Lack of public awareness and an unwillingness to pay higher costs represents major obstacles to sustainable design in the construction market [1]. Unlike such designs, the use of zinc coated steel poles or uncoated weathering steel poles for the electric distribution market reduces initial and life cycle costs. The paper demonstrates steel's longevity and contribution to sustainable development in the utility distribution market .The life of a steel pole is estimated to be about twice that of wood poles. Additional cost savings have been implemented in the 2002 National Electric Safety Code to reduce the cost of steel poles. Research is in progress at the University of Maine to further document the reliability of steel poles and others, this research is expected to yield additional economy in design of steel poles and level the playing field with wood poles to make zinc coated steel and weathering steel the sustainable material of choice for the electric distribution market.
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