Lafarge presents Sensium ® technological cements A major innovation for the construction sector

Press Kit October 19 2006

PRESS RELEASE

Euronext: LG, NYSE: LR October 19, 2006

® LAFARGE PRESENTS SENSIUM TECHNOLOGICAL CEMENTS A MAJOR INNOVATION IN THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR

Lafarge announces today the launch by its subsidiary, Lafarge Ciments, of Sensium® technological cements, a new generation of cements, in France. Thanks to their innovative properties, these new cements correspond to the needs and demands of a construction market undergoing great change and will facilitate the work of thousands of building professionals.

The result of several years’ research, Lafarge Sensium® technological cements combine three major innovations: dust-free technology, a new production process and innovative properties, combined to create a high-performance product adapted to a particular application.

Dust-free technology, the starting point for Sensium® cements, was first perfected in Japan following three years of research. It then required a further two years of work by Lafarge’s Research & Development teams in Lyons and the technical and marketing teams at Lafarge Ciments, taking into account the needs expressed in a survey of more than 1,500 construction industry professionals, to create Sensium® technological cements.

Lafarge’s Sensium® technological cements consist of two distinct products, Sensium® for mortar and Sensium® for concrete. They offer unrivalled performance on construction sites, with the following guarantees: • cleaner to use – they are dust-free, offer greater comfort to users and give a cleaner result. • easier to use – easier to handle and more workable in the case of mortar, more fluid and easier to spread in the case of concrete, Lafarge Sensium® technological cements require less effort to apply and therefore make construction work easier. • more efficient – Lafarge Sensium® technological cements harden more rapidly, are more resistant and help optimize work on site, meaning that they deliver a significant increase in productivity.

Lafarge’s Sensium® technological cements will initially be marketed in the South-East of France as of February 2007. They will progressively be rolled out across the country, and will be available throughout France by the end of 2008.

The launch of these new technological cements is in line with the strategy of Lafarge, which has identified innovation as a priority for the coming years. It demonstrates Lafarge’s desire to introduce new solutions which create value for the entire construction profession and to contribute to the improvement of construction methods.

Note to Editors:

Lafarge is the world leader in building materials, with top-ranking positions in all four of its businesses: Cement, Aggregates & Concrete, Roofing and Gypsum. With 80,000 employees in 76 countries, Lafarge posted sales of Euros 16 billion in 2005. Lafarge has been committed to sustainable development for many years, pursuing a strategy that combines industrial know-how with performance, value creation, respect for employees and local cultures, environmental protection and the conservation of natural resources and energy. Lafarge is the only company in the construction materials sector to be listed in the 2006 ‘100 Global Most Sustainable Corporations in the World’. To make advances in building materials, Lafarge places the customer at the heart of its concerns. It offers the construction industry and the general public innovative solutions bringing greater safety, comfort and quality to their everyday surroundings. Additional information is available on the web site at www.lafarge.com.

Contacts:

COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA RELATIONS

Stéphanie Tessier : 33-1 44-34-92-32 Lucy Wadge : 33-1 44-34-19-47 [email protected] [email protected]

Louisa Pearce-Smith : 33-1 44-34-18-18

[email protected]

® LAFARGE PRESENTS SENSIUM TECHNOLOGICAL CEMENTS A MAJOR INNOVATION IN THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR

WHAT BUILDING PROFESSIONALS HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR

The launch of Lafarge Sensium® technological cements is part of a strategy aiming to introduce increasingly high-performance solutions corresponding to the expectations of building professionals, operating in a sector undergoing great change.

To understand these expectations better, Lafarge Ciments carried out four successive surveys which revealed very strong interest from the industry. 84% of industry professionals interviewed were “interested” or “very interested” in dust-free cement; 85% of them stressed its benefits for indoor work, and 67% for external work.

The surveys also confirmed that construction industry professionals are open to innovations (higher strength cement: 86%; cement with greater workability: 67%), provided these products genuinely correspond to their expectations in terms of efficiency, comfort and ease of application.

Because the notions of efficiency and ease of application are closely linked to specific aspects of applications, Lafarge decided to create two separate products: Sensium® for Mortar and Sensium® for Concrete.

In addition to the surveys, on-site trials were organized in order to confirm that the products developed corresponded to the needs expressed in the surveys.

