Lafarge respond to Village SOS
Company’s lower CO2 Ultra Envirocrete concrete chosen for eco-friendly visitor centre
LAFARGE have provided concrete to a Nottinghamshire visitor centre constructed using old tyres, empty glass bottles and aluminium cans.
In line with the self-sufficient and recycled theme of the building at Newstead and Annesley Country Park, around 70 cubic metres of Ultra Envirocrete was supplied.
Innovative mix design and material replacement means Ultra Envirocrete has substantially lower embodied CO2, offering carbon reduction savings of more than 60% per cubic metre, compared with conventional concrete.
Creation of the visitor centre – part of the Newstead Enterprise community project to reinvigorate the former colliery area – was filmed by the BBC over the last year and broadcast earlier this month on BBC 1’s ‘Village SOS’.
The community project received £400,000 from the Village SOS initiative, sponsored by the BBC and the Big Lottery Fund, as well as grants from other agencies.
Volunteers from the local area offered their time and services to help in the construction of the visitor centre, development of five fishing lakes and the Headstock music festival.
Tom Griffiths, Lafarge Aggregates & Concrete UK sector manager, said: ‘People working on the Newstead Enterprise project pledged to build the visitor centre in the most eco-friendly fashion possible. The original plan was to use entirely recycled materials with no concrete at all.
‘They soon realized this was going to be unworkable, so they approached us for help and we recommended our Ultra Envirocrete, which has significantly lower embodied CO2 than conventional concrete. This fitted in perfectly with the recycled and eco-friendly ethos of the project but also provided a practical solution.
‘It is an amazing project which has brought villagers together to improve their local area – exactly the kind of project Lafarge seeks to support.’
Lafarge donated two loads and supplied a further 56 cubic metres for the centre’s foundation raft at cost.
