Comparison of environmental impacts of steel and concrete as building materials using the Life Cycle Assessment method

摘要

In the United States, the construction industry accounts for almost 75% of total raw material used. This is an obvious drain on natural resources and has a major impact on the surrounding environment. Construction materials are also responsible for a relatively large portion of the global CO2 emissions. The commercial construction industry is dominated by the use of steel and in-situ concrete as building materials. It is intuitive then, to state that these two materials and their respective production flows have a significant impact on the environment, simply because of the amount of material being produced and consumed in the building industry today. In addition, due to drastic increases in energy prices and potential shortages in the future, the amount of energy consumed in the production of construction materials (embodied energy) and the amount of energy used over a projected life span (operational energy) are becoming increasingly more important to builders, designers, and owners of buildings. The growing trend in the United States, and elsewhere in the world, is towards eco-friendly design. In the last several years, the concrete and steel industries have spent significant resources to promote their material as the optimum solution for sustainable building design.