A MAJOR INNOVATION

Sensium® for Mortar and Sensium® for Concrete offer a comprehensive response to the needs of construction industry professionals by combining:

⇒ A major innovation: dust-free technology

⇒ A unique concept: specific formulations for mortar and concrete applications. In addition to dust-free technology, Lafarge Sensium® technological cements benefit from a new formulation concept in order to respond to each of the needs expressed by construction industry professionals and to supply two products, one for concrete applications and the other for mortar applications.

• Sensium® for Mortar emits no dust and is strong and malleable. Sensium® for Mortar’s strengths are higher than 32.5 Mpa, twice as strong as a standard masonry binder (at 28 days). Sensium® for Mortar is a pre-admixtured cement, which gives the mortar an aerated and cohesive consistency. This makes the mortar malleable and smooth and facilitates on-site application. Sensium® for Mortar is a binder that is particularly suitable for laying concrete blocks, and laying screeds either before tiling or as a finish.

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• Sensium® for Concrete emits no dust and is strong and fluid. Sensium® for Concrete’s strengths are higher than 42.5 Mpa, i.e. a 25% gain in short- term strength (2 days) and a 12%-15% gain in long-term strength (28 days) by comparison with standard cement. Sensium® for Concrete is a pre-admixtured cement, which gives the concrete plasticity and means that it is almost entirely self-placing. Sensium® for Concrete is a cement designed for the construction of paving, flooring, structural concrete elements and micro-concrete screeds for underfloor heating systems.

BENEFITS OF EACH APPLICATION AT EVERY STAGE OF THE BUILDING SITE

Two distinct products delivering higher performance which have the following points in common: cleaner, more efficient and easier to use.

Cleaner and more efficient mixing During the preparation of the mortar or concrete in the concrete mixer, Sensium® technological cements: ⇒ Do not give off dust when the bag is opened. ⇒ Can be poured faster and more easily into the concrete mixer. No cement remains at the bottom of the bag. ⇒ Require less water. In trials, we observed that they required less water for mixing (a saving of up to 20%) to obtain the same consistency as standard cement ⇒ The bags are cleaner.

1- Sensium® for Concrete

More efficient, easier to apply, faster Sensium® for Concrete is stronger than standard cement. Its short-term strength allows unset concrete to harden more rapidly, enabling the site worker to move on faster to the next stage of the job-site. Concrete made with Sensium® for Concrete has higher plasticity and is more fluid, so operations can be performed faster and more easily.

Advantages for the construction of paving, flooring, structural concrete elements and micro-concrete screeds for underfloor heating systems ⇒ Almost entirely self-placing In on-site trials, we observed that there was a labor saving of approximately one person per operation ⇒ Easier to spread and level making it possible to work upright ⇒ Because it hardens more rapidly, it saves valuable site time In on-site trials, we observed that it was possible to walk on the paving three hours after pouring under normal weather conditions ⇒ It requires less water to achieve a consistency equivalent to concrete made with standard cement.

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2- Sensium® for Mortar

More efficient, easier to use during application Sensium® for Mortar is stronger than masonry cement, which means it is possible to use it in all DTU 52.1 applications (tiling) and DTU 26.2 applications (screeding). Its short-term strength also means more rapid hardening of block joints. The consistency of mortar prepared with Sensium® for Mortar is more “aerated” than mortar made with standard cement. This makes it more flexible, easier to spread and more cohesive.

Advantages for block laying ⇒ Fast application, accurate and easy adjustment of blocks ⇒ Makes vertical joints easy to fill ⇒ Reduces seepage of mortar at the base of a wall (it does not disintegrate) ⇒ More economical In on-site trials, we observed a saving of material in the order of 2.5%, which represents

1 bag per pallet ⇒ Time saved because the mortar does not start to harden, and thus requires no remixing In on-site trials, we observed that approximately 15 minutes were saved for every 8m² of blocks laid, a total of 1 hour and 15 minutes per week.

Advantages for tiling screeds and screed finishes ⇒ Simple to spread with a trowel: the mortar is “aerated” and therefore more workable ⇒ It can be screeded sooner (the mortar does not come away, preventing holes and making it easy to level) ⇒ Floating is easier and the finish of the final screed is smoother, giving a better end result.

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LAFARGE RESEARCH: INNOVATING TO IMPROVE CONSTRUCTION FOR THE FUTURE

As world leader in building materials Lafarge has always placed research and innovation at the forefront of its strategy for growth. Research & Development at Lafarge involves 500 employees within the Group.

