At beSteel, building a sustainable solution is our core. It is the first driving point in everything that we do. That’s why we work with lightweight steel frames. Lightweight steel frames not only offer less polluting solutions but also a safer, more efficient site.
Read along to find out why beSteel is a sustainable building solution and the perfect choice for your project!
LIGHT STEEL, THE MOST EFFICIENT SOLUTION FOR DECARBONIZING THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
The construction industry is responsible for around 39% of global carbon emissions. And construction activities account for around 50% of the world’s raw materials consumption.
Construction activities are responsible for the destruction of natural habitats and loss of biodiversity through deforestation, land-use change, and soil erosion.
Light steel frame is one of the most effective construction methods for helping the construction sector reduce its carbon emissions, and the best way to meet the European Union’s target of cutting waste production by 30% by 2030.
At beSteel, we aim to offer you the most sustainable building solution for your project. When lightweight steel, a sustainable and recyclable material, is combined with offsite fabrication, where the building components are built in factories rather than on site, it leaves no waste behind, and helps to significantly reduce the construction industry’s carbon emissions.
Let’s dive deeper together into all the sustainable advantages of both steel frame and offsite manufacturing separately, and see why they are the best combo. Then, let’s compare them to traditional building methods.
I/ What makes light steel a sustainable material and a game changer in the construction industry?
You can minimize your material consumption through Lightweight Steel Frame Structures. Lightweight steel outperforms most of other construction materials thanks to its exceptional combination of strength, weight, durability, and recyclability.
1.Strength and Efficiency:
Lightweight steel’s outstanding strength-to-weight ratio allows us to achieve the same structural integrity with significantly fewer materials. This not only enhances the efficiency of construction projects but also aligns with the imperative to reduce our overall material consumption.
2. Recyclability:
Steel is renowned as one of the most recyclable materials, with an impressive recovery rate of 90%. In contrast to wood, while wood is recyclable, treated wood poses challenges for easy reuse. Additionally, burning wood can release carbon into the atmosphere, further emphasizing the environmental advantages of lightweight steel.
3. Designed for Deconstruction:
Beyond its inherent material efficiency, our light steel frame structures are intentionally designed for easy dismantling. This dry construction method allows for the mounting and dismantling of structures with minimal waste generation. The emphasis on recyclability not only promotes a sustainable approach but also contributes to reducing the total life cycle cost of materials.
4. Environmental Impact:
By implementing solutions like lightweight steel frames, we have the potential to significantly reduce the construction industry’s carbon footprint. Studies indicate that adopting such approaches could lead to a remarkable 44% reduction in the industry’s carbon footprint by 2050.
The adoption of lightweight steel frame structures not only optimizes resource utilization and minimizes waste but also positions the construction industry on a path towards a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future.
II/ Why is offsite manufacturing a sustainable building solution?
1. Waste production
Off-site manufacturing significantly reduces waste production, compared to traditional building methods. Our designers and engineers precisely calculate and plan the material usage beforehand, and we make sure to minimize waste as much as possible. Then, we produce all the building components in a controlled environment, our advanced technologies allow us for high precision and accuracy, resulting in fewer errors and a huge reduction of waste. This whole process results in delivering fewer materials on the site of construction, so this means that offsite manufacturing not only reduces the waste during manufacturing but also on site.
2. Reduce transportation needs
We transport only what we need.
Offsite manufacturing reduces the need for on site transportation, resulting in huge reduction of vehicle emissions.
All building components deliver on site are useful and ready to use. No transportation of unnecessary materials to the site and waste from the site.
3. Speed of construction time
Offsite manufacturing results in 20-40% faster construction time with less impact on the area. Compared to traditional construction methods, offsite construction is much faster, which results in less disturbance on the environment and the neighbours!
4. Need of on site labour
Offsite construction includes a precise and controlled production process, which results in reducing the need for on site extensive labour by 60% – so this means there are fewer people on site!
DO YOU NEED A LCA – LIFESTYLE ANALYSIS – FOR YOUR PROJECT?
If you need an LCA or EPD for your future steel framing project, our team will be happy to share our data with you.
DISCOVER THE STEELFRAME LIFESTYLE ANALYSIS (LCA)
We are pleased to share with you the results of our EPD carried out in partnership with the federation of Dutch steelframe builders- Bouwen met Staal.
We were able to calculate our ECI – Environmental Cost Indicator – per kg of steel for a steel framing. This ECI score allows us to calculate the carbon footprint of our steel frame and helps you to do the same for all your projects using the LCA & EPD platform .
DISCOVER OUR RESULTS:
- LCA : 1,390 kg/CO2 for 1 kg of Light Steel Frame
- Environmental costs are €0.15 for a life span of 100 years for 1 kg of steel
The environmental cost is calculated from the production of the steel to its reuse for 100 years. 16% of our steel framing will remain a steel frame after the first life of your building and 90% of your total steel will be recycled.
This is why we can calculate our costs for this long period.
Our aim is to build a carbon-neutral steel structure and reduce production costs.
OUR VISION: CARBON-NEUTRAL STEEL FOR ALL OUR STRUCTURE
beSteel’s steel frame structures are made of ArcelorMittal Magnelis® steel.
ArcelorMittal has been working to reduce their carbon footprint for a long time, and recently they have launched two initiatives under the name xCarb™.
- XCarb™ green steel certificates: Designed for ArcelorMittal’s flat steel products, resulting from their decarbonisation initiatives, that are proven to significantly reduce CO2 emissions. Purchasing a steel frame coil with this certificate ensures investments in projects that reduce the carbon footprint – production in Liège, Bremen, or Ghent for beSteel projects.
- XCarb™ recycled and renewably produced: Specific steel frame coil, produced in Spain and made with an electric flame blast furnace with 100% renewable energy. Everything is made from 90% recyclable materials.
With these Certificates you can save up to 2110 kg C02/Ton Steel (standard calculation is 2570 kg C02/Ton Steel) and become carbon-neutral for all our constructions.
Watch the video below to learn more about xCarb™:
Cradle to Cradle Certification
The Cradle to Cradle Certified® program is a multi-attribute standard used globally for designing products for a healthy, equitable and sustainable future. Click here for me details.
beSteel was analyzed in 2019 and we received Bronze.
REAL LIFE EXAMPLE
A study of Alternatives for the Design of Sustainable Low-Income Housing in Brazil
- The objective of this study was to analyse and compare the environmental impact of three different buildings in Brazil, built with different construction systems: Reinforced concrete, masonry and steel frame.
- We can see from the results of this study that the steel frame building has the lowest embodied GWP compared to the other buildings with traditional building methods. GWP is measured in kg CO2 eq/m2.
How much CO2 does beSteel avoid?
Additionally, we took the average number of the carbon saving from this study and another one made in Egypt ( 126.49 kg C02-eq/m² ) and multiplied it with the total number of square meters of our projects per year. So, we can see the total kilograms of CO2 beSteel can avoid per year, until 2031.
Since the numbers speak for themselves, we can see that building with beSteel means building the future!
We can save up almost 60 000 tonnes CO2 from today to 2031!