Sustainable Construction and Structural Steel Fabrication

In the twenty-first century, the topic on everyone's mind in the construction business is 'Sustainable Construction'. It is no longer enough to use building materials that are cheap to use and do not decay over time, but now the environmental impact of using the material also needs to be factored into the equation. This is where the use of structural steel for construction and fabrication takes on its own special significance.   

It has long been an acknowledged fact that steel's material properties make it a uniquely sustainable construction material. Here are some reasons why you should be making use of structural steel for your next sustainable fabrication project:

1. Less is More

Structural steel has a superior strength-to-weight ratio, which means a little bit of steel will provide the same amount of support as greater quantities of wood, concrete or some other construction material. Architects will have the freedom to come up with new and innovative designs that take up less space but provide the same amount of support.    

2. Low Carbon Buildings  

'Low Carbon' refers to a building which burns up lower amounts of carbon during its construction, leading to lesser amounts of pollution being contributed by the building. While concrete and newly-created steel burns a lot of carbon during the production process, recycled steel produces significantly lesser amounts of the gas, leading to the construction of low carbon buildings. 

3. Recyclable Material

Iron is the most abundant element on the planet, and it is the primary component of steel. This means mankind can make use of steel without worrying about the supply running out. Steel can, and also is, recycled again and again to create new structures to replace old ones.  

4. Low-Pollution Production Process

The process of producing steel has been perfected over several hundred years. Today, great efforts have been made to make the production process as environment-friendly as possible. This has resulted in reduced emission from energy consumption and carbon dioxide levels by as much as 50% to 60%, in many cases over the last 40 odd years. Scientists around the world are working non-stop to take the rate of emissions down even further in the coming decades.

5. Useful By-Products

As with any other product, the construction of steel lets by a lot of waste product. However, these waste products can be put to further use in a number of ways, such as the construction of road stone. This means that the steel production process is less wasteful and causes less harmful to the environment.         

It now becomes clear that steel should be the go-to choice for any construction company that wishes to embrace the practice of sustainable construction that provides benefits to the company in terms of low costs and high performance, and also benefits the environment.