Innovation and sustainability define CONSTRUMAT 2013

The balance of this latest Construmat fair has been clearly positive according to the different agents involved and com­ments from the visitors and profes­sionals that we at tureforma were able to speak to.

Fira de Barcelona’s International Construction Trade Show included some interesting elements focusing on a variety of activities which co­vered everything from architecture awards to different talks under the Construmat brand.

It provided national construc­tion companies, especially small and medium ones, with a way into the most dynamic international markets as a way of compensating for the weak Spanish market.

With this aim in mind, Constru­mat organised, for the first time in its history, the Foro Contract, a plat­form through which 170 construc­tion projects from emergent econo­mies were presented exclusively to the exhibitors.

In total, there was a poten­tial investment of 30 billion euros available to Spanish constructioncompanies which, given the experiences of the last decade and the current changes in the sector, are highly competitive in foreign markets.

‘ACTION PLAN’

All of the Spanish construc­tion agents have consented to the ‘Construmat Action Plan to drive the economy from the construction industry’ which proposes a set of measures for public works, refurbis­hments, energy efficiency or residen­tial areas to the Government.

INTERNATIONALIZATION

In addition to the national mar­ket, a total of 12 foreign delegations, made up of 311 public administration representatives and top managers from companies in countries such as Brazil, Russia, Belarus, Mexico, Chi­le, Colombia, Morocco, Cuba or The Congo, as well as 1,850 ‘VIP Buyers’ (foreign professionals with high pur­chasing power), have participated in the 18th Construmat fair in a new era focusing on offering practical solutions and business opportunities in emergent countries to the sector’s small and medium companies.

CONSTRUMAT AWARDS

The new concrete ‘Half’, deve­loped by the company Promsa from the Gripo Cementos Molins, SA, and the Structure Technology Group from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, BarcelonaTech (UPC), received the Construmat Product Award this year in the International Show in Barcelona.

It is a light, self-compacting concrete made with fibres which is designed for use in refurbishing old buildings.

The product, which is already patented, was praised by the jury for its ease of application – which does not require any electro-welding – and for the fact that it can be pumped due to its low density which makes it light, as well as the thin spaces into which it can be placed, thanks to the aggregate and polymer fibres used.

Half concrete makes the buil­ding structure rigid and lighter and it can be applied easily, quickly and safely as it is placed consistently on the surface.

Once applied, it can be walked on after 48 hours.

FOR REFURBISHING

Its principal use is for refurbis­hing or completing pre-existing fra­meworks as well as reinforcing the typical ‘Catalonian vault’. It is also an ideal product for structures with frameworks which use metal plates (mixed) as this provides the neces­sary weight and resistance required by this type of element, and guaran­tees that the element can be filled and made solid.

And of course, the fair has once again attracted attention towards new products from firms such as Co­sentino, with its revolutionary and highly-praised ‘Dekton’; Schlüter Systems, with its surprising ‘Lipro­tec’ used to create atmospheres with light and ceramic and its successful ‘Ditra-Heat-E’ for heating pavements; in addition to many others offered such as those presented by TheSize, Roca, Rubi, Emac, Propamsa, Sika, Mapei, Tendel, Gas Natural, Barrisol, Technal, Dupont, Klein and Yoake Systems, amongst others