Professional guidance Steel reuse guide

Reusing structural
steel: what’s in the
new IStructE guide?
Robin Jones previews the guidance on reuse of structural steelwork that forms part of the
Institution’s forthcoming publication, Circular economy and reuse: guidance for designers.

As awareness of the climate be met using steel reclaimed from steel, it may be better from a global
emergency has grown in recent years, deconstructed buildings3. viewpoint to recycle the steel.
and the construction industry has This article provides a brief The chapter then goes on to look
begun to reorient itself towards a introduction to Chapter 15 of the at options for reusing structural
low-carbon future, there has been an Institution’s keenly awaited Circular steelwork and the guidance available.
increased focus on reuse of existing economy and reuse guide, which There are four options, presented
buildings. However, where a building focuses on reuse of steel. in ascending order from lowest to
cannot be repurposed or adapted, a highest processing and carbon
circular economy approach is to view What’s in the guide? requirements:
the building as a potential material Chapter 15 begins by examining the 1) Reuse steelwork in situ within an
bank, offering a source of construction carbon and potential financial benefits existing building.
materials for future projects. of reusing structural steelwork, 2) Reuse all or part of an existing
Steel is already regarded as a with reused steel having a carbon steel-framed structure in a different
‘circular material’, with around 85% intensity as low as 50kgCO2e/t4, location.
of steel recycled at the end of its first compared with a sector average of 3) Reuse individual member(s) as is,
useful life globally1. However, with 1740kgCO2e/t for new steelwork5. without further processing.
approx. 90% of scrap steel recycled It also considers the nuances 4) Refabricate member(s).
in the EU, compared with only 5% of balancing project and global
reused2, there is a clear opportunity to emissions, noting that, as a rule of Reuse in situ is covered elsewhere in
transition to greater reuse of steel. It thumb, if reusing steel increases the the guide, with Chapter 15 focusing on
is estimated that, in the UK, between total steel tonnage of a design by options 2–4 which require reclamation
40–80% of steel section demand could more than 30% compared with new of the steel.

Table 1: Available guidance relating to reuse of steel (adapted from Table 2 of Chapter 15)
Organisation Document Summary
British Construction Steel Model specification for the purchase of Applies to suppliers of steel products placed on the market as reclaimed
Association (BCSA) reclaimed steel sections structural steel sections for the fabrication of structural steelwork
BCSA NSSS Annex J – Sustainability Specifies general requirements and practices for achieving
Specification environmentally sustainable steel building construction
Steel Construction Publication P427 Structural Steel Reuse Protocol for reusing structural steelwork which provides a route to re-
Institute (SCI) certification of reclaimed structural steelwork
SCI Publication P138 Appraisal of Existing Deals mainly with building structures in cast and wrought iron, and in
Iron and Steel Structures steel up to 1968
UK Building Regulations Materials and Workmanship: Approved Existing materials can be reused if the material can perform the function
Document 7 for which it is intended
European Convention for European recommendations for reuse of Guidance for structural engineers relating to design using reclaimed
Constructional Steelwork steel products in single-storey buildings steelwork and designing structures for future adaptability, demountability
and reuse with an emphasis on single-storey industrial buildings
Institution of Structural Appraisal of existing structures (3rd Guidance for structural engineers on appraising and testing existing
Engineers edition) structures for refurbishment

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 Steel reuse guide Professional guidance

Available guidance properties, allowing them to certify to be CE/UKCA marked for it to be

