Agri™betong -A New Concrete for the Buildings of the Future
As part of ByggVesta’s ambition to deliver climate-smart buildings and more efficient construction processes, we and our partners continuously evaluate new materials and methods. With rising carbon credit prices and a carbon-intensive cement industry, we have recently focused on how to make concrete use in our buildings more sustainable.
A Necessary Transition
From a national perspective, the concrete industry must drastically reduce its carbon footprint to help Sweden reach its goal of net-zero emissions by 2045. Simply phasing out fossil fuels will not be enough — we must rethink how we produce and use concrete to significantly lower emissions.
Together with RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden), Strängbetong, Södertälje Municipality, Lantmännen, and Swerim, ByggVesta has spent several years developing a more sustainable alternative to conventional industrial concrete. The result is Agri™Betong, created by adding ash from grain husks to the concrete mix, replacing part of the cement. The cement content is cut in half, from around 380 kg to 200 kg per cubic meter of concrete, with the rest filled by aggregate (sand, stone, and gravel). The resulting concrete has about half the carbon footprint of traditional industrial concrete.
A Byproduct of a Byproduct Creates a New Kind of Concrete
The ash that replaces part of the cement in Agri™Betong is a byproduct from district heating plants that burn the husks for energy. A key advantage is that similar agricultural byproducts, such as oat, wheat, and rice husks, are found worldwide, making this approach highly scalable and globally relevant.
Slimmer Concrete Construction
In parallel with developing a more sustainable production process, ByggVesta has also focused on using concrete more efficiently. In our “slimming project”, we have introduced concrete elements with 180 mm wall thickness instead of the standard 200 mm. These walls still provide the same insulation and structural performance but reduce concrete use by 10%. This optimization allows more elements per truckload and slightly increases living space within our buildings.
“Over time, we’ll be purchasing much smaller volumes of concrete — and that concrete will also contain less cement — because we’re now finding substitutes and improving efficiency in multiple ways,” says Marcus Svensson, CEO, ByggVesta Development.
Next Steps – Scaling Up Production and Expanding Use
ByggVesta plans to continue using Agri™betong in several of our properties throughout 2022. To enable large-scale application, production must also expand. Our partner Strängbetong is planning to upgrade its factory in Örebro to produce Agri™ Concrete on an industrial scale.
We foresee a gradual transition to Agri™betong as manufacturers and builders increasingly demand sustainable materials.
We’re prepared to pay a little more initially for new methods and materials to accelerate the shift toward more sustainable construction. Together with our partners, we want to drive this exciting development forward,” Bill Ögren, Head of Production at ByggVesta
Now Used in ByggVesta Properties
In November 2021, the first Agri™Betong elements were installed at the top of ByggVesta’s Sköterskan building in Sege Park, Malmö — marking the first time agricultural-based concrete has ever been used in a residential building.
