Intermat, a leading international event in the construction and infrastructure field

Building tomorrow, today   Get your pass for free with the partner code: CONSTRUC21 via this link As a leading international event in the construction and infrastructure calendar, the vocation of INTERMAT Paris is to combine all of the ingredients of efficiency, but also all the sources of innovation and inspiration to serve the projects of the future. With its strong position in the EMEA zone (Europe, Middle East and Africa), this meeting has over the years become a unique opportunity for profitable

"Uniting construction professionals along the entire value chain to deliver efficiency to regions", Isabelle Alfano

Read here Isabelle Alfano's edito, Director of the Construction Business Unit and of the Intermat exhibition. Intermat is an international event gathering construction professionals from the 23rd of April to the 28th in Paris, France. In a global society undergoing major change, and considering the increasingly pressing requirements for buildings and infrastructure, a wide and varied range of projects is emerging in France and around the world, offering an unprecedented springboard for creativity

Tidal power comes of age with completion of unique Scottish project

The potential for the tides to generate clean, reliable electricity has taken a significant step this month with the completion of a flagship project in Scottish waters. The innovative MeyGen tidal array has recently finished construction and is now connected to the UK’s mainland national grid. It represents the largest tidal energy project in the world with four 1.5 megawatt (MW) turbines being placed on the seabed in the Pentland Firth, 1.2 miles off Scotland’s north-east tip. The area is known

Sustainable Energy Investments catalysed by EU Structural Funds

The added value of European Union’s financial programmes is made tangible through local and regional initiatives. Local and regional initiatives show the cohesion policy is both a catalyst for investment and a means for beneficiaries to raise their ambitions and take ownership of the European objectives, and specifically the ones of the Energy Union. The European Union’s Cohesion policy supports common European goals and helps to overcome barriers to collaboration on these goals. This is significant

Energy “vigilant” citizens

People are increasingly testing smart control systems to curb energy use, while maximising the amount of renewables employed in the process  When temperatures are low, the temptation to take long, scalding showers and turn electric heaters to the maximum is high. And not knowing how much energy we spend, when we unthinkingly do these activities, makes it difficult for us to decrease our consumption. “For a long time, cars didn’t have speedometers. But now that they do, we know how fast we go. The

Insight into Construction in Portugal by the European Construction Sector Observatory

The Portuguese construction sector was hit very hard by the economic crisis. The unstable macroeconomic situation was accompanied by a 19.1% decrease in the number of companies in the broad construction sector between 2010 and 2013, with the construction sub-sector suffering the greatest loss (-23.8%). Productivity also experienced a significant decline in 2008-2014, particularly in building construction (-56.6%), and the gross operating rate fell from 36.7% in 2008 to 8.5% in 2013, signalling a

Titania Building: Zero Energy Consumption

“The Green Solutions Awards are an excellent platform for publicising our project and constructive experience,” says architect Daniel Diedrich The project Titania Building: Zero Energy Consumption by DMDV Arquitectos study, participated in the 2017 edition of the Green Solutions Awards contributing to the disclosure of the rigour required for the Passivhaus certification, and turning into national winner of the Prize of Users. The architect Daniel Diedrich, from DMDV Arquitectos, presents this award

Sweden opens ‘globally unique’ electrified road

Sweden has unveiled a new stretch of road which allows, for the first time, cars and trucks to charge their batteries while driving. 1.2 miles (2km) of electric rail has been installed between an airport cargo terminal and a logistics depot near Stockholm. The road works by hooking up cars to the ground rail via a moveable arm, much in the same way that trams are connected to overhead power cables. Electricity is transferred from the charged part of the road to the car’s battery, helping to solve

Mainstream climate change into post-2020 funding framework, Climate-KIC urges European Commission

EIT Climate-KIC is calling on the European Commission to mainstream climate change into all policy areas covered by the EU’s next long-term budget. Responding to ongoing discussion in Brussels around the EU’s post-2020 Multi-Annual Financial Framework, EIT Climate-KIC has urged that the funding of research and innovation be designed to stimulate systemic innovation that tackles underlying economic and financial structures, skills and behaviour as well as resulting in new technologies. It is only

Insight into Construction in Latvia by the European Construction Sector Observatory

The economic crisis caused significant falls in productivity in building construction (-61.8%) and civil engineering (-36.6%) between 2008 and 2010. Productivity is recovering, although figures for 2015 show that building construction (-31.5%) and civil engineering (-25.9%) still remain significantly below 2008 levels. Profitability has also been negatively affected. This is evidenced by a 13.9% decline in construction sector turnover to EUR 7.4 billion and a 13.3% decline in gross operating surplus