Tectum Group nominated for Innovation Award 2023

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Why do you think Tectum Group earned this nomination?

Because Tectum Group is pioneering innovation in the roofing industry. Our solutions today create a positive impact in the future.

How important is sustainability in the development of innovative products?

As an organization, it is important not only to achieve economic growth. You can do that growth in two ways. On the one hand, by achieving "gray growth. That basically means that in addition to economic growth, the ecological footprint also increases. Or on the other hand, 'green growth,' which means that there is both economic growth but the ecological footprint also decreases.

What innovative products did Tectum Group already bring to market?

Tectum Group has already launched some innovative products to the market. For example, we launched the BossCover Rooftile. This is a rubber roof tile made from the EPDM cut offs. Which in itself is a very nice initiative, only here we are still talking about recycling, where the environmental impact is just a bit higher. That's why in our next development we really focused on reusing materials and that's where the BossCover Circular System came from. That system really ensures that the materials can be reused at the end of life, which also keeps the environmental impact low.  

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How does the market respond to these innovations?

At the launch of these new solutions we have already noticed that there is a lot of demand in the market, but the biggest challenge is still to convince the construction industry of the added value of the system. Last year we installed about 10,000 square meters of this system and we were able to show the construction industry what the added value of a demountable roof system will be in the future.

Do these innovations provide a competitive advantage?

Surely, Tectum Group 's innovative approach has provided a competitive advantage. For example, there were already circular flat roof solutions in the market, but they were always limited to the roof surface. We have actually gone one step further by ensuring that the entire roof, i.e. both the roof plane and the roof curb, as well as the eaves, can be completely disassembled.  

Does Tectum Group rely on partners in developing innovations?

We did not do this development alone, but we did it together with our partner Claerhout Aluminium, who supported us in the development of the patented clamping system.

Are customers also involved in the innovation process?

In developing the system, we also closely involved our customers. Thus, we also took their feedback to the drawing board. You can have a brilliant idea on paper, but if it can't be applied in practice, then it's not workable either. So that feedback from the customers is very important in the design of the system.  

What about renovation?

Within our innovation department, we do not only look at the development of new systems, but in this way we do look at secondary source materials so that we can also use them today. For example, for the renovation of the Flemish Administrative Center in Mechelen, we removed the 20-year-old PIR insulation and tested it. This showed that the insulation is perfectly usable again. So it will now be used again in new projects.

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Why do you think Tectum Group earned this nomination?

Because Tectum Group is pioneering innovation in the roofing industry. Our solutions today create a positive impact in the future.

How important is sustainability in the development of innovative products?

As an organization, it is important not only to achieve economic growth. You can do that growth in two ways. On the one hand, by achieving "gray growth. That basically means that in addition to economic growth, the ecological footprint also increases. Or on the other hand, 'green growth,' which means that there is both economic growth but the ecological footprint also decreases.

What innovative products did Tectum Group already bring to market?

Tectum Group has already launched some innovative products to the market. For example, we launched the BossCover Rooftile. This is a rubber roof tile made from the EPDM cut offs. Which in itself is a very nice initiative, only here we are still talking about recycling, where the environmental impact is just a bit higher. That's why in our next development we really focused on reusing materials and that's where the BossCover Circular System came from. That system really ensures that the materials can be reused at the end of life, which also keeps the environmental impact low.  

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