Pit & Quarry, July 2015

students also focused on product and service innovation covering functional performance human interface and economic value Working with Volvo CE gave us the opportunity to interface with a wellknown global company which was an excellent educational experience for us says Stephen Krotseng a student team member from Carnegie Mellon University After 16 weeks of research and conceptualizing the students developed a prototype system that tracks all people and equipment on a worksite The system would allow operators to better understand safety issues and better avoid accidents Construction Climate Challenge Last year Volvo CE initiated the Construction Climate Challenge CCC an initiative that works with industry leaders and other stakeholders to promote sustainability across the entire Research teams have had the opportunity to submit research proposals in areas such as emerging sustainable technologies and energy efficiency construction industry value chain The initiative is not restricted to the manufacture and operation of construction equipment but rather stretches the length of the construction industrys value chain from extraction and production of building materials to demolition and recycling CCC aims to create a dialogue with industry representatives academics and politicians as well as provide funding for new research and the sharing of knowledge and resources to help the industry make a difference for generations to come Volvo CE has long been committed to reducing harmful emissions from its products and facilities the company says but reducing carbon dioxide emissions requires a coordinated action from companies across the entire construction and mining industry supply chain Weve been working on reducing emissions through our own internal initiatives for many years and to considerable success says Volvo CE President Martin Weissburg In December 2013 for example we achieved carbon neutrality at our articulated hauler production facility in Braås Sweden However we cannot address climate issues by ourselves We joined the Volvo Groups commitment to the World Wildlife Fund Climate Savers program in 2012 becoming the first construction equipment manufacturer to do so but still thats not enough Four proposals selected Since July 2014 research teams have had the opportunity to submit research proposals in four key areas the CCC outlined circular business models emerging sustainable technologies energy efficiency and enablers for change and innovation In October 2014 four research proposals were selected and received a total of 277000 in funding The four prestudy teams have nine months to conduct research The pre studies are part of the CCC initiative to facilitate the sharing of environment related knowledge and resources Its great to see the interest that the CCC has gathered from researchers from around the world and it was a difficult process to select just four research projects says Peter Wallin technology research manager for Volvo CE who was involved in the selection process Below are the selected research groups and a short summary of their pre study proposals Circular business models working toward a zero carbon footprint Johan M Sanne Håkan Stripple Anders EQUIPMENT RESEARCH 52 PIT QUARRY July 2015 www pitandquarry com