The Concrete Engineering Chair (IdB) is dedicated to innovation, research and education in the field of concrete.
Established in 2014 at the initiative of the cement industry, the Concrete Engineering Chair (IdB) fosters dialogue between the construction industry and the academic world of civil engineering.
It positions ESTP as a key player in innovation related to concrete materials, within the context of environmental, digital and societal transitions.
In today’s complex context of environmental, digital and societal change, the teaching projects supported by the IdB Chair aim to raise students’ awareness of performance-based, multi-criteria and holistic approaches, and to help them put these into practice.
For example, the second-year engineering project is based on project-based learning. Since 2018, each year the IdB Chair has proposed a real-life case study linked to current issues.
In 2024, ESTP students worked on industrial heritage, focusing on the buildings of the Noyant-d’Allier Mine, designed by Eugène Freyssinet.
Discover the latest 2025 project on the transformation of an industrial brownfield site.
Another example is the LCA Digital Learning track, which trains students in multi-criteria approaches, particularly life cycle assessment (LCA), applied at different scales—from individual components to entire structures.
Innovation is also central to the Chair’s activities, with the new BETON 3D Digital Learning track, which enables students to explore and understand 3D concrete printing and its implications for the future of construction. In June 2024, the IdB Chair contributed to organizing the international intensive program Blended Intensive Program (BIP) – Print to Build: Explore 3D Concrete Innovation.
The IdB Chair aims to master the properties and applications of new types of concrete.
It develops:
Advanced scientific and technical expertise;
Performance-based and multi-criteria approaches;
Solutions aligned with contemporary environmental challenges.
Objective: position ESTP as a key partner of the cement industry.
The Chair supports innovative educational projects based on project-based learning and real-life case studies.
It raises students’ awareness of:
Multi-criteria analysis methods;
Holistic performance approaches;
Environmental and digital challenges facing the sector.
Programs such as IdB XD and the LCA Digital Learning track help students apply these approaches in practice.
The research projects led by the IdB Chair share a common objective: reducing the environmental footprint of concrete.
They focus in particular on:
The valorisation of natural resources and demolition materials;
The development of innovative construction processes (additive manufacturing, smart concrete);
The overall optimisation of material and system performance.
The IdB Chair aligns its research activities with the objectives of the ESTP Construction Research Institute. Research focuses on the development and study of low-carbon solutions for cementitious materials, circular economy approaches and the valorisation of construction waste, as well as 3D printing.
The inclusion of new partners and expertise has broadened the Chair’s research scope. It now also examines the performance of these solutions at the scale of entire structures, as well as issues related to diagnostics of existing assets and interface behaviour.
The IdB Chair is supported by major industry partners: Vicat, École Française du Béton, France Ciment, CIMbéton, Fondation ESTP.
In 2025, the Chair expanded to include five new major partners: Spie batignolles, Écominéro, Chryso France, Université d’Orléans/LaMé, and ESITC Paris.
Céline FLORENCE
Head of the IdB Chair
Email: cflorence@estp.fr
