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In this episode, Mario Gonzalez is talking about the roots of CSR in CEMEX (some projects date back to the 90ties), what his favorite SDGs are - and how women in one of the latest projects turn concrete into usable pieces of art.

​The influence of buildings (and therefore the impact of building materials) on some of the most urgent challenges is obvious. Climate change, urbanization, affordable housing and other global trends will require building materials and construction industry to contribute. As there is no unlimited access to new materials and new workforce, change will need to happen on a process level. BIM will be part of this fundamental change - and as Thomas explains - we shouldn't be in a reactive mode - but in an active contributor.

Dormakaba's products are simple in one hand- everybody knows what a door is - on the other hand the products are extremely complex from a technical and functional point of view. Putting themselves in the shoes of their customers, Alexander Bradfisch lead the efforts to digitize the offering and add value for all stakeholders involved - leading to EntriWorX.

​In this episode, we are taking a look at building material/demolition waste and why we should care about this challenge. At Fraunhofer, Dr. Volker Thome are working on a method to deconstruct concrete into its original ingredients. This could potentially save huge amounts of sand and CO2.

Supply chains in the building industry are complex - and still the communication is very manual in a lot of cases. Marc Graner and Jens Büschl from Axians give insights into their experience from numerous projects in the industry.

Not being able to finish the renovation project 'new deck' at his house on time, made Christopher Glander, Industry Value Advisor (SAP Americas) investigate on the supply chain of lumber and where this supply chain is having shortages and what could be done to improve the situation for the different players. His investigation is backed by the following publications: Despite Lumber Boom, Few New Sawmills Coming - WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/despite-lumber-boom-few-new-sawmills-coming-11621243982 | Lumber Prices Soar, But Logs Are Still Dirt Cheap, TimberMart Reports - Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-20/lumber-s-version-of-a-crack-spread-is-exploding-from-cheap-trees

Building materials industry could be considered as conservative - materials haven't changed as rapidly as in other industries. But this would not capture the situation accurately. Jerry Lewis, Executive Partner IBM ES & IX and Lead Account Partner bp, shares his experience with building materials manufacturers and why digital transformation is necessity. His thoughts have also been published in this paper: Unlock digital transformation in your cement (or any industrial) business… | by Jerry Lewis | Mar, 2021 | Medium: https://jerry-lewis.medium.com/unlock-digital-transformation-in-your-cement-or-any-industrial-business-989535b0189

Etex, a traditional building materials manufacturer, is working on transforming the construction industry. The emerging market for offsite lightweight and modular buildings is the core of Etex division 'New Ways'. Cristian Montes (head of New Ways) and Ronaldo Passeri (head of finance Etex/New Ways) are sharing their view on this changing industry.

​Planners, craftsmen, distributors and end customer all have different needs in the interaction with Egger Holzwerkstoffe. From paper-based catalogs to online product finders - a variety of measures can be taken to support customers. Take a look at Eggers approach to combine different measures into a complete portfolio.

​In a study McKinsey has taken a look at Imagining construction’s digital future (Imagining construction’s digital future | McKinsey: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/imagining-constructions-digital-future). The trends identified in this study are not relevant only for the construction industry, but have a huge impact on how the building materials industry will work with this important stakeholder in the business. In this episode, we take a look at the opportunities for this supply chain.

​Coming from HighTech and Software companies, SiE is also a topic for the Building Materials industry. In this episode, we take a look at what is happening in this context overall and what Building Materials companies are already doing and where the next steps may be.

hansgrohe, a well-known sanitary ware brand and company, is looking into smart living. The company is changing from a pure hardware manufacturer to a solution provider for the smart bathroom. This has its own challenges - and also pleasant surprises.