Selecting metal resources
Steel
The environmental impacts depend on the steel grade used in concrete. Most often the steel in concrete is reinforcement steel. Stainless steel is usually used only if there is high exposure (for instance by weather) and high-tensile steel is used for pre-stressed concrete elements.
From an environmental impact point of view, there are three major types of concrete reinforcement steel:
- Reinforcement steel that typically contains a lot of recycled steel and has thus low environmental impacts
- High-tensile steel that usually contains virgin steel
- Stainless steel
For other use of steel, you must choose the right kind of steel. The basic options are:
Stainless steel
Hot-dip galvanized steel
Hot rolled steel
Cold-formed steel
Usually, structural steel is one of the basic options. Make sure you have the right type and correct amount of steel and the environmental impact will be in a reasonable scale.
Aluminum
For aluminum, the most important factor defining the environmental impact is to choose the right kind of treatment.
Typical treatments are:
- anodised
- polyester powder-coated
- cold-formed
Apart from treatment, the environmental impacts vary depending on the aluminum’s recycled content and manufacturing country (defines which energy profile has been used).
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