DAVAO CITY – Leading building solutions provider Holcim Philippines Inc. inaugurated on January 16, Tuesday, a virtual reality (VR) innovation hub that showcases new materials for sustainable and innovative construction.
Situated at Holcim Davao Plant in Barangay Ilang in Bunawan District here, the VR facility known as Holcim Innovation Hub takes visitors to their research center in Lyon, France, company officials said during the briefing.
HOLCIM Philippines President and Chief Executive Officer Horia Adrian (third from right), Holcim Philippines senior vice president for infrastructure and industrial sales Ramakrishna Maganti (second from right), Holcim Davao Plant Manager Naldy Pepito (left), Holcim Philippines Chief Sustainability Officer Zoe Sibala (second from left), Geocycle Philippine head Sam Manlosa (right), Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Deputy Executive Director Assistant Secretary Romeo Montenegro (fourth from left), Davao City Investment Promotion Center (DCIPC) unit head of investor assistance and servicing Christian Cambaya, and Department of Public Works and Highways-11 Director Juby Cordon open ‘The Hub,’ a virtual reality innovation facility that showcases sustainability and innovative building solutions at the Holcim Davao Plant in Davao City on January 16. (Ivy Tejano)
Holcim President and Chief Executive Officer Horia Adrian said the innovation hub showcases eco-friendly building solutions and serves as a collaborative laboratory aimed at expediting the global development of low-carbon, circular, and energy-efficient structures.
“You have the richest library of information in the world concerning construction activities (with the Holcim Innovation Hub). We are producing not only cement, concrete, and aggregates, we produce a lot of solutions and products that will be more sustainable in the future,” Adrian said.
Ramakrishna Maganti, senior vice president of Holcim Infrastructure and Industrial Sales, said that the innovation hub will give people the exact experience of experiencing it in person. He added that they are banking on a very new virtual reality technology.
Adrian said their hub would be able to showcase to customers here the latest technological and sustainability-related innovations of the Holcim Group. He added that if anybody is interested in bio-concrete, for instance, or other needed materials, they can easily find it in the hub.
“I can only see a positive impact on the construction activities in Davao City. Having an innovation hub in Davao is part of our commitment to support the country’s development. It is important in a rapidly urbanizing Mindanao which can benefit from innovative solutions,” Adrian said.
Among the solutions shown were low-carbon materials, such as ECOPact concrete and ECOPlanet cement, and circular construction solutions, such as Holcim’s proprietary ECOCycle® circular technology platform, that recycles construction demolition materials into new building solutions.
Holcim Philippines is accelerating its transformation as a sustainable and innovative solutions provider focusing on evolving decarbonization and circular economy in the construction industry, company officials said.
Since 2018, Holcim Philippines has reduced its carbon footprint by more than 20 percent by producing more blended cement, replacing coal with qualified wastes as alternative fuels and raw materials, and improving the efficiency of operations.
The company’s carbon footprint reduction program aligns with the Holcim Group’s net zero direction and the country’s Nationally Determined Contributors. Aside from its initiatives, the company is working with key stakeholders to encourage shifting to low-carbon products.
“With the innovations we do, we would like to impart efficient construction, less material used, which means better design, recycling embedded in new constructions, more efficient buildings, less electrical energy consumption and operating cost, and less carbon footprint,” Adrian said.
Maganti said the Holcim Group is confident that all these innovations will help their customers in Davao and the Philippines embrace innovations that can only benefit the market as he believed they have a solid customer base in Mindanao.
“So, what we expect with this innovation hub is we will be able to bring more innovative solutions to the customers and in the construction generally. As I have observed, the people would like to experience an innovation before buying it,” Maganti said.
Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Assistant Secretary Romeo Montenegro said they are pleased that Holcim Philippines is setting high on its agenda for energy transition and less carbon in terms of output.
“(We share the same agenda), that is what we want for all other Mindanao products; if we export to other countries, we want every single Mindanao product labeled not only as certified organic, certified Halal etc. but also marking it as produced with carbon-free,” Montenegro said.
Montenegro said the MinDA is glad that Holcim Philippines is with them in a common aspiration for Mindanao. He added that they have been engaging with Holcim, as part of their mandate is to ensure integration of development across Mindanao, including the Bangsamoro region.
Davao City Investment Promotion Center (DCIPC) senior staff Christian Cambaya said the creation of the Holcim Innovation Hub is truly aligned with the thrust also of the Davao City government to be innovative to encourage innovation in this city.
“I would also like to acknowledge Holcim's contribution to Davao’s economy. We have been recognizing them for the last 10 years, and we would continue to recognize Holcim because of its contribution to the revenues of the city government of Davao,” Cambaya said.
Mayor Sebastian Duterte here congratulated Holcim Philippines on the inauguration of its innovation hub in Davao City. He said they are confident that the innovation hub will inspire other industries to follow.
“The Holcim Innovation Hub signifies our city’s role in driving innovation, sustainability, and smart building practices. It is a testament to the strength of our partnership with Holcim, a company that shares our commitment to building greener, smarter, and better for all,” Duterte said.
Holcim Philippines is one of the leading building solution companies in the country. It has a deep portfolio of innovative solutions fostered by a full range of products, from structuring to finishing applications, that can help local builders.