CEMEX is proud to present VIALOW, a new addition to the VERTUA family of low carbon and sustainable building solutions. VIALOW is a reduced carbon asphalt which comes with the option to offset residual CO₂ to make it a CarbonNeutral® product, in accordance with The CarbonNeutral Protocol.

VIALOW is a new range of low temperature, low carbon asphalts from CEMEX, which uses a specially formulated bitumen additive to enable manufacture at up to 40°C lower than standard asphalt mixes with no compromise in performance, with the added benefit of achieving up to 20% reduction in embodied carbon emissions.

The range includes the VIALOW Zero option, which is a CarbonNeutral product, and complements the CEMEX VERTUA range of low carbon building solutions, further enhancing CEMEX’s Future In Action strategy – committed to Net Zero CO₂. As technology and the industry shifts toward low carbon asphalt, the best interim way to sequester the rest of the CO₂ footprint, to make it a carbon neutral product, is through carbon offsetting. To do this we are working with Natural Capital Partners, an award-winning expert on carbon neutrality and climate finance, that is harnessing the power of business to create a more sustainable world.

VIALOW offers customers a host of other benefits alongside its sustainability credentials. The lower temperature of the manufacturing process can also help to improve the long-term performance and durability of the asphalt.

Reduced temperature asphalt also offers safety and environmental benefits which include a reduced risk of burns and lower odours.

VIALOW allows the re-opening of a jobsite more quickly after completion of road works, as the asphalt reaches appropriate trafficking temperatures faster than conventional hot mix asphalt. This offers further benefits to the environment, as statistics show that stationary traffic caused by road closures creates four times as many pollutants when compared to moving vehicles.

The launch of this range follows a report from the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Highways which identified warm mix asphalts (WMA) as an underutilised opportunity to reduce the CO₂ emissions associated with asphalt production for road infrastructure. At the time of publishing, the report found that if all asphalt production in Great Britain had been switched to WMA, it would have saved at least 61,000 tonnes of CO₂ – the equivalent of cutting almost 300 million miles of car journeys.

Carl Platt, Director of Asphalt, Paving, and Building Products for Europe, commented: “Asphalt is an essential part of our country’s infrastructure. However, we recognise that future construction needs to be balanced with the effect it is having on the environment.

With the launch of VIALOW, CEMEX aims to make it simple for customers to choose more sustainable and environmentally-friendly asphalts that have a lower embodied carbon, offset residual emissions and help drive vital change.”

CEMEX Urbanisation Solutions is constantly innovating to provide customers with a broad range of sustainable solutions for the challenges of urbanisation, with a central focus at all times on our Future In Action strategy – committed to Net Zero CO₂.

For more information about VIALOW visit: https://www.cemex.co.uk/vialow