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Driving Value Through Innovation

At CRH, investing in our innovation capabilities is a strategic priority. Innovation gives us the opportunity to create more value for our customers, our employees and the business as a whole.

Our ability to replicate and scale our innovation and technical expertise across multiple geographies unlocks tremendous opportunity for further growth and is critical to achieving our vision to develop sustainable solutions that build, connect and improve our world.

Strategic network of experts driving innovation from ideation to commercialization

Our open innovation model harnesses the strength of our own internal research and development with the power of external partnerships and ventures, ensuring we stay ahead by staying connected.

We are focused on pursuing ideas and opportunities that drive growth - creating new products and services that increase productivity, expand market share and improve competitiveness.

This involves a collaborative effort between:

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CRH’s Innovation Team

CRH’s Innovation Team is a strategic network of engineers, chemists, geologists, industrial designers and laboratory technicians across the breadth of the markets where we operate.

This team identifies emerging trends, accelerates collaboration across our group and help turn ideas into practical, scalable solutions. Our state-of-the-art facilities support product design, testing and optimization, partnering with our operating companies to deliver what works, where it matters.

CRH’s Innovation Fund

CRH’s Innovation Fund incubates high-value innovation, enabling our operating companies and functions to develop novel ideas, leverage emerging technologies and bring transformative solutions to the market. To date, CRH's Innovation Fund has catalyzed over 75 high-impact projects, accelerating sustainable, scalable solutions for the construction industry.

CRH Ventures

CRH Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of CRH, committed to investing in and partnering with leading-edge startups that are redefining the future of construction.

To date, we’ve successfully completed three accelerator programs, reinforcing our commitment to fostering early-stage innovation and scalable growth.

Strategic Partnerships

Our strategic partnerships are instrumental in securing cutting edge technology and demonstrating our ability to deploy and scale innovation through active collaboration. We are currently engaged in over 65 strategic partnerships in the markets we operate.

CRH's Innovation Focus Areas

We have identified four key areas of focus for our innovation efforts. They are:

Water

CRH is helping to accelerate a water-resilient future by advancing solutions to our customers’ and communities’ water challenges. Our innovative...

Water

CRH is helping to accelerate a water-resilient future by advancing solutions to our customers’ and communities’ water challenges. Our innovative solutions help to repair, replace and upgrade critical infrastructure. We solve for clean water, wastewater, groundwater recharging, stormwater management and flood defense. We are also investing in new technologies for efficient water management, pollution control and leak detection and we continue to innovate to find new ways to conserve water across our business.

Circularity

At CRH, we are innovating to transform the way that we use and re-use resources. We apply our materials science, design and engineering expertise to...

Circularity

At CRH, we are innovating to transform the way that we use and re-use resources. We apply our materials science, design and engineering expertise to provide longer-lasting construction materials that can be reused or recycled at the end of their life. We collaborate across industries to innovate new, material-efficient technologies and products. We integrate large amounts of wastes and by-products, sourced internally and from other sources. And we apply efficient manufacturing processes to extend the life of our mineral reserves.

Decarbonization

We believe the transition to a net-zero built environment is a significant commercial opportunity. Our customers are looking for solutions that...

Decarbonization

We believe the transition to a net-zero built environment is a significant commercial opportunity. Our customers are looking for solutions that reduce or eliminate CO2 emissions across the life cycle of buildings and infrastructure projects and promote resilience. At CRH, we are scaling solutions that support the construction of resilient, lower-carbon buildings and infrastructure and enable clean energy and transportation. And we are innovating to reduce CO2 emissions across our operations in line with our net-zero ambition.

Productivity

We identify and partner with entrepreneurs to support their transformative technologies and create innovative business models that lead to increased...

Productivity

We identify and partner with entrepreneurs to support their transformative technologies and create innovative business models that lead to increased productivity. This includes the use of advanced techniques such as modular construction and the integration of robotics and autonomous vehicles.

Innovation in Action

Across our extensive operations, CRH is improving performance, accelerating growth and delivering real, measurable impact through innovation. Here are some standout examples of our innovation in action.

CRH Invests in Innovative AI Water Management Technology

CRH is supporting the development of pioneering water management technology through an investment in FIDO AI, the artificial intelligence (AI) leak...

CRH Invests in Innovative AI Water Management Technology

CRH is supporting the development of pioneering water management technology through an investment in FIDO AI, the artificial intelligence (AI) leak detection software company.

Cement Meets Cyberdog

Ash Grove Cement, A CRH company, has employed the help of an autonomous robot in a year-long pilot, to boost efficiency and safety during site...

Cement Meets Cyberdog

Ash Grove Cement, A CRH company, has employed the help of an autonomous robot in a year-long pilot, to boost efficiency and safety during site inspections.

CRH and Volvo Group Partner to Accelerate Decarbonization

CRH and Volvo Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to accelerate net-zero innovations in the design and deployment of on-road...

CRH and Volvo Group Partner to Accelerate Decarbonization

CRH and Volvo Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to accelerate net-zero innovations in the design and deployment of on-road vehicles and off-road equipment.

New Highway Project Delivers Record Carbon Emissions Reduction

CRH has been involved in the delivery of a transformative transport infrastructure project showing what’s possible when innovation and ambition...

New Highway Project Delivers Record Carbon Emissions Reduction

CRH has been involved in the delivery of a transformative transport infrastructure project showing what’s possible when innovation and ambition combine.

CRH Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of CRH, committed to investing in and partnering with leading-edge startups that are redefining the future of construction.

Our mission is to identify and support visionary entrepreneurs developing transformative technologies and innovative business models. Through strategic investments and deep collaboration, we help bring these solutions to life, reshaping how we meet the evolving needs of our customers and communities.

What makes CRH Ventures unique is our ability to harness CRH’s unrivalled size and scale, broad market reach and operational expertise to accelerate growth.

To date, we’ve built a strong portfolio of innovative companies and successfully completed three accelerator programs, reinforcing our commitment to fostering early-stage innovation and scalable growth.