Alexander

Alexander is a Safety Specialist and Sustainability Coordinator at ZÜBLIN. In this interview, he tells us how plastic can be used to save concrete and how it took him from the pit lane to the construction site.

How are you helping to make our company more sustainable?

As the Sustainability Coordinator for my projects, I draw up prevention concepts for noise and dust, for example, information on soil and groundwater protection, or measures for optimised logistics for residents. During regular site inspections, I support my colleagues in implementing these concepts. Under the leadership of our Sustainability Officer Alexander Houy, we are working as a team to push forward the Group's Sustainability Strategy in the Karlsruhe Directorate.

Has sustainability already accompanied you in your professional life so far?

I can't exactly say that it has. I studied industrial engineering with a focus on real estate, and during that time I worked in racing, where I developed the safety concepts for the pit lanes and had to implement them on site. The racing circus toured all over Europe - there was exactly nothing sustainable! I'm all the more pleased that I can now really make a difference and that my ideas and knowledge are appreciated and heard!

650.000 kilograms of CO2 reduction is pretty impressive. What measures are behind "your" figure?

For the campaign, I get to be the face for the "Lörrach Health Center" project in Baden-Württemberg (central hospital with around 700 beds and the adjacent Center for Mental Health with around 145 beds). The CO2 savings result from two innovative components.

• Firstly, at the client's request, ZÜBLIN used a completely new process for the shell of the central clinic, thereby using a whole 3,000 m3 less concrete: Hollow bodies made of recycled plastic are suspended between two layers of reinforcement, and the concrete flows all around. The team has gained valuable experience from this pilot project and the method can hopefully soon be used in other building construction projects.
• Secondly, a mobile concrete mixing plant was used on the construction site. Having our own plant makes us independent in terms of time, it reduces costs and avoids unnecessary truck trips between the concrete plant and the construction site. Time, money and emissions saved - it doesn't get any better than that!

What qualities should you have to contribute to a more sustainable future like you?

Proactivity, communication skills and persuasiveness. A very important part of my work is to inform and inspire. Resistance to change is best overcome with sound information, and I want to infect my colleagues on the construction site with my enthusiasm for sustainability.

And you need the courage to take uncomfortable paths: Does the Division Manager dare to submit a bid calculation that may be a bit more expensive, but in return the project can be implemented in a much more environmentally friendly way? Is the Foreman prepared to adapt processes in such a way that they may take a little longer, but in return considerable amounts of CO2 are saved?