Options to make steel reuse profitable: An analysis of cost and risk distribution across the UK construction value chain

Dunant, Cyrille F.; Drewniok, Michał P.; Sansom, Michael; Corbey, Simon; Cullen, Jonathan M.; Allwood, Julian M.

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.02.141

Cited by 62 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Ness et al [94] suggest the use of radio frequency tagging of components and the use of building information modeling to track components and assemblies and import them into building design software at the design stage. Dunant et al [95] suggest the introduction of new market actors that would identify, quality-control, stock, and market disused components.…”

Section: Reusementioning

confidence: 99%

Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review

Hertwich

Ali

Ciacci

et al. 2019

Environ. Res. Lett.

306

164

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As one quarter of global energy use serves the production of materials, the more efficient use of these materials presents a significant opportunity for the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. With the renewed interest of policy makers in the circular economy, material efficiency (ME) strategies such as light-weighting and downsizing of and lifetime extension for products, reuse and recycling of materials, and appropriate material choice are being promoted. Yet, the emissions savings from ME remain poorly understood, owing in part to the multitude of material uses and diversity of circumstances and in part to a lack of analytical effort. We have reviewed emissions reductions from ME strategies applied to buildings, cars, and electronics. We find that there can be a systematic trade-off between material use in the production of buildings, vehicles, and appliances and energy use in their operation, requiring a careful life cycle assessment of ME strategies. We find that the largest potential emission reductions quantified in the literature result from more intensive use of and lifetime extension for buildings and the light-weighting and reduced size of vehicles. Replacing metals and concrete with timber in construction can result in significant GHG benefits, but trade-offs and limitations to the potential supply of timber need to be recognized. Repair and remanufacturing of products can also result in emission reductions, which have been quantified only on a case-by-case basis and are difficult to generalize. The recovery of steel, aluminum, and copper from building demolition waste and the end-of-life vehicles and appliances already results in the recycling of base metals, which achieves significant emission reductions. Higher collection rates, sorting efficiencies, and the alloy-specific sorting of metals to preserve the function of alloying elements while avoiding the contamination of base metals are important steps to further reduce emissions.

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Section: Reusementioning

confidence: 99%

Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review

Hertwich

Ali

Ciacci

et al. 2019

Environ. Res. Lett.

306

164

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Figure 3 gives the flowchart of the material flow analysis (MFA) and the system boundary considered in this work. The MFA includes all processes and material flows considered in the LCA and is drawn from a synthesis of technical reports and publications [26], [38], [39]. The MFA distinguishes new and reused cases.…”

Section: Goal and Scopementioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental impact minimization of reticular structures made of reused and new elements through Life Cycle Assessment and Mixed-Integer Linear Programming

Brütting

Vandervaeren

Senatore

et al. 2020

Energy and Buildings

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An important share of building environmental impacts is embodied in load-bearing structures because of their large material mass and energy-intensive fabrication process. To reduce substantially material consumption and waste caused by the construction industry, structures can be designed and built with reused elements. Structural element reuse involves: element sourcing and deconstruction, reconditioning and transport. As these processes also generate environmental impacts, reuse might not always be preferred over new construction. This paper presents a method to design reticular structures with minimal environmental impact made from reused and new elements. The formulation given in this paper is based on a combination of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and discrete structural optimization. The LCA carried out in this work accounts for impacts generated from sourcing reclaimed elements to the assembly of the structure. Structural optimization is subject to stress constraints on element capacity and deflection limits for serviceability. Typical loading scenarios are considered. The method is applied to the design of three single-span steel trusses of different topology subject to 100 simulated stocks of reusable elements that have varying cross-sections and lengths. Benchmarks against minimum-weight solutions made solely from recycled steel show that this method produces structures with up to 56% lower environmental impact. Depending on stock availability, the lowest environmental impact is achieved through a combination of reused and new elements.

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“…CE presents challenges for all types of structural products, and wood is no exception. The reuse of structural steel is possible, but is hindered by current regulations and a poor financial case [16,17]. Reuse of timber structural elements presents similar challenges, plus the additional conundrum that engineered structural timber is typically a composite of organic and mineral substances that may be impossible to separate in a controlled way.…”

Section: Circular Economy (Ce)mentioning

confidence: 99%

More Timber in Construction: Unanswered Questions and Future Challenges

Hart

Pomponi

2020

Sustainability

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The built environment is one of the greatest contributors to carbon emissions, climate change, and to the unsustainable pressure on the natural environment and its ecosystems. The use of more timber in construction is one possible response, and an authoritative contribution to this growing movement comes from the UK’s Committee on Climate Change, which identifies a “substantial increase in the use of wood in the construction of buildings” as a top priority. However, a global encouragement of such a strategy raises some difficult questions. Given the urgency of effective solutions for low-carbon built environments, and the likely continued growth in demand for timber in construction, this article reviews its sustainability and identifies future challenges and unanswered questions. Existing evidence points indeed towards timber as the lower carbon option when modelled through life cycle assessment without having to draw on arguments around carbon storage. Issues however remain on the timing of carbon emissions, land allocation, and the environmental loads and benefits associated with the end-of-life options: analysis of environmental product declarations for engineered timber suggests that landfill might either be the best or the worst option from a climate change perspective, depending on assumptions.

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Options to make steel reuse profitable: An analysis of cost and risk distribution across the UK construction value chain

Cited by 62 publications

References 18 publications

Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review

Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review

Environmental impact minimization of reticular structures made of reused and new elements through Life Cycle Assessment and Mixed-Integer Linear Programming

More Timber in Construction: Unanswered Questions and Future Challenges

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