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Optimised steel structures for a low carbon future
15 February 2024The construction industry is the world’s largest consumer of raw materials and the built environment accounts for between 25 and 40% of global CO2 emissions. The sector is responsible for nearly 40% of annual raw material use and around 39% of the total primary energy use. These numbers are set to increase.The most promising construction material in terms of low emissions and increasing circularity is steel. Although the steel industry is among the highest-emitting industries (about 7% of global carbon dioxide emissions), the carbon footprint of its manufacturing process has decreased over the last 25 years and today new low-carbon alternatives are cutting emissions faster than before. The circularity of steel, enhanced by the possibility to upcycle, unlike other materials, and its low-carbon alternatives have resulted in its use in innovative projects driven by sustainability.Efficient design of steel structures is key, designing with end-of-life in mind and specifying low-carbon alternatives. With design choices playing an important role, we need to rethink the design approach from a circular, more holistic, and therefore more sustainable perspective. The research paper ‘Why optimised steel structures will help reduce embodied carbon’ provides a brief overview of the steps being taken to decarbonise steelmaking and examines the impact of the construction sector on global emissions. The main objective of this paper is to put forth easy-to-use tools to help designers reduce the embodied carbon of their projects while offering guidance on evaluating sustainable solutions.
Technical articleSuccesses for sustainable construction at BAU
27 April 2023ArcelorMittal took part in BAU, a major event for the construction and building industry, in Munich from 17-22 April, showcasing its latest high-performance steel products, XCarb® range of sustainable steels, and cooperations dedicated to construction.
Event newsEducation wrapped in steel
17 May 2022Education escorts us throughout our entire lives – as do the buildings in which we acquire our knowledge and skills. We recollect their architecture, interior design, pieces of furniture, and even their smells. Some have impressed us more than others, but none of them have left us indifferent. In our memories, these buildings are profoundly connected to our experiences and emotions, including the people we connected with there.Over the last few decades, education has evolved and so have the requirements for educational buildings. Architectural design has significantly increased in importance, technology has conquered interior design, and user comfort is a key concern, all of which are important factors accompanying the learning experience. Architecturally attractive buildings not only express the prestige and status of institutions but contribute to a sense of wellbeing for their users.
Project news
Optimised steel structures for a low carbon future
Published: 15 February 2024
The construction industry is the world’s largest consumer of raw materials and the built environment accounts for between 25 and 40% of global CO2 emissions. The sector is responsible for nearly 40% of annual raw material use and around 39% of the total primary energy use. These numbers are set to increase.
The most promising construction material in terms of low emissions and increasing circularity is steel. Although the steel industry is among the highest-emitting industries (about 7% of global carbon dioxide emissions), the carbon footprint of its manufacturing process has decreased over the last 25 years and today new low-carbon alternatives are cutting emissions faster than before. The circularity of steel, enhanced by the possibility to upcycle, unlike other materials, and its low-carbon alternatives have resulted in its use in innovative projects driven by sustainability.
Efficient design of steel structures is key, designing with end-of-life in mind and specifying low-carbon alternatives. With design choices playing an important role, we need to rethink the design approach from a circular, more holistic, and therefore more sustainable perspective.
The research paper ‘Why optimised steel structures will help reduce embodied carbon’ provides a brief overview of the steps being taken to decarbonise steelmaking and examines the impact of the construction sector on global emissions. The main objective of this paper is to put forth easy-to-use tools to help designers reduce the embodied carbon of their projects while offering guidance on evaluating sustainable solutions.
Contents
This 2023 paper is comprised of the following sections:
1. Introduction
1.1. LCA in construction
2. Steel and sustainability
2.1. Steel making routes and emissions
2.2. Decarbonisation of steel production and challenges
2.3. Low carbon steel
3. Addressing carbon emissions in construction
3.1. Build with less embodied carbon: the shift towards a circular model
3.2. Reducing the embodied carbon of beam elements
3.3. Reducing the embodied carbon of flooring elements
4. Conclusion
Position paper:
© Marina D’Antimo, Marion Charlier, Walter Swann, Olivier Vassart
Text:
© Constructalia
© Marina D’Antimo, Marion Charlier, Walter Swann, Olivier Vassart
Images:
© ArcelorMittal Europe
© Marina D’Antimo, Marion Charlier, Walter Swann, Olivier Vassart
Related link(s)
Why optmised steel structures will help reduce embodied carbon
Successes for sustainable construction at BAU
ArcelorMittal took part in BAU, a major event for the construction and building industry, in Munich from 17-22 April, showcasing its latest high-performance steel products, XCarb® range of sustainable steels, and cooperations dedicated to construction.
Cooperations featuring XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel
Two exciting new cooperations were announced during the event:
- ArcelorMittal has joined forces with BP2, a manufacturer of complete solutions for residential construction, to supply low carbon emissions steel for BP2’s latest product, the SOLROOF integrated photovoltaic roof.
- The VELUX Group has kickstarted cooperation with ArcelorMittal as part of its efforts to halve value chain emissions by 2030. The companies will now work together to lower the carbon footprint of the steels used in VELUX roof windows, aiming to reduce embedded CO2 by up to 70% (depending on the type of steel product used) compared with conventionally produced steel.
