Discover the 30 nominees competing to become winners of the 9th edition of the INTERMAT Innovation Awards

Among the new features of this 9th edition, competitors were able to compete in the new categories New Technologies & Energy and Decarbonization & Energy Transition and 4 Special Prizes, rewarding the initiatives of companies offering specific innovation, will also be awarded: World of Concrete Europe Prize , Low Carbon Initiative and Solution Prize, Startup Prize and Safety Prize.

The nominees for the 9th edition of the INTERMAT Innovation Awards 2024 were revealed on January 18 as part of the Press Days of the INTERMAT show. 30 of the exhibitors and co-exhibitors at the event are now in the running to become winners.

The jury* will meet for the last time in March to select the winners of each of the 5 categories and the 4 Special Prizes. The list of winners will be announced during the Awards ceremony on April 24, the first day of the show.

The diversity and inventiveness of the products, equipment, technologies or services praised by the jury illustrates the tremendous capacity for innovation of equipment manufacturers and the excellence of their practices to collectively provide innovative, sustainable and adapted responses as closely as possible to expectations of construction professionals.

The major trends in innovation for low-carbon efficiency

Energy transition, here is the key word. Construction does not escape the obligation to share this objective to control global warming, commensurate with its contribution to C0₂ emissions, 37% globally.

The entire sector is affected by the necessary decarbonization. A construction site consists of materials and the means to implement them, personnel and equipment. High consumption of diesel, construction equipment is evolving to reduce its impact on the environment. It is innovation that allows them to do so.

Organization and efficiency of the site and machines

The INTERMAT Innovation Awards 2024 reflect what manufacturers and start-ups are offering to reduce their emissions. They also offer products and projects to improve the means of production in the construction sector, in their design, operation and efficiency, which leads to a limitation of CO₂ emissions.

We must first increase the efficiency of the site and the machines to optimize their use, reduce consumption per unit produced and, ultimately, for the work to improve in quality.

3D guidance (Komatsu Europe, Heracles Robotics) automatically improves the work of equipment.

The digitization of machines now allows real-time monitoring of their operating parameters, and with the help of artificial intelligence and augmented reality, predictive maintenance which limits unscheduled stoppages (Bergerat Monnoyeur).

At the same time, it refines manufacturers' knowledge of the behavior of their products. This approach requires sophisticated diagnostic tools (Cojali France).

Monitoring can include components subject to heavy stress such as dump trucks (Duratray International). Machine maintenance ensures availability, with on-site interventions, such as, for example, a field hydraulic oil analysis service (Chrono Flex).

Improving construction site efficiency is best achieved by controlling risks, for example when drilling tunnels using a TBM. It is this non-destructive control that muography (Muodim) allows.

Improving the efficiency of the construction site also means, in building and civil engineering applications, taking measurements of distance, periphery and volume, with a device operating by inertia, limiting for example errors in material orders (Moasure).

New technologies and energies at the heart of materials

For machines, the energy transition involves a change of energy. Electricity, which already powers materials processing installations in quarries or even tower cranes, is reaching mobile equipment.

Currently confined to small to medium-sized earth-moving equipment, it is used in self-propelled nacelles and transport vehicles; it now includes mounted concrete mixers (Putzmeister) and carrier-mounted nacelles (Multitel Pagliero).

Manufacturers offer “electrical kits” for the construction of equipment, or “retrofit” operations on diesel machines (Moog Construction, Novum Tech).

In this context it may be logical to substitute electric cylinders, reliable and without regular maintenance, for classic hydraulic cylinders (Excess Engineering).

Manufacturers are also working on the hydrogen sector, either to operate thermal engines or to power fuel cells. A growing number of them are offering prototypes for models that will be marketable in a few years.

Materials and energy savings

The choice, treatment, and use of materials play an important part in the CO₂ savings potential that construction could display.

The analysis of the impact of building products on the environment, an essential element of choice for projects, is the subject of a declaration which can be facilitated by suitable software (One Click).

Among the virtuous developments, the use of low-emission concrete, for example in prefabrication (Betolar), with the use of innovative fibers (AraNea), or even cast in place, with formwork methods adapted to their resistance to young ages (Sateco).

Added to this, for roads, is the recycling of coated materials (Ermont, Fayat), sorting for the reuse of materials with specialized equipment (Dynaset, DMS Technologie).

The recycling of the materials constituting the ground attack tools contributes to the economy that is expected of the site today (Wirtgen).

Safety, training and human resources

The safety of personnel on construction sites is a constant concern for companies. The first risk that must be limited is that linked to the circulation of machinery. Manufacturers offer advanced solutions (Bomag).

They have also designed equipment to improve the versatility of materials and the precision of their work, thus reducing the use of several machines, or even manual work (Steelwrist), while working on the safety of some of these devices, such as quick releases. Equipment quick couplers have invaded construction sites, mainly mounted on excavators.

Their use is not without danger unless their design allows safe locking (Cangini Benne). Still in this sense, the adaptation of equipment to different environments also gives rise to innovations, such as kits for “skid steer” loader tracks (Minitop).

Finally, it is necessary to limit, through their packaging, the emissions of products used on the construction site when they are incorporated into concrete or in road applications (Supply Company).

Managing human resources also means training staff. Virtual technology has also reached the field of training with machine driving simulators, capable of training operators effectively, in complete safety, without consuming diesel, from a possibly multi-station system (Tenstar).

The concern for people in construction must not leave aside relationships with those living near construction sites, or even residents in the case of rehabilitation. The rationalization of business-resident relationships is also likely to increase business productivity (Tenant Opinion).

Click here to discover the nominees in all categories.