Faculty of Sciences: Reducing the carbon footprint of construction - Towards more efficient buildings thanks to intelligent glazing Currently, around 75% of the energy used in commercial and residential buildings is used to control temperature and brightness. Various solutions are being developed to reduce this energy impact, including photovoltaic panels, energy-efficient lighting systems and electrochromic glazing. The latter adjust the transmission of light and/or heat according to need, the weather or the season, using an electrical potential. Since October 2023, the GREEnMat laboratory has been coordinating the M-ERA.Net PECLABEL project, which is developing environmentally-friendly inks for plasmonic nanostructures based on metal oxides to create spectrally selective devices in the visible and near infrared. In other words, these inks are designed to create devices capable of selecting and manipulating visible and near-infrared light. The expected spin-offs include the development of high-performance, durable and energy-independent labelling systems (so-called «intelligent» labelling devices for, for example, proving the authenticity of an object), and have significant potential for improving the energy efficiency of buildings. Pierre Colson, Pierre.Colson@uliege.be Faculté des Sciences appliquées : réduction de l’empreinte carbone de la construction - Vers une valorisation des cendres volantes de biomasse comme alternative partielle au ciment Biomass accounts for over 4% of energy consumption in the European Union, and this share is set to rise. However, storing biomass fly ash takes up a lot of space and can contaminate groundwater. At the same time, cement production generates around 5 to 7% of CO2 emissions. Replacing some of the clinker or cement with other materials is therefore both an opportunity and a necessity for environmental reasons. The BioFaCon3 project seeks to improve the disordered structure of biomass ash by treating it, for example, by microgrinding in order to enhance its ability to bind materials. Luc Courard, Luc.Courard@uliege.be Faculty of Veterinary Medicine: Towards sustainable meat and dairy farming - Environmental diagnostics and strategies for reducing the carbon footprint The agricultural sector is responsible for around 10% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide. However, it also contributes to the sequestration of CO2 in soils. The Life Carbon Farming, Climate Farm Demo and Climate Smart Advisors projects, supported by the European Union, aim to assess the carbon footprint of farms through environmental diagnostics. These audits are used to develop strategies for reducing GHG emissions and improving carbon storage in the soil. Farm advisors are trained to help farmers adopt more environmentally-friendly practices. Françoise Lessire, flessire@uliege.be © Pierre Colson © F. Lessire 7 | ACTIVITY REPORT SUSTAINABILITY AND TRANSITION AT ULIÈGE | 2023 – 2024
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