Concrete is the most durable, versatile, and accessible material for construction, but it is also one of the most polluting, as its manufacturing process generates significant CO₂ emissions.

For this reason, Sacyr Engineering and Infrastructure is seeking innovative solutions to mitigate these environmental impacts, a goal achieved with the B-LOW2 project: “Eco-sustainable Cement-Based Materials that Reduce Our Carbon Footprint.” This initiative eliminates one of the most polluting components in concrete production: clinker.

This project is funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities, through the State Research Agency under the call for “Public-Private Collaboration Projects.”

Clinker is responsible for 65% of CO₂ emissions in concrete production. This project explores how to eliminate it and replace it with other sustainable materials that meet the performance standards required by current regulations.

The European Commission has set the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, positioning the Spanish cement industry as a key player in this ecological transition. B-LOW2 project aligns with the policies of the “European Green Deal” and the “2030 Agenda,” promoting circular economy principles and the use of recycled materials.

In this project, sustainable resources derived from waste will be used to reduce clinker and conventional aggregates, enabling the development of both structural and non-structural concretes as well as special mortars. This approach aims not only to cut CO₂ emissions but also to limit the consumption of natural resources.

The materials selected to replace clinker include construction and demolition waste (C&D waste), biomass, stainless steel slag, and kaolinite.
This initiative is driven by the Innovation and Operations Departments at Sacyr Engineering and Infrastructure, in collaboration with Grupo Puma and the Universities of Córdoba and Granada.

Additionally, Sacyr Engineering and Infrastructure is researching other types of sustainable concretes, currently under development in pilot projects.

Other Developments in Sustainable Concrete

This is not Sacyr’s first venture into sustainable concretes. In collaboration with Flexofibers, Sacyr Engineering and Infrastructure developed new concrete reinforcement fibers that replace traditional steel reinforcements with materials derived from end-of-life tires (ELTs). The first application was for a slope outside the Zumelegi tunnel in Elorrio (Vizcaya). These concretes, certified by the Torroja Institute of Construction Science, foster circular economy practices within the sector.

In addition, Sacyr Chile has developed a new type of concrete using recovered glass waste sourced from major cities such as Santiago and Valparaíso to reduce the proportion of cement content in the material.
Glass contributes an average of 13.4% increased mechanical strength in concrete after 28 days, enhancing durability.

Thanks to its fire-resistant, inert, pozzolanic properties and amorphous atomic structure, glass has various industrial applications, such as urban furniture, 3D printing, and radiation shielding in nuclear facilities.

This innovative concrete contains reduced cement content, water, aggregates, and powdered glass. Currently, the glass powder—provisionally named WG-X—is prepared through various processes including selection, control, crushing, and measurement.

Civil engineer Isabel Barba Menchen, Quality and Environment Manager at Sacyr Engineering and Infrastructure in Chile, won the 2023 Natural Innovators Award in the We Are Excellence. 

The recognition came from the innovative tool he had developed, called CALO (short for Calidad en Obra, Quality on Site), for the digital control of inspection protocols of the units of execution of the works. 

This platform optimizes communication between quality control and real-time monitorization roles. 
 

This tool was first launched in late 2023 and has been fully deployed in 2024. CALO represents a before and after for the Quality team in terms of onsite protocol control. It can be used on both mobile phones and tablets and one of its greatest advantages is that it is integrated into Sacyr's management system and can be used in any project and country.

"In construction work there are thousands of protocols that used to be carried out physically, with papers, or inspection sheets, it had to go through five signatures. CALO was created to provide service and speed up that work. We take our management systems to a digital platform that automatically reaches the devices of the people who must check the status of the work," explains Isabel Barba.

CALO has been implemented in Sotero del Rio and Buin Paine Hospitals and in the Los Vilos-La Serena and Camino de la Fruta highways. The aim is to deploy it in all projects in Chile.

Isabel has been out of Spain for 10 years, and she has been in Chile for five years. In Peru, she started the rehabilitation and improvement of the Longitudinal de la Sierra 2 Norte and then it was transferred to Cajamarca, another maintenance section. 

This engineer has also led the process through which Sacyr Chile has been certified as the first company in Chile to have a zero-waste certification and the first in Sacyr. This Aenor certification serves to validate that more than 90% of the waste in our work is recovered at the Sotero del Rio Hospital (Santiago de Chile).

The top five best cities in responsible mobility in 2024 are Barcelona, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia, according to PONS Mobility, a consultancy firm specializing in strategic public and private management in responsible mobility and Meep, a digital platform that integrates and connects different transport services by creating sustainable connected mobility ecosystems.

These organizations have published the first ranking of the top 20 most sustainable and safest cities among the main Spanish cities by population, according to data from the INE.

To distinguish whether a city has responsible mobility, this ranking considers governance, modal shift, electrification, and safe mobility.

The report by Meep and PONS Mobility has analyzed up to thirteen key indicators to generate an accurate assessment of each city in relation to its situation, divided into four subgroups to group the set of indicators obtained: governance of Low Emission Zones (LEZs), electrification of the car fleet, modal shift and safe mobility. 

The success of the best-ranked cities has been based on three key pillars identified:

• The coordinated implementation of infrastructures and services, evidenced by the correlation between the density of bike lanes and the use of public transport.
• The efficient use of available aid, with an average execution of 85% of the Recovery Plan funds in the three main categories.
• Digitalization as an integrating element, which has made it possible to reduce waiting times by 24% and increase public transport travel time accuracy to 92%.

Data shows a direct correlation between high scores in this ranking and three fundamental factors: the implementation of low emission zones, transport electrification and the degree of digitalization of mobility services. 

These are the main measures that the best-positioned cities have implemented:

• Barcelona has taken risky decisions in the regulatory field. It has the largest area with low emissions, with complete electrification in its public transport fleet and leadership in terms of charging infrastructures.
• L'Hospitalet stands out for having the lowest percentage of vehicles without an environmental label, only 19%, and a public transport network that serves 82% of its population. 
• Bilbao has managed to transform its urban core with more than 4 kilometers of pedestrian streets per 100,000 inhabitants, the highest ratio among the cities studied, creating an environment that prioritizes pedestrians and significantly reduces emissions in the city center.
• Madrid has managed to electrify 63% of its public transport fleet, one of the highest percentages in the study and has implemented a digital traffic management system that has reduced waiting times by 24%.
• Valencia leads the modal shift, encouraging citizens to seek more sustainable transport options instead of private vehicles.

Future trends

• The modal shift involves infrastructure.

• Pedestrianization of streets towards the 15-minute city concept.

• Electrification of transport fleets with enough charging points.

• Urban toll and digitalization, as is the case in London, Paris, Los Angeles, Paris, cities where parking is charged or access through an access control system according to its volume.

• Speed reduction in urban traffic.

• Reduction of surface parking:  it could be for bicycles and pedestrians.

• Integration of certain means of payment in transport through the implementation of the digital economy. Promotion of sustainable and safe transport.

• More electrification posts, there are already 40,000 charging stations in Madrid.

IT teams have become indispensable to the success of any large company. Their importance lies not only in their ability to implement and maintain technological infrastructures, but also in their role as facilitators of collaboration and efficiency at all levels of the organization.

Our IT team plays a strategic role in our growth as a company and in our day-to-day activities.