As part of Argos’ commitment to creating value and taking specific actions towards climate change management and sustainable construction, Argos, the Grupo Argos cement company, introduces Green Solutions, conscious innovation. It is a portfolio in which professionals construction professionals can find resources, products and services that contribute to developing projects that are more respectful to the environment. It is a way to proclaim and share their commitment to a more sustainable future.
Argos knows of the challenges for achieving sustainability in the construction field and how demanding it is to choose the right materials and services. To facilitate this task, Argos has selected products that, due to their design, production and performance, excel in contributing to the circular economy, thus adapting to natural phenomena, user comfort, and well-being, or reducing carbon emissions. Besides the fact that these benefits can contribute to achieving the collective challenges of sustainable construction. This complete portfolio will initially be available in Colombia, and it will gradually begin to be in the other geographies where we are present.
“At Argos, we are aware of the great importance of managing climate change and the transition to a low carbon economy, and we understand that to achieve this goal, we must work together. That is why we are providing the Green Solutions portfolio to our clients, a set of products and solutions aimed at strengthening our value chain and mitigating the impact of our operation from the production process to the final disposal of our products. We are convinced that Green Solutions will allow us to continue positioning ourselves as a strategic ally for the design and construction of projects with sustainable characteristics,” stated Juan Esteban Calle, Argos CEO.
Some of the products found in this portfolio have a particular contribution to sustainability certifications such as LEED, Casa Colombia, or Edge, due to their sustainability characteristics, among the best known are:
- Low carbon products:
Argos has become a benchmark for reducing CO2 emissions in the cement production process. For example, the green cements for general use from the Rioclaro and Sogamoso plants in Colombia and Piedras Azules in Honduras, where the company managed to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 35% compared to traditional Portland cement. Argos incorporates supplementary cementitious materials such as slags, pozzolans, or thermally activated clays to achieve these results in the production process. Likewise, the company complements the portfolio with concrete mixtures that meet CO2 reduction criteria of over 30% compared to mixtures of similar technical specifications.
- Products that promote adaptation and circular economy:
This category includes products that use materials from other industries in their production process or those that during use and application contribute to a longer useful life of the works thanks to their durability and strength, which in the long term reduce the consumption of non-renewable natural resources. For instance, among other products, permeable concrete contributes to the adaptation of more extreme natural phenomena due to its contributions to the water cycle.
- Products that contribute to well-being and comfort: these are materials that, due to their architectural and color characteristics, reduce effects like urban heat island.
Maria Isabel Echeverri, Legal and Sustainability Vice President, said: “Our goal goes beyond reducing our impacts. What we seek is to contribute to the sustainable growth of both the company and our stakeholders. That is why we have environmentally friendly initiatives throughout our entire value chain. One of them is precisely Green Solutions, a portfolio of innovative products and solutions that very well materialize our commitment to mitigating and adapting to climate change”.
Among the solutions that Argos has presented is Edifika, a process for constructing buildings in prefabricated modular systems that generate less CO2 emissions, reduce waste and increase the durability of the works. The company also presented Viaforte, a road infrastructure solution that promotes the comfort and well-being of the beneficiaries while minimizing the exploitation of material resources, thus taking advantage of the resources present in each area and facilitating road construction, especially tertiary ones. Besides these solutions, we also have Green Sacks, an initiative where Argos collects the bags of cement to be reused as a raw material in other industries.
It is noteworthy that Argos has been working on a climate change management plan for more than 10 years and which has allowed it, through sustainable actions, to reduce its CO2 emissions by 14% since 2006.
Currently, the company’s goal is to reduce 29% of its CO2 emissions for each ton of cementitious product it produces by 2030. To achieve this, it has focused its efforts on three aspects: energy use efficiency, a continual increase in the use of alternative fuels, and reducing the amount of clinker used in cement.
Green Solutions portfolio lines
Lastly, Argos has a support and training line for its clients to team up to achieve sustainable construction goals.