The implications of reuse and recycling for the design of steel buildings

Abstract

There is an increasing interest in reuse and recycling in the Canadian construction industry. This interest is driven partly by the recent adoption in Canada of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green Building Rating System and partly by a greater general awareness of environmental issues. Designers are beginning to look at how to incorporate reused steel components into construction projects, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions by saving on primary steel production. However, although some designers are willing to redesign their projects to make use of available reclaimed structural steel components, it is often difficult to identify suitable materials in the local area at the appropriate time in the life of a project. A limiting factor is that designers, construction companies, and others perceive a lack of a well-established and easily available mechanism for exchange of reclaimed components. This paper reviews the issues that are relevant to increasing recycling and reuse in construction and focuses on examples that illustrate the benefits that steel can bring to sustainable construction. In particular, it discusses the issues relevant to designing to enable future disassembly and the way in which steel components can be readily reused.Key words: reclaimed steel, reuse of materials, steel recycling, design for deconstruction, sustainable construction.