doi:10.3850/978-981-08-7920-4_S1-S07-cd

ABSTRACT

There is an increasing interest in reuse and recycling in the construction industry worldwide, driven by a general increase in awareness of environmental issues. Designers are beginning to look at how to incorporate reused steel components into construction projects thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions by saving on primary steel production. However, although some designers are willing to redesign their projects tomake use of available reclaimed structural steel components it is often difficult to identify suitable materials in the local area at the appropriate time in the life of a project. This paper reviews the issues that are relevant to increasing reuse in construction and focuses on examples that illustrate the benefits that steel can bring to sustainable construction. In particular, it discusses the issues relevant to designing to enable future disassembly, and the way in which steel components can be readily reused.

Keywords: Recycling, Reuse, Sustainability, Deconstruction, Recovery, Down-cycling.

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