6 startups revolutionizing construction

The rapid breakthrough of cutting-edge technologies in the construction sector has given rise to a new term: ConTech (short for Construction Technology). This umbrella term covers innovations designed to make industrial processes faster, more efficient, safer, and above all lower-carbon. 

As the effects of the climate crisis become increasingly apparent, the construction sector is determined to play its part by rethinking its methods, materials, and approaches. Saint-Gobain is encouraging this transformation through its innovation arm, NOVA by Saint-Gobain (the Group’s Open Innovation and Venture Capital team), which supports startups around the world. In 2025 alone, NOVA entered into more than 30 new partnerships. Here are some of the partnerships that have been strengthened by NOVA’s investments over the years. These innovations, beyond their technological aspects, all help prepare Saint-Gobain’s customers to meet the growing demands of sustainable construction.

Construction facing the challenges of climate change

CarbiCrete, concrete without cement

Founded in 2016, the Canadian startup CarbiCrete has developed a patented technology for the production of cement-free concrete using industrial by-products and captured carbon dioxide. In practical terms, cement is replaced by steel slag, a by-product of the steel industry that serves as a binder in precast concrete products. 

In 2024, CarbiCrete and POINT.P signed a cooperation agreement, which will lead to the launch of the first production line. It will enable POINT.P to produce 20,000 t of cement-free concrete blocks starting in 2026. Production capacity will gradually ramp up to 40,000 t by 2027. 

What it changes in practice

Concrete is found everywhere in the urban built environment and is the most widely used manufactured material. But it has a significant carbon footprint, largely due to its main ingredient, Portland cement, which emits 622 kg of CO₂ per ton. Cement production accounts for 8% of global annual CO₂ emissions, i.e. 2.5 billion tons. It is also very water-intensive, consumes large amounts of energy, and requires the use of rotary kilns heated to 1,500 °C. It is precisely these disadvantages that CarbiCrete is intended to overcome.

Once mixed, the innovative concrete, made from steel slag and other materials, must cure. This is where CarbiCrete’s patented innovation comes into play: CO₂ is injected into the fresh concrete to make it strong. This same gas is then permanently trapped within the resulting concrete blocks. In terms of performance, these blocks offer compressive strength up to 30% higher than that of conventional concrete, greater resistance to freeze-thaw cycles, and the same water absorption properties. On average, this new technology is expected to reduce and eliminate approximately 20,000 tCO₂eq, save around 4,400 m³ of water, and reduce waste by 33,000 tons each year. With increasingly stringent European regulations, this is a compelling argument for a distributor like POINT.P, about to become the first in France to offer this alternative on a large scale.

Reusable walls from JUUNOO 

Founded in 2017, the Belgian startup JUUNOO manufactures reusable, easy-to-install office partitions that can be used to divide spaces, and create meeting rooms, phone booths, and glass doors. When layout requirements change, the partitions can be dismantled and reused. Seven times quicker to install than a traditional wall, they can be moved and repositioned as many times as needed. 

Saint-Gobain RIGIPS has teamed up with the start-up to develop Rigimove, a removable partition system that makes it easier to build and reconfigure layouts quickly and simply, to create customized spaces. It was launched in Germany in late 2025. 

What it changes in practice

Every year, partitions with a value of $320 billion are demolished around the world, and almost all of them end up in landfill. They account for 1% of global CO₂ emissions, equivalent to the amount generated by all the world’s air and sea traffic combined. 

Designed to be dismantled, recovered, and reused, rather than demolished and discarded, JUUNOO walls represent a one-off purchase that can be reused indefinitely. The company even goes so far as to buy back its own partitions from customers who no longer need them, so it can put them back on the market. 

On the building site, the patented clip system makes installation and disassembly much faster than for a traditional wall. This offers a practical solution for companies as their workspace needs change: reconfigured open-plan offices, meeting rooms set up in a matter of hours, and phone booths that can be moved without any construction work.

Reversible building, modular building: what's the difference?

KOPE brings digital design to the construction sector

Launched in 2019, KOPE is the first generative AI platform for digital design. It automates the placement of Saint-Gobain products in a building design, optimizing calculation time while reducing waste and costs.

The UK off-site business has been working with the start-up since 2023 to integrate the solutions and systems developed by the Group for off-site construction, such as InteWall and Intrastack. This will fast-track their adoption and use by architects and designers, while increasing the Group’s visibility in this market.

What it changes in practice 

The construction sector is at a critical turning point, facing challenges such as material shortages, rising prices, an aging workforce, and a growing carbon footprint.

A custom software platform is a unique and essential tool for managing the necessary changes in design, construction, and procurement. KOPE offers seamless integration with the construction supply chain, enabling products to be quickly evaluated and implemented in new or existing projects. The result is greater efficiency, lower costs and less waste, as well as a tangible contribution to achieving sustainable development goals. KOPE also saves a considerable amount of time and effort when designing and costing construction projects. By adding an increasing number of Saint-Gobain systems to its product catalog, KOPE is also becoming a one-stop shop that enables builders to specify Saint-Gobain solutions as part of a cohesive and harmonized package. For architects and design offices, it offers significant time savings and greater precision, right from the design phase.

