Customers & Businesses

Thermedia 0.6 B has been developed by Lafarge and Bouygues Construction for the French market and is the first product in the Thermedia™ range. The product represents an initial response to the demand to improve buildings' energy efficiency and gives concrete a new role in the construction system:

• it encourages a reduction in thermal losses through a building's shell,
• it contributes to improving construction methods by using external thermal insulation.

The aim is to reduce heating and air-conditioning costs and cut CO2 emissions.

Thermedia 0.6 B's completely new formulation uses very lightweight aggregates whose density is 40% less than that of traditional aggregates, reducing its thermal conductivity to a third that of standard concrete, while retaining identical structural properties. This means that Thermedia 0.6 B reduces the impact of thermal bridges between the external shell and intermediate floors of a building by 35% when used as external thermal insulation.

Thermedia 0.6 B is manufactured in a concrete plant and poured on site. It is ready-mixed and so does not require any change to traditional construction methods. It is fluid and very workable making it a material which is very easy to use. Its intrinsic properties (mechanical, acoustic, earthquake resistance, durability, shrinkage and also fire resistance) have been tested on several worksites and certified as compliant with French standards.

Lafarge and Bouygues Construction, the world's leading construction company, share a single ambition: to improve buildings' energy performance through innovation. This ambition brought the two companies together to develop Thermedia 0.6 B.

Each partner contributed its own skills at every stage in the project:

• Over 4 years, Lafarge assigned a team of more than 20 researchers to develop a formula achieving the ideal balance between structure and thermal insulation. The formula was then lab tested to check the material's properties.
• Bouygues Construction conducted construction engineering research, implementation tests and acceptance tests on the whole range of properties. This made it possible to observe and analyze the material's structural behavior and guarantee its performance.

An initial partnership between the 2 companies which began several years ago resulted in the ultra-high performance fiber-reinforced concrete Ductal®.

The properties of Thermedia 0.6 B mean that it is helping to position concrete as a vital material in sustainable construction.
Lafarge is helping the construction sector to take a sustainable approach by focusing on developing new materials

Buildings now account for nearly 40% of global energy demand. Around 80% of this energy is consumed between buildings' delivery and their demolition. The challenge for the industry is therefore to move towards designing buildings whose environmental impact is as controlled as possible.
The expected tightening of national regulations governing thermal insulation also makes it a vital question for the industry.