A life-cycle energy model of the UK steel construction sector

摘要

This paper describes the steps used to couple results from a dynamic Material Flow Analysis (MFA) of the UK steel construction sector, with the results from a recent Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) study of the UK steel construction sector (European Commission. 2002) Information on the historical consumption of construction steel, typical lifetimes, statistical end-of-life distributions and re-use and recycling rates, have been used to develop a dynamic model of the yearly flows of steel within the construction sector. The data from the dynamic MFA model are coupled with the LCA results to determine the total annual energy consumption of the UK steel construction sector. Results show that 81% of the energy consumed by steel construction products in 1998 was by the production of finished steel for the sector.