Wood-fiber insulation from TimberHP

In 2024, CertainTeed entered into a partnership with US startup TimberHP. The company was founded by two entrepreneurs: Matthew O’Malia, an award-winning architect known for his high-performance, competitive designs, and Dr. Joshua Henry, a materials chemist with expertise in energy conservation and renewable energy production. 

Their partnership has led to the development of a full range of high-performance wood-fiber insulation products that make healthier buildings and sustainable construction accessible to all. Made in Maine from left-over wood chips and using hydropower, these fibers deliver exceptional performance. 

Through an exclusive commercial agreement with CertainTeed Canada and by leveraging Isonat’s expertise in wood-fiber insulation, the Group is expanding the sale of these solutions to other regions.

What it changes in practice 

Wood fiber insulation delivers exceptional performance due to its superior thermal barrier, optimal moisture management, unmatched acoustics, and strong resistance to fire. This material also helps reduce carbon emissions in two ways. First of all, at operational level, it reduces the need for heating and cooling. Secondly, it reduces the intrinsic carbon (the CO₂ emitted during the manufacturing and end-of-life stages of materials) by sequestering biogenic carbon within the building, i.e. the carbon naturally stored up in wood as it grows. A life-cycle analysis of building insulation shows that wood fiber significantly reduces carbon emissions compared with other materials – throughout the manufacturing process, during use, and after disposal or reuse.

Beyond its performance, it offers a bio-sourced alternative to conventional insulation that is sustainable from source to product. 

What does this change for craftsmen? Nothing, in terms of installation. It is fitted in exactly the same way as conventional insulation. The key is in the production process: faced with increasingly stringent regulations on bio-sourced materials, distributors and builders finally have a high-performance alternative that doesn’t compromise on ease of installation.

Will the materials of the future transform construction?

Recycling joinery with Recyfe 

Recyfe has been collecting and recycling windows since 2021. Launched by three social enterprises specializing in recycling and with over 20 years of experience in the field, this network aims to manage the collection and processing of end-of-life joinery on a national scale. 

The company works in three stages. First, it collects end-of-life PVC, wood, and aluminum windows and doors (including skylights and roller shutters). To optimize collection, it provides containers designed to protect the frames. It then sorts the materials and processes them to make them suitable for reuse. In the final stage, the materials are sent to recycling channels, with a preference for closed-loop systems where they can be reused. To date, Recyfe has partnered with 21 recycling facilities in France.

Recyfe plays a central role in the Saint-Gobain Glass Recycling program in France: the network supplies it with one-third of its end-of-life cullet. This is reintroduced into the Group’s glass furnaces to produce new products, such as Oraé, the low-carbon glass containing 64% recycled glass. 

What it changes in practice

Every year in France, 75% of the 8 million discarded windows are not recycled, resulting in 200,000 tons of valuable material, such as wood, PVC, and glass, ending up in landfill, a considerable waste. In addition to the loss of raw materials, there is the energy expended to produce new windows from virgin materials and the associated CO₂ emissions. Recyfe has thus established a nationwide collection and recycling network to put an end to this waste.

For joiners, the company makes it possible to turn a routine task – the removal of old windows – into a tangible contribution to a circular economy, all the way through to the finished product.

Low-carbon concrete from Fortera

As another alternative to traditional concrete, the Californian startup Fortera, founded in 2019, has developed a process for manufacturing low-carbon cement by creating an innovative mineral binder made from reactive calcium carbonate. This technology, intended to replace traditional cement, integrates with existing cement plants by making use of their limestone resources.

The startup currently operates a facility in California with an annual capacity of 15,000 tons and is starting construction of a large-scale commercial plant with an annual capacity of 400,000 tons. 

The startup is currently collaborating with Saint-Gobain on the development of new additives for low-carbon cement, a key focus of innovation for the Group. 

What it changes in practice

The patented ReCarb™ process enables Fortera to mineralize CO₂, thereby reducing direct carbon emissions by 70%. It paves the way for net-zero cement production when this process is combined with the use of green energy. Fortera is overseeing the industrialization of this solution through large-scale production of vaterite, a mineral compound derived from limestone. Vaterite can be used in a mixture with traditional cement and calcined clay. When used on its own, it reduces carbon emissions by 60% compared with conventional cement, while delivering superior mechanical performance. This should be enough to convince cement manufacturers and contractors, in the presence of increasing regulatory incentives. 

What these six innovations have in common is that they are still in the early stages. Some are in the joint development phase, while others have only just gone into production. And this is precisely the role of NOVA by Saint-Gobain: working now to identify and support the solutions that will enable the Group’s customers to meet the sustainable construction requirements of the future.