of the entire CO2 footprint of new construction by 2050. Thus, decarbonising the construction sector is one of the most effective ways to significantly reduce these emissions.

“We consider that it is our duty, of all, to build a better world for future generations, and Holcim Romania has been concerned with this aspect for more than 20 years. We are happy to work with Skanska for a sustainable built environment with as little carbon footprint as possible. In the context of the implementation of the European Green Pact, the provision of green products and solutions, which ensure an efficient use and respectively the circularity of resources, will become a trend for the entire construction sector globally. We want this collaboration to be an extra step for the industry in the direction of sustainability, the transition to a greener built environment being a necessity and the only viable way to limit the impact of the climate crisis,” said Anca Alexandru, Director of Concrete Division, Holcim Romania Group.