Page 100 - CO_February_2022

CONSTRUCTION & WATERPROOFING CHEMICALS
LEAD STORY

use (36%) and energy related CO2 emissions (~40%) are directly example, for enabling an energy-efficient infrastructure within a
attributed to the sector. Based on the Paris agreement, the energy smart city, chemicals companies can innovate across different
intensity of buildings needs to improve by 30% from current levels by chemicals and requirement types like high reflectance coatings,
2030. The achievement of this target seems far-fetched, as more high-performance insulation foams, and phase change materials.
than two-thirds of new buildings and construction will be in many
emerging economies without strong mandatory building codes. Trends in project completion timelines and overall costs: Due
Taking cognizance of the matter, many national governments are to rising material costs and lower availability of skilled labor, the
making green building standards more stringent as the target year construction industry has suffered from low productivity and
approaches. These evolving regulations are exerting more pressure extended deadlines. There is often an imminent need to not only
on construction companies to use materials and chemicals that speed up the time needed to construct a building or infrastructure
have a lower carbon footprint and are less resource-intensive. but also bring down the overall project costs. In fact, costs and
For example, chemical admixtures, which are added during the speed of project completion are the two most important factors
concrete-making process, not only reduce overall water usage but that contractors and construction companies look forward to,
also take less time to set. even surpassing the need to ‘go green’. Clearly, prefabrication or
Electric poles made up of polymer composites are lightweight, modular construction is a rising trend for all of these reasons, and
possess lower carbon footprint, and have a longer shelf-life than more so indicated by the increasing number of tech startups in the
metal poles. Many other polymer composite applications are ‘offsite construction’ space. Gauging the latent opportunity, a global
already underway in the building and civil engineering sector that chemicals conglomerate started shipping latex powders instead
are not only new and complex applications but also provide a of heavy liquids, which can be readily made into formulations or
way to retrofit and refurbish older infrastructure without bringing it mixed with water at a manufacturing facility or construction site
down. Whether it is an aging pipeline infrastructure, an abandoned for further use, thus reducing transportation times and costs. New,
factory, or the roof of a commercial building, the trend of adaptive advanced material innovations like self-healing concrete and
reuse & repair is picking up as a ready alternative to costly nanomaterials like Graphene might also lead to overall lower life
replacement, and construction CAMs remain the best bet to meet cycle costs, though there is a high initial cost associated. These
this growing trend. The mounting wave of smart cities, which is much novel materials enable instant repair of a concrete structure, thus
broader in scope and scale than green buildings, is also expected eliminating the need for its repair, rehabilitation, or complete
to enhance the demand for new chemicals and materials. For replacement for relatively longer periods of time.

104 CONSTRUCTION OPPORTUNITIES|FEBRUARY 2022