Developing a low-carbon, circular economy for steel

Penny Gowler and Will Arnold preview a new embodied carbon tool that has been developed by Elliott Wood and the Institution of Structural Engineers.

Will Arnold, Jenny Burridge, David Moore, Keerthi Ranasinghe and Sean Wilkins argue that engineers should always look to specify the most suitable material for a particular project, and offer advice on how to use materials efficiently once a choice is made.

Appendix A of Eurocode 2 permits a reduction in material partial factors for reinforcing steel and concrete. Designing elements with the reduced material partial factors reduces the amount of reinforcement steel required, hence a reduction in embodied carbon and energy, without any loss of performance.