New construction sites crop up in Colombo almost every day. Since the end of civil war there has been a construction boom, changing the whole facade of the city and much of the wider country. However, despite the increasing volume of construction, the challenge of high construction costs remains the same. According to market experts, construction costs for a middle-class home in Sri Lanka are at $1,200 per square meter, compared to $800 in India. There are numerous factors, including high taxation and wastage, but a key contributor to the disproportionate cost is that in many cases, the building materials and techniques used in Sri Lanka are behind the innovation curve of other countries.
INSEE Cement has set out to change this with the launch of their new i2i Collaboration space, a knowledge sharing facility to foster innovation and sustainable practices across the construction industry.
The i2i Collaboration space opened its doors on the 1st October 2019 and can be used by all stakeholders from customers to competitors and academia, absolutely free of charge. They offer an open invitation to work collaboratively with anyone who is interested in uplifting the raw materials sector of the construction industry by developing innovative and cost-efficient products. Buildings have an important ecological footprint, unfortunately they also use natural resources like sand at a rate that cannot be sustained indefinitely. One kilogram of traditional cement (Ordinary Portland Cement) contributes around 1 kilogram of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Through high-tech advances in research and development, INSEE has developed a range of products with lower environment impacts.
They aim to continue developing building materials that are of global standards; sustainable, ecofriendly and aligned with modern trends and requirements. “As a market leader it is our responsibility to provide training and a knowledge space for new concepts, innovation and share our best practices with the industry stakeholders such as young academics, developers, engineers, masons, building constructors and yes, even our competitors,” said Jan Kunigk, Executive Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Innovations of INSEE Cement, Sri Lanka.
INSEE Cement Sri Lanka, also known as Siam City Cement (Lanka) Limited, is a member of the Siam City Cement Public Company Limited (SCCC), a leading cement manufacturer in Southeast Asia, founded in 1969 in Thailand. SCCC’s cement manufacturing facility in Thailand is the largest cement production facility in South East Asia, catering to the construction boom of the region. INSEE Cement Sri Lanka is the only fully integrated cement manufacturer in Sri Lanka and the first certified ‘Green Cement’ product in the country.
INSEE Cement manufactures Superior Blended cement under brands such as Sanstha, Mahaweli Marine Plus, INSEE Rapid Flow Plus and INSEE Extra cement. INSEE also has the first recognized low carbon emission cement product of Sri Lanka. INSEE’s two plant locations