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Key Figures

Lafarge dedicates more than 150 million euros per year to research, product development and industrial performance and process improvement. This investment is significantly higher than that of other players in the sector. The Group's Research Center is the world's leading research facility in building materials.

Research Figures

  • A budget of more than 150 million euros, around 1% of the Group's sales
  • An international network of over 1,000 employees at the Group's Research Center, technical centers and development laboratories
  • The Lafarge Research Center located near Lyon, France is a skills hothouse with 250 experts of over a dozen nationalities and 15,000 square meters of laboratories
  • Skills in cutting-edge fields such as:
    • hydration chemistry
    • organic chemistry
    • physics
    • rheology
    • micro-mechanics
  • The latest analytical tools, including nuclear magnetic resonance, electron microscopy, micro-indentation, etc.
  • A portfolio of over 800 patents, which has more than doubled since 2005

Part of R&D budget affected to sustainable construction: 53% (in 2008)

Rheology

This term is derived from the Greek words "rheo" (to flow) and "logos" (study). Rheology is the study of the flow (plasticity, elasticity, viscosity and fluidity) of deformable materials. In architecture, rheology is used to study the deformation of foundations. Other applications include the study of landslides in geophysics and the deformation of foundations in geo-mechanics.

Lafarge Research Center

Founded in 1887, the Lafarge Research Center was the first laboratory in the world to specialize in the study of cement. Since then, it has become the world's leading laboratory in the field of building materials. The LCR has 15,000 m² of floor area where an international team of researchers and technicians work focusing on the science of building materials. The LCR is located at L'Isle d'Abeau, near Lyon in France.

Last update on 14/12/2011

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Innovation in Lafarge

Learn more about innovation in Lafarge

Since the start of the 20th century, Lafarge has been a leader in innovation. Almost a century later, innovation still lies at the heart of the Group's local and global ambitions. Discover some of Lafarge's key global milestones.