The chapter then looks at the guidance the fabricated steelwork. Aesthetic incorporated into a CE/UKCA marked
available in the UK for reuse of considerations may also form part of structure. Hence, most second-hand
reclaimed steelwork (Table 1). The the specification. steel sections would not need to be
principal guidance is SCI publication CE/UKCA marked, according to the
P4276, which sets out a protocol for Assessment and testing CPR, and could be incorporated into
reusing steel produced after 1970 Chapter 15 then looks at the a CE marked structure provided that
(although work is in progress to extend assessment and testing requirements their properties have been proven via
the guidance to cover steel produced for reclaimed steelwork, taking readers testing.
earlier than this). However, which through the process set out in SCI Chapter 15 then goes on to briefly
guidance is applicable will depend on P427. Salvaged steel will need to be consider three types of warranty.
how the steelwork is intended to be cleaned and de-fabricated in line with
reused, and a flowchart guides readers project requirements. Carbon impact and case studies
through this. The SCI protocol recommends Chapter 15 concludes with a more
100% non-destructive testing in-depth discussion of the carbon
Sourcing and recovering second- of reclaimed structural members impact of reusing steelwork, including
hand steelwork in combination with non-statistical the emissions of the recovery, de-
Next, Chapter 15 examines the options or statistical destructive testing. Non- fabrication and remanufacturing
for procuring second-hand steelwork destructive testing of all reclaimed processes, before presenting four case
(with further guidance provided in members establishes that a group studies of steel reuse in practice.
Chapter 11 Reuse of materials). The of members can be represented
two main options are to: by destructive test results from one Acknowledgement
| buy reclaimed steelwork from the or more representative members from Chapter 15 of Circular economy and
market a group. reuse: guidance for designers has
| salvage steelwork from an been authored by Penny Gowler of
existing building for use in a future Structural design Elliott Wood.
construction project. The chapter then takes the reader
through the main fabrication and
Current steel reuse projects tend to design issues the structural engineer REFERENCES
see clients sourcing steelwork early needs to consider. For fabrication,
in the design process and designing these include:
with known sections for a new | existing corrosion protection 1) World Steel Association (s.d.) Raw materials [Online]
development. Structural engineers | existing fire protection coatings Available at: https://worldsteel.org/steel-topics/raw-
may therefore be involved in salvaging | bolt holes and welds. materials/ (Accessed: February 2023)
steelwork from an existing building. The 2) SteelConstruction.info (s.d.) The recycling and reuse
chapter looks at the practicalities of For design, these include: survey [Online] Available at: www.steelconstruction.info/
deconstruction, including approaches | ductility and residual strains The_recycling_and_reuse_survey (Accessed: February 2023)
to unbolting or cutting out steel | global analysis 3) Dunant C.F., Drewniok M.P., Sansom M. et al. (2017)
sections, and how to minimise damage | cross-sectional resistance ‘Real and perceived barriers to steel reuse across the UK
to reclaimed sections, noting that | buckling resistance construction value chain’, Resour. Conserv. Recycl., 125, pp.
collaboration across the supply chain is | steel toughness and sub-grade 118–131; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.07.036
key to establish the best approach. | thickness limits 4) EMR (2022) Reusable Steel Environmental Product
| connection design. Declaration [Online] Available at: www.environdec.com/
Specification library/epd6356 (Accessed: February 2023)
The guidance discusses specification Warranties and certification 5) Girão Coelho A.M. and Sansom M. (2021) ‘UK
and acceptance criteria for steelwork Chapter 12 of the Circular economy average embodied carbon of structural steel’, New
sourced through the two routes set and reuse guide looks in more Steel Construction [Online] Available at: www.
out in the previous section. Where detail at the legal considerations newsteelconstruction.com/wp/uk-average-embodied-
steelwork is being procured from the for reusing structural materials, but carbon-of-structural-steel/ (Accessed: February 2023)
market, it will need to be specified at Chapter 15 also summarises these 6) Brown D.G., Pimentel R.J. and Sansom M.R. (2019)
tender that this should be sourced by specifically for steel. P427: Structural steel reuse: assessment, testing and design
the contractor. The structural engineer To comply with the Construction principles, Ascot: Steel Construction Institute
will need to specify on drawings and Product Regulation (CPR), which
in a written specification the type of is a legal requirement in the EU
steel required, acceptable tolerances, and UK, all fabricated structural
provenance, aesthetics, etc. steelwork must be CE/UKCA marked,
Where steelwork is being salvaged regardless of whether it is new (prime)
from an existing building, the structural steel or reclaimed. Buy the Circular
engineer will need to be involved in the Chapter 15 explains that structural economy guide
deconstruction process, establishing components produced by fabricating Pre-order a copy of Circular
acceptance criteria with the demolition reclaimed sections can be CE/ economy and reuse:
contractor. The acceptance criteria UKCA marked by the steel fabricator. guidance for designers from
should follow the SCI P427 protocol, Unfabricated reclaimed steel sections the IStructE shop at www.
as this is auditable and provides the cannot be CE/UKCA marked. Any steel istructe.org/shop/guidance/.
fabricator with the required material produced before 2014 does not need

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