The world’s largest building materials research facility

The Lafarge Research Center (LCR) at L’Isle d’Abeau is the world’s largest building materials research facility, with 180 researchers from a dozen different nationalities working on a site housing 6,000 m² of laboratory space filled with highly sophisticated testing and analytical equipment. The Lafarge Research Center strives to understand basic mechanisms and validate technological breakthroughs.

LCR is organized around four multi-product areas of expertise: active components; formulation & implementation; structured materials; and analysis & measurements. Each area oversees several research units dedicated to specific issues. There are three parallel project portfolios – cement, aggregates & concrete, and plasterboard & roof tiles – each under the direction of a portfolio director who defines research strategies by field of activity. This matrix organization optimizes the allocation of resources and synergies between research teams and ensures that research truly serves the Group’s Business Units.

Open to outside partnerships, Lafarge’s research teams regularly work in close collaboration with the world’s most prestigious universities, engineering schools and public research laboratories. Partners include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Berkeley and Princeton University in the United States; the Laval and Sherbrooke Universities in Canada; and the CNRS (the French National Center for Scientific Research), the largest fundamental research center in Europe. LCR is also part of the Nanocem network, which brings together about thirty universities and industrial groups for long-term research on cement and concrete.

More recently, Lafarge decided to create a new education and research chair in the Science of Materials for Sustainable Construction, in partnership with two highly reputed French engineering schools, Ecole des Ponts and Ecole Polytechnique. This chair, the only one of its kind in the world, will further a high-level, innovative, interdisciplinary approach to materials research, opening up huge scope for new construction techniques that are more respectful of the environment, people and the planet.

A scientific approach In the last few years there has been a revolution in building materials, with the emergence of ultra-high performance concretes that are more ductile, more durable and more resistant to abrasion, corrosion and adverse weather conditions. We have also seen the emergence of self-placing concretes, and plasterboards with improved fire resistance, acoustic and thermal insulation properties.

The development of these exceptional materials has only been possible thanks to an increasingly rigorous interdisciplinary scientific approach, covering physics, chemistry and mechanical engineering, along with sophisticated observation and digital modeling systems for accurate analysis at nanometric scale.

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“The general public does not always associate new materials with fundamental research. Yet the development of new building materials presupposes an overall understanding of the mechanisms responsible for their solidity and durability. This is why a precise and exact knowledge of the microstructure of these materials is necessary.”

Prof. Paulo Monteiro, Group Head of Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Materials (SEMM) at the University of California, Berkeley.

“In the context of a partnership with Lafarge, I study the mechanical properties of cement at the nanometric level (10-9m), in other words, the infinitely small. It is a particularly interesting scientific approach, because it reveals previously unknown, yet universal, properties. Like the human genome project, and the gene therapy that has developed from its decoding, this research will make it possible to design extremely high performance materials and to prolong their useful life. Concretely, I test materials in partnership with researchers from Lafarge. In my view, Lafarge is the only company in the construction industry that has mastered a nanometric approach to materials.”

Prof. Franz-Josef Ulm, Vice Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),

Fundamental innovations serving the construction industry Over the past ten years, Lafarge has made fundamental innovations, in concrete in particular with the Agilia® line of self-placing and self-leveling concretes and Ductal® ultra-high performance concrete. These innovations are transforming the construction industry, revealing vast new horizons for architectural and structural progress. They also contribute to improving on-site working conditions by eliminating or facilitating certain arduous or noisy tasks and improving the quality and esthetic appearance of the end result.

Major innovations have also been introduced to improve production processes and lower both energy consumption and the environmental impact of manufacturing building materials.

Now, Sensium® technological cements will also make a contribution to the steadily-growing groundswell of improvement in on-site working conditions and the quality of structures.

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A STRONG NETWORK OF TECHNICAL CENTERS

At Lafarge, Research and Development is centred around the Lafarge Research Center (LCR) and a network of technical centers organized by region and by business.

The technical centers have several roles: ƒ working on the development and roll-out of new products that meet the needs of end- users, ƒ enabling the transfer of knowledge and technical know-how between the countries and the industrial sites in their region by identifying best practices and ensuring their circulation, ƒ supplying assistance for expertise and improvements in plant performance in all areas, in compliance with plant and personnel safety procedures: cost, process, quality, environment and choice of investments, ƒ delivering a high level of assistance and expertise to all sites in a region in all the basic technical fields within the cement business, ƒ assisting and guiding plants in the evaluation and roll-out of internal investments to ensure that the solutions adopted are technically valid and cost-effective, ƒ providing engineering expertise for all investment projects of above €1 million, ƒ working on the optimization of existing products according to their specific applications.

