Table of Contents

1 Abstract .................................................................................................................................... 2
2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 2
2.1 Impacts of Steel on Construction ..................................................................................... 2
2.2 Health and safety .............................................................................................................. 3
2.3 Environment ..................................................................................................................... 3
3 Steel construction’s role in sustainable development .............................................................. 4
3.1 The construction phase ..................................................................................................... 4
3.2 The recycling of Steel ...................................................................................................... 4
4 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 5
5 References ............................................................................................................................... 6

List of Figures

Figure 1 steel consumed by residential construction in China (Wang, 2012) ................................ 3

Figure 2 Vertical and horizontal extension to the Empress State Building using braced steel
framing (Bassam A.Burgan, Michael R.Sansom, 2006) ................................................................. 4
Figure 3 World Crude and Scrap Steel (In billion tons) (Bassam A.Burgan, Michael R.Sansom,
2006) ............................................................................................................................................... 5
 CONSTRUCTION AND MATERAILS TECHNOLOGY- STEEL
1 Abstract
The report in hand discusses the importance of construction to the three elements of sustainable
development, namely economic growth, social progress and effective protection of the
environment. The identification of issues in construction in meeting the sustainable development
agenda; these include efficient use of natural resources, reducing energy consumption, reducing
emissions, minimizing waste, more efficient land use, reducing the impact on construction sites
and creating better employment conditions. The ways in which steel construction is addressing
these issues are discussed. In the context of new buildings, steel’s impact on the construction
process—namely speed, prefabrication, safety, waste minimization and factory and site
conditions are described. Ways in which construction form can contribute to reducing the energy
consumption in buildings, particularly during the “in-use” part of the building’s lifecycle, are
outlined. The role of steel in extending the life of existing building stock is examined and design
features for enabling re-use of steel components are highlighted. The paper concludes with
remarks on the extent to which constructional steel is recovered and recycled at the end of life of
buildings.

2 Introduction
The term “sustainable development” became popularized with the publication of Our Common
Future (the Bruntland Report) in 1987 which defines sustainable development as “development
that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs” .The interpretation of this definition has, however, since 1987 broadened
and matured. The protection of the environment is today recognized as but one element of
sustainable development; others include social and economic factors. In the UK Government’s
Sustainable Development Strategy , Sustainable development is defined as enabling “all people
throughout the world to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy a better quality of life, without
compromising the quality of life of future generations”, thereby accentuating the importance of
the social element. (Huang Yuan, Huan-Peng Hong, Huang Deng, Yu Bai, 2018) Today, it is
widely accepted that sustainable development has three foundations: environmental, social and
economic. If we accept this, the link between sustainable development and construction becomes
clear; construction is of high economic significance and has strong environmental and social
impacts. (Yvonne Ciupack, Hartmut Pasternak, Christoph Mette, Elisabeth Stammen, Klaus
Dilger, 2017)

2.1 Impacts of Steel on Construction

In pre-enlargement Europe, construction investment amounted to €910 billion in 2003. And, if
we include the 10 new EU countries, the figure increases by a further €100 billion. Construction
accounts for about 10% of European GDP and the construction industry is Europe’s largest
industrial employer. It provides 28% of industrial employment which in turn represents 7.2% of
total employment. As such a major employer, the social well-being of a large number of people
depends directly or indirectly on construction. The industry is also important to quality of life in
terms of housing, workspace, utilities and transport infrastructure. It can therefore impact
positively not only on its employees, but also on the communities in which it operates. (Nicola
Scholl, Florian Minuth-Hadi, Klaus Thiele, 2018)

2.2 Health and safety

We spend some 90% of our lives in buildings and so our well-being is linked to the quality of
space we occupy. For example, the fact that poor quality living space is responsible for health
problems has been recognized by the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) for some 15 years in
what it terms “sick building syndrome” and the W.H.O. estimates that worldwide, 30% of
offices, hotels, institutions and industrial premises have the syndrome.
Also on the downside, the construction sector suffers from a relatively poor health and safety
record. In England, for example, the construction industry accounted for 31% of all fatal injuries
to workers in 2002/3, significantly higher than other industrial sectors, and workers with the least
time with their current employer (or least time self-employed) had the highest rate of reportable
injury. (RuwanRajapakse, 2017) The figures for China are:

Figure 1 steel consumed by residential construction in China (Wang, 2012)

