BuildSteel is tracking the sustainability initiatives of SFIA members and their industry partners. Here is some recent sustainability news involving cold-formed steel (CFS) framing.
FrameCAD Aids Orange Coast College and UC Irvine in Sustainable Home Competition
SFIA member FrameCAD is helping Orange Coast College and the University of California, Irvine to build a sustainable home as part of the Orange County Sustainability Decathlon 2023 to be held October 5-15, 2023, at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, Calif. The OCSD23 competition challenges multidisciplinary teams to design and build eco-friendly homes.
OCC’s Architecture team and UCI’s Engineering team are collaborating to build a sustainable house that is also carbon-neutral and water and energy efficient, says the Coast Report online.
The OCC and UCI Team M.A.D.E. sustainable home designed for the Orange County Sustainability Decathlon 2023. Image courtesy of the Architecture Team at Orange Coast College
The OCC and UCI call their partnership Team M.A.D.E. (Modular Affordable Dwellings for the Environment).
“[UCI is] very collaborative. They are primarily leveraging their engineering school for the engineering and systems of our building and are bringing a lot of the technical systems to play,” said Jenn Burke, architectural design lead. “It is kind of a nice marriage between design and technology together.”
One of the OCC architectural team’s goals for the sustainable house project is to make it cost-effective and sustainable using cold-formed steel (CFS), a building material that does not rot. A FrameCAD roll former is being used on campus to produce custom frame studs for the project.
The FrameCAD system software generates the structural design of the building and also labels the studs for easy assembly.
OCC’s goal of affordability for the project house will be aided by the use of the FrameCAD machine, which produces less than 1% waste when roll forming steel coil into framing studs.
Cleveland-Cliffs Issues Its 2022 Sustainability Report
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., an SFIA member, released its Sustainability Report 2022 in April 2023, sharing its environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance for 2022 and the progress made toward its 2030 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goal.
The Sustainability Report 2022 was developed with reference to the Global Reporting Initiative Standards and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board Standards. It highlights how Cleveland-Cliffs’s business activities contribute to the advancement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. According to the 2022 report:
- Cleveland-Cliffs’ Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions in 2022 were below our reduction goal of 25% lower — well in advance of the 2030 target year for such reduction
- The company achieved its 2022 results through strategic actions such as optimizing its asset footprint and raw material mix — particularly the use of hot briquetted iron (HBI) in its blast furnaces — along with production levels of crude steel
- Additionally, the company’s overall emissions intensity per ton of crude steel decreased
- Cleveland-Cliffs entered into partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy and other relevant organizations in the pursuit of industrial decarbonization through technologies such as carbon capture and hydrogen use;
- The company enhanced water and waste optimization systems for increased recycling and reuse
Cleveland-Cliffs’ Sustainability Report 2022 is accessible online. Read the complete company news release here.
Cleveland-Cliffs Joins Clean Hydrogen Coalition
The Times reports that Cleveland-Cliffs has joined the Great Lakes Clean Hydrogen Coalition, which is pursuing federal funding to produce hydrogen as a way to decarbonize industry.
The steelmaker is partnering with Linde, GE Aerospace, the University of Toledo and the Glass Manufacturing Industry Council on a bid for Inflation Reduction Act funding through the U.S. Department of Energy to fund hydrogen production, The Times says.
Steel Industry Backs Canada’s Clean Energy Moves
Canada’s new federal budget incentives for clean energy significantly expands the climate toolkit available to support heavy industry, including Canada’s steel industry, says The Hamilton Spectator, also known as The Spec.
The country is building a national net-zero electricity system by 2035, The Spec says, and the Canadian steel industry is in the process of switching to electricity-heavy production.
SFIA member ArcelorMittal Dofasco, for example, plans to switch from CO2-intensive blast furnace technology to lower-emission natural gas and electric arc furnace production by 2028, says The Spec.
Image courtesy of ArcelorMittal
BuildSteel previously reported on ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s partnership with the governments of Canada and Ontario to reduce the carbon intensity of its steel by transitioning its Hamilton plant to direct reduced iron-electric arc furnace (DRI-EAF) steelmaking. The DRI furnace will initially operate on natural gas power but will be “hydrogen ready” once an ample, clean hydrogen supply becomes available.
For its part, the Canadian government will invest $25.7 billion for a 15% credit on clean electricity projects over a decade. The credits will help defray costs for “wind, solar and hydro projects, gas-fired generation with abated emissions, nuclear projects, batteries, pumped storage and power grid equipment,” says The Spec.
In addition, the new Canadian budget also includes a 15% to 40% tax credit to build hydrogen production plants. This would encourage the local utility and private power companies to build hydrogen capacity, enabling steel producers such as ArcelorMittal Dofasco to transition to hydrogen power.
ArcelorMittal: 2023 Steel Sustainability Champion
The World Steel Association (worldsteel) has recognised 10 companies as Steel Sustainability Champions for their work in 2022. One of the 10 companies named is ArcelorMittal, the parent company to ArcelorMittal Dofasco.
The World Steel Association has named ArcelorMittal a 2023 Steel Sustainability Champion.
Now in its sixth year, the Steel Sustainability Champions Programme commends those worldsteel members that are most clearly demonstrating their commitment and action to sustainable development through their involvement in worldsteel sustainability activities.
CFS Meets All Sustainability Requirements
Cold-formed steel (CFS) meets the highest sustainability requirements set in all major green building standards and rating programs, including the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) from the U.S. Green Building Council, the National Green Building Standard (ICC-700) for residential buildings, ASHRAE Standard 189.1 for commercial construction and the International Green Construction Code (IgCC).
According to the American Iron and Steel Institute:
- Steel framing contains a minimum of 25% recycled steel and is continually and completely “remade without any loss of quality”
- Most other construction products can only be down-cycled into lower-quality products
- Steel framing minimizes construction site waste
Additional Resources
- Update #7 | Sustainability news from ArcelorMittal, SDI and U.S. Steel
- Update #6 | Sustainability news from Cleveland-Cliffs, Worldsteel and U.S. Steel
- Update #5 | News from Nucor, Cleveland-Cliffs and a New Low-Emissions Steel Coalition
- Update #4 | Steel Framing Industry Sustainability Initiatives
- Update #3 | Steel Framing Industry Sustainability Initiatives
- Update #2 | Steel Framing Industry Sustainability Initiatives
- Update #1 | Steel Framing Industry Sustainability Initiatives