To carry out this work, each technical centre has its own analysis laboratory as well as a product application laboratory, run by high-level experts skilled in the basic technical areas of the cement business: process, products, maintenance, mechanical engineering, electricity, civil engineering and environment.

The product development department of the Technical Center for Europe and Africa (TCEA) was particularly involved in developing Sensium® technological cements, working closely with the Lafarge Ciments technical and marketing teams to develop a product that meets the needs expressed by construction industry professionals.

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WORKING TO DELIVER SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION FOR ALL

By 2025, the world’s population is expected to increase by 33% to nine billion inhabitants. Two billion more individuals will need housing, places to work and the infrastructure to ensure mobility. All of this will have to be built, but in a different way. The building industry alone consumes about 40% of the natural resources and energy produced in developed countries and is the source of 40% of world greenhouse gas emissions, mainly as a result of the use and maintenance of buildings throughout their life span.

Sustainable construction attempts to address these issues. First developed in the 1990s, this concept is based directly on the main principles of sustainable development. For the construction industry, it means limiting the impact of buildings while guaranteeing higher- quality esthetics, durability and resistance. Sustainable construction takes into account the entire life span of a structure and aims to reduce the impact of each phase – from the initial choice of building materials through to final demolition. It involves the sustainable use of natural resources, reduced impact of worksites on the local environment, thermal and acoustic building insulation, positive-energy buildings, controlled structural ageing, and recycling of materials and structures.

Today, Lafarge is convinced that its commitment toward society should extend beyond the boundaries of its own industrial sites to cover the entire value creation chain of the construction industry, from suppliers to end customers. Building products can have a considerable impact on the environmental and social performance of buildings. We know, for example, that over the course of a building’s lifetime, 90% of the CO2 emissions associated with it stem from its use – whereas the manufacture of the building’s materials generates only 10%.

At Lafarge we believe that it is our responsibility not only to understand the impact of our products over their entire life span, but to work very closely with architects, engineers, developers and contractors to promote the best construction methods for more sustainable development.

Lafarge has entered into several partnerships that fit perfectly within the framework of sustainable construction:

~ One of the priorities of the new partnership agreement signed with WWF on June 21, 2005 is to promote sustainable construction with all sector players.

~ With the WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development), which brings together 180 companies, Lafarge is the driving force behind the creation and management of a five-year action plan to develop a “sustainable cement industry”. In an exemplary sector initiative, the ten cement manufacturers involved in the program are seeking solutions to protect the climate, reduce consumption of fuels and raw materials and guarantee the health and safety of employees.

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~ In March 2006, under the auspices of the WBCSD, Lafarge and United Technologies Corp. launched the EEB (Energy Efficiency in Buildings) project. The aim of the project is to determine what changes are needed to bring about a world in which the net energy consumption of buildings stands at zero.

~ Lafarge is a founding member of Fondation Bâtiment Energie, which provides financing for R&D projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through reduction of energy consumption and to encourage greater use of renewable energy sources in the building sector. After a bidding process launched in 2005, five projects were selected to receive major financial support in 2006.

Lafarge is also working in collaboration with architects, and has made major efforts to promote new construction methods. For example, Lafarge is working with Jacques Ferrier on the “Hypergreen” project. Presented at the MIPIM in March 2006, Hypergreen is a concept of a mixed-use, environmentally responsible tower building, designed for the world’s mega-cities by the architect Jacques Ferrier in partnership with Lafarge. Hypergreen is designed to be environmentally responsible throughout its entire life-cycle thanks to its use of renewable energy sources and high performance building materials, such as Ductal®.

© Jacques Ferrier Architectes

Hypergreen - Jacques Ferrier / Lafarge

“A major theme is that of the longevity of building materials. A useful life of about fifty years is no longer acceptable. Consequently we are working on developing a new generation of materials with a much longer product life.” Prof. Paulo Monteiro, Group Head of Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Materials (SEMM) at the University of California, Berkeley.

“Architecture of the 21st century will have no other choice but to be environmentally responsible! We must work to minimize the overall impact of buildings.”

Jacques Ferrier, architect responsible for the Hypergreen concept developed in partnership with Lafarge

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