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.

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.

This CPD module, sponsored by Steel for Life, examines a number of steel’s credentials specifically on its ability to be reused, recycled and multi-cycled, its structural efficiency as a construction material, and its alignment and application to circular economy principles.