High-performance steel products
Flagship ArcelorMittal products presented at the event included:
- Granite® organic coated steels for building envelopes: available in more than 120 colours and textures and guaranteed for up to 40 years with Granite® HDXtreme
- Magnelis® metallic coated steel for facade substructures, solar mounting structures, cable trays, composite floors, and many more applications: resists corrosion three times better than regular galvanised steel
- Ondatherm Solar®: special roof panels for photovoltaic systems
- Cofraplus® 80 composite floor profiles: approved by building authorities as prefabricated steel floors and with a significantly lower carbon footprint compared to prefabricated concrete slabs
- high strength HISTAR® steels: providing cost and material savings
- weather-resistant Arcorox® steel grade: with natural corrosion protection and a long service life
Text:
Constructalia
ArcelorMittal Europe
Images:
©ArcelorMittal Europe
©VELUX Group and ArcelorMittal
©BP2
©BAU
Related link(s)
Education wrapped in steel
Text:
Constructalia
Images:
xxxx
Education escorts us throughout our entire lives – as do the buildings in which we acquire our knowledge and skills. We recollect their architecture, interior design, pieces of furniture, and even their smells. Some have impressed us more than others, but none of them have left us indifferent. In our memories, these buildings are profoundly connected to our experiences and emotions, including the people we connected with there.
Over the last few decades, education has evolved and so have the requirements for educational buildings. Architectural design has significantly increased in importance, technology has conquered interior design, and user comfort is a key concern, all of which are important factors accompanying the learning experience. Architecturally attractive buildings not only express the prestige and status of institutions but contribute to a sense of wellbeing for their users.
We invite you to explore a sampling of our Constructalia case studies about educational buildings in which steel plays an important role. Be it in their structural systems, facades, or roofing, find out how steel contributes to the aesthetics, functionality, and safety of these buildings whilst keeping cost and sustainability concerns in mind.
Experimental construction at the service of science
Seemingly floating over the ground with its gentle slopes and internal patios, the educational experience at the Rolex Learning Center on the campus of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland must be one of a kind. Who wouldn't like to discover its innovative learning labs, libraries, and student mingling spaces? While we cannot take you there, our case study can offer you a glimpse.
It takes a village…
At Vista College, formerly known as Arcus College, hundreds of students receive vocational education at different levels, preparing them for the ever-changing professional world. At its campus in Herleen in the Netherlands, six steel-clad, organic shaped buildings are connected on their ground floors below street level and arranged around two patios, resulting in an environment that encourages openness, flexibility, and exchange.
Ecological intelligence transformed into a building
Stoas Vilentum University of Applied Science, now called Aeres Hogeschool, focusses on research and teaching in the fields of agriculture and ecology. With a durable steel facade, its university building in Wageningen in the Netherlands was also featured as Constructalia case study a few years back. Learn about its 'ecologically intelligent' design that was conceived in close cooperation with its future users.
An all-in-one primary education project
Wouldn’t you like to acquire skills and knowledge at a school that combines education, handicrafts, and leisure activities? Read how this is achieved at Pôle Molière in Le Havre, France where former stables now function as a part of a modern multipurpose school project, partly clad with weathering steel.
Secondary education with a sustainability focus
Find out more about Gallieni High School and its workshops in Toulouse, France that offer a fine example of steel architecture, in an industrial philosophy, designed in accordance with an environmental approach. In this project, like in many others, steel allows for a high degree of prefabrication, offers wide spans for flexible spaces, and optimises user comfort while saving materials and cost.
Just plane lightness
A more specific form of education takes place at Air Vergiate Flying School in Sesto Calende on Lake Maggiore in Italy where, thanks to their lightness, beams with large web openings brought life back to a sacred place of Italian civil aviation. See where future pilots learn to fly planes in this renovation project case study.
Text:
Constructalia
Images:
© EPFL | Alain Herzog
© Dirk Verwoerd for ArcelorMittal
© Little Planet
© ACAUM - Atelier BETTINGER DESPLANQUES Architectes associés & Paul Kozlowski
© ArcelorMittal
© Andrea Raffin for ArcelorMittal
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Technical details
Floor systems are made up of galvanised decks or galvanised pre-coated decks. These profiles, carefully combined with materials such as concrete, thermal and acoustic insulation, plaster, and wood, form advanced construction systems intended for all types of structures where their effectiveness and reliability are proven.
ArcelorMittal’s family of flooring solutions includes:
Cofraplus® floor decks: Trapezoidal steel sheets with open ribs and specific embossment to ensure composite action with concrete. Thanks to their geometry, they are stackable for easy storage. Cofraplus® is the best solution for most projects involving spans up to 4.5 m.
Cofrastra® profiles: Thanks to their undercut geometry, an especially high adhesion between the steel and the concrete can be achieved. Technical equipment can be installed quickly and easily beneath the slab thanks to an adapted fixing system.
Cofradal® integrated floor system: Made of steel, thermal insulation, reinforcement, and concrete. Two to three times lighter than conventional concrete floors, it provides a high load capacity and bridges long spans economically without additional support.
Cofraplus® 220 additive steel deck: Easy installation at high speed and outstanding resistance at reduced weight are the main features of this new system, which is particularly suited to all column-beam structure projects without intermediary joists.
Useful information
MoreFloor systems in steel
ArcelorMittal's range of floor construction systems is the most comprehensive on the market and offers the right solution for any kind of project and technical requirements. It consists of both well-established systems and innovative solutions which reflect recent developments in regulation, design, and installation.
The floor systems serve as a self-supporting formwork, and they resist construction loads and concrete weight. They are simple and quick to lay and easy to handle. Easy cutting and quick interlocking of the ribs contributes to site productivity. Thanks to their specific design, which optimises composite action with concrete, ArcelorMittal’s floor profiles contribute to weight reduction of structures.
After installation, the floor decks create a continuous working platform that allows site workers to walk on them safely once they are fixed to the supports.
The web-based design tool Cofra5 is free of charge and offers assistance in the calculation of ArcelorMittal’s composite flooring solutions.