Ecology

The construction sector imposes a heavy burden on the environment in terms of energy consumption, use of resources, pollution and waste, the importance of sustainability in construction is therefore obvious. There is necessary of new approaches to every stage in the life of buildings - approaches that will meet the challenges of increasing human needs while conserving and protecting the environmental quality and natural resources.

Concrete structures in general and prefabrication in particular have better opportunities than most other modern building materials to satisfy demands for sustainable construction. However, designing for sustainable development means not only using recyclable building material and reducing energy consumption while building, but also developing new ideas and strategies with a view to sustainability during the entire life cycle of buildings.

Betonika has been environmentally certified according to the ISO 14001 international standard. As a part of its environmental policy “Betonika” undertakes the following tas

To save energy and raw materials during production process.

To avoid and maximally decrease harmful emissions in order to decrease impact of its activities on environment.

To plan and develop production processes those create less waste and to support recycling of materials and components or their repeated use.

To provide compliance with the International Environment Management Standards ISO – 14001:2005.

To act seriously and actively in accordance with all laws and directives related to environment.

The production of pre-cast concrete elements normally takes place under controlled climatic conditions in enclosed factories. This makes control of waste, emissions, noise levels, etc., easy compared with traditional building processes. For example the heat used for accelerating the strength development of concrete is also utilized in the heating of the building.

Future pre-casting plants will work as a closed production system, in which all waste material is processed and reused. “Betonika” together with other “Consolis” companies is working hard to achieve this goal. All the material arising from the fresh concrete residues, the slurry from sawing the concrete units to the required lengths, and the cleaning of mixers and machines, all this material is separated in sedimentation reservoirs, and the water is cleaned for reuse. The hardened concrete waste is crushed and recycled. The waste steel goes back to the steel furnaces. The excess calories for heating of the pre-stressing beds is recouped in a power/heat station, and reused.