Italcementi opens i.lab Research Centre, Italy

Italcementi’s new Research and Innovation Centre designed by the US Architect Richard Meier, was inaugurated today in the presence of the Italian Minister for the Environment Corrado Clini.

Minister Corrado Clini cut the ribbon in front of a large audience including Giampiero Pesenti, Italcementi Chairman, Carlo Pesenti, CEO, and the Group's top management. Also in attendance were representatives and journalists from 18 countries in which the Italcementi Group operates.

Located in the Kilometro Rosso Science Park, the building has an overall surface area of 23,000m2 and hosts engineers, technicians and researchers from the Research & Development and Laboratories Departments of CTG, the Group Technical Centre, and from Italcementi’s Innovation Direction, all engaged in investigating and developing innovative technological, functional and aesthetic solutions for new construction materials.

During an address, Minister Clini, noted: "Not only in Italy but also abroad, companies are changing their course of action shifting towards sustainability: this is green economy, which is in fact “economy” because those manufactures that fail to include environmental or innovation considerations are destined to exit the market."

"This is the reason why our Government is keen to encourage initiatives like those undertaken by
Italcementi, which confirm how the entrepreneurial world is proactively committed to research and innovation," the minister added

Speaking on behalf of the Italcementi group, Mr Pesenti highlighted that: "Innovation is Italcementi’s strategic lever to create its own competitive advantage. The group focuses on the continuous search for sustainable production processes and innovative architectural solutions to meet the growing market demand for applications and products that can enhance the quality of life and of the environment. About 170 people including chemists, geologists and engineers are engaged in Italcementi Group’s Research & Innovation activities in Italy, with i.lab, and in France, at the Technodes campus based in Guerville, near Paris. An annual budget of approximately EUR13m is destined to Research & Development activities, which represents – compared to the total turnover – one of the highest values in the construction sector."

"We have filed 60 patents over the last decade. The group’s current innovation rate," continued Mr Pesenti "that is the ratio of revenues generated by innovation projects to total sales, is equal to four while it was 3.9 in 2010, so gradually increasing as planned. The target is to reach an innovation rate equal to five and maintain it in the medium to long term."