2.3 Environment
Globally, the construction sector is arguably one of the most resource-intensive industries.
Construction and the operation of buildings accounts for 40% of total energy use and 16% of
total water withdrawals. Construction also accounts for 40% of the total flow of raw materials
into the global economy every year—around 3 billion tons. The production and processing of
these materials impacts heavily on the landscape, and can cause air pollution, toxic runoff into
watercourses and loss of forests and agricultural land. (En-Feng Deng, Liang Zonga, Yang
Dinga, Xiao-Meng Dai, Ni Lou, Yang Chen, 2018)
Furthermore, waste from construction and demolition constitutes one of the largest waste streams
in Europe. A study carried out for the European Commission showed that in the EU-15 arisings
of ‘core’ 1 construction and demolition waste amount to around 180 million tonnes each year
and that only about 28% across the EU-15 as a whole is re-used or recycled with the remaining
72% going to landfill. Five Member States (Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain)
accounted for around 80% of the total, broadly consistent with the share of the overall
construction market accounted for by these countries. (Muiris C.Moynihan, Julian M.Allwood,
2012)

3 Steel construction’s role in sustainable development

Steel construction has a great deal to offer sustainable development. The launch of the steel
construction sector’s sustainability strategy at the end of 2002 was an important public
affirmation of the sector’s commitment to sustainability. It is designed to ensure a healthy future
for the sector, where businesses can operate profitably with due regard for environmental and
social issues. It sets out how steel can be used to deliver more sustainable construction at the
design, execution, in-use and deconstruction stages. (Cyrille F.Dunanta, Michał P.Drewniok,
Michael Sansom, Simon Corbey, Jonathan M.Cullen, Julian M.Allwood, 2018)

3.1 The construction phase

The main sustainable development issues for the construction phase are minimizing the impact
on the local community and reducing waste. Site impacts include things like noise, dust,
pollution and traffic congestion. One of the most effective ways of reducing these impacts is by
maximizing offsite prefabrication, which not only minimizes site activity, but also can provide
efficient, safe, high quality and fast construction. Of course all steel products are manufactured
offsite, with the degree of prefabrication increasing from linear elements, to infill panels to
complete modules which are fully finished and fitted out in the factory, ready for assembly on
site. (Bernardino D’Amico, Francesco Pomponi, 2018)

Figure 2 Vertical and horizontal extension to the Empress State Building using braced steel
framing (Bassam A.Burgan, Michael R.Sansom, 2006)
Prefabrication and factory based work also enable waste to be minimized, not just on site, but
throughout the design and manufacturing processes, which are optimized through computer
aided design and manufacturing and fully or semi-automated production lines. For steel
construction, whilst wastage rates will vary depending on the complexity of the manufacturing
process and the product, they are typically between 1% and 4%.
(ViktorMechtcherineaJasminGrafeaVenkatesh
N.NerellaaErikSpaniolbMartinHertelbUweFüsselb, 2018)

3.2 The recycling of Steel

Sustainable development requires that the end of life impact of buildings is minimized. This
entails reducing waste and ensuring that materials are recovered and either recycled or re-used;
steel products lend themselves to both and the potential for re-use of steel components has been
enhanced by the standardization of components and connections that the steel industry has
achieved. Products that are commonly re-used include sheet and bearing piles, structural
members, purlins and rails and modules. At a larger scale, and with proper consideration at the
design stage, whole buildings can be dismantled and re-erected elsewhere. (I.Arrayago, E.Real,
E.Mirambell, F.Marimon, M.Ferrer, 2018)
Finally, where the life of a building cannot be extended, and its components cannot be re-used,
the steel content can be recycled. The sustainable development advantages of recycling steel are
that:
 Use of natural resources is minimized,
 Energy usage is reduced, and
 There is a reduction in waste generation.
All new steel has a recycled content, and this can vary between 10% and 100% depending upon
the availability and price of scrap, the specification of the steel and the steel production route.
But global demand for new steel exceeds the supply of scrap steel by a factor of around two and
so it is not currently possible to meet the demand for all new steel entirely from scrap.
(J.Thomas, 2018)

Figure 3 World Crude and Scrap Steel (In billion tons) (Bassam A.Burgan, Michael R.Sansom,
2006)

4 Conclusions
Sustainable construction is neither a single material issue nor a single discipline problem. It
requires multi-disciplinary whole life thinking to inform decision making. For steel, the process
of improvement and innovation to contribute to sustainable construction is a continuous one. But
today, the steel construction sector can point to:
 Advances in process and product technology;
 Factory-based construction that minimizes site impact and creates stable and good quality
working conditions and employment opportunities;
 Fabrication methods that enable adaptable buildings to be constructed;
 Joining techniques that enable buildings to be easily dismantled and their components re-
used; and
  An industry with a global infrastructure for recycling all steel construction products.
(Bassam A.Burgan, Michael R.Sansom, 2006)

5 References
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