Website search upgrade boosts the power of your fingertips

New tool on the LafargeHolcim Foundation’s website helps navigate a wealth of information on the state-of-the-art in sustainable construction

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    Project entry 2014 Europe – Aggregate Structure: Reusable aggregates requiring no binding agent, Stuttgart, Germany

    An aggregate vault is made from a large number of designed particles, solidifying merely by frictional contact. The interlocking granules are poured over a formwork made of snow, ice, sand or a fluid designed aggregate. The load-bearing structure then makes up only 10-20% of the entire construction volume. Both structure and formwork are fully recyclable. The construction process itself is very rapid as the aggregate instantly stabilizes. (Image © ICD Stuttgart)

The LafargeHolcim Foundation website contains a wealth of information on sustainable design – including more than 1,500 web pages, 1,000 documents and 10,000 images. To help make finding the most relevant information easier, our website search engine has been upgraded to improve how you can search for project descriptions and expert profiles, PDFs, images and videos on the LafargeHolcim Foundation website. 

Last updated: May 22, 2018 Zurich, Switzerland

The LafargeHolcim Foundation website contains a wealth of information on sustainable design – including more than 1,500 web pages, 1,000 documents and 10,000 images. The content includes information on the prize-winning submissions in the LafargeHolcim Awards competition and project updates, papers presented at the LafargeHolcim Forum, and expert profiles. To help make finding the most relevant information easier, our website search engine has been upgraded to improve how you can search for project descriptions and expert profiles, PDFs, images and videos on the LafargeHolcim Foundation website. To improve your search results, here are some tips:

Basic search: The default search inserts “AND” between each word entered into the search field. If you search for “sustainable construction” – then the search engine will look for any items containing keywords sustainable AND construction.

Broaden your search: Using similar terms can improve your search results. For example, “photovoltaic OR solar” will look for either word across the content of the website. Remember that the Foundation reports on sustainable construction worldwide, so using multiple terms can be helpful eg: “custom-made OR bespoke”.

Refine your search: By nesting terms with brackets and search terms, you can both expand the scope of the search and increase the specificity eg: “(clay OR mud) AND (school OR university)”. Another approach is to use subtraction if you find too many hits eg: “geothermal -heating” will look for content on the website that includes “geothermal” but NOT “heating”.

Right to the point: Use quotation marks to search for a specific phrase or combination of words eg: “zero carbon”. This can be very helpful if the initial search yields too many results, or you are searching for a specific name or technical term.

Going wild: The asterisk can be used to search more widely by looking for a group of related words eg: “archit*” will find any term containing that combination of letters including architect, architecture, architectural as well as architrave.

Beyond search: In addition to the improved search function, the LafargeHolcim Foundation provides frequent updates on its initiatives including project updates, Awards announcements, and news on events on Facebook and Twitter. You might also wish to consider subscribing to our newsletter, which is sent about six times per year, and reports on major Awards announcements, publications and conferences.