Located on the campus of EAFIT University in Medellín, Colombia, the Argos Innovation Center is a sign of the company’s commitment toward the productive, competitive and sustainable growth of the industry, the region and the country, the company said. Through its Innovation Center, Argos wants to create a meeting place for the challenges of the cement and concrete industry and academic solutions, stimulating the discovery of new uses of these materials that could be key to development; all of this, in a collaborative environment.
“We see innovation as an essential driver to the evolution of our company and the transformation of our industry, which is why we invest in it and reinvent ourselves in order to discover new ways of working, gathering different actors in order to solve the big challenges of this region and the country,” said Jorge Mario Velásquez, Cementos Argos’ CEO. “We expect this joining of knowledge and collaborative work not only to allow us to develop high-impact products and processes, but also to lead to knowledge transfers that can be useful across different industries.”
The 4,800-sq.-m Argos Innovation Center is equipped with 12 laboratories and close to 60 work stations. The efficient use of non-renewable resources at the Argos Innovation Center was one of the fundamental principles used for its design and construction, which was undertaken in compliance with LEED parameters. The building takes advantage of natural light and uses technological devices that reduce energy consumption by more than 44 percent; 30 percent of the first-floor surface is green space, reducing the heat island effect in the area. Furthermore, it collects rainwater in order to reuse it, replacing nearly 72 percent of its demand for drinking water.
