Steel credit revision to drive best practice steel production

The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) has released the draft of a revised Green Star Steel credit which aims to drive best practice steel production and fabrication, and encourage dematerialisation of steel in structural applications in Australia.

The revised steel credit has been released for a four-week public comment period, following an extensive 12-month review.

According to the Chief Executive of the GBCA, Romilly Madew, the review found that Australia’s steel industry is already recycling at world’s best practice rates.

An estimated 2.8 million tonnes of steel is available for recycling in Australia each year. In the 2007-2008 financial year, 299,681 tonnes of this total were disposed of in landfill while 2.54 million tonnes were recovered for recycling.

“A series of Steel Expert Reference Panel meetings, site visits, discussions with key stakeholders and examination of international studies found that current recycling rates from construction and industrial sources are close to 90%,” Madew said.

“With that in mind, the Steel Expert Reference Panel concluded that a revised credit was required to remove the focus on high percentages of recycled steel content in new steel products and, instead, encourage best practice steel production and fabrication and dematerialised efficiencies,” Madew said.

Green Star has included a steel credit since its inception in 2003, which encouraged the use of structural steel that contained a high percentage of recycled content. The Green Star Steel credit was included in the first Green Star rating tool, Green Star - Office Design v1, and has featured in all subsequent tools.

Under the revised credit, up to two points will be awarded where at least 95% of the total structural steel and reinforcing steel by mass is sourced from steelmaking facilities that not only have a currently valid ISO 14001 environmental management system in place, and are members of the World Steel Association’s Climate Action program, but which meet other key best practice criteria.

A spokesperson from BlueScope Steel said that their organisation “has been working closely with the GBCA's Steel Expert Review Panel for over eight months.

“The revised Green Star Steel credit is a significant step forward for the steel industry and the GBCA and, importantly, a positive one for the environment.

“While there will still be some challenges for the industry to attain the credit, it is achievable. BlueScope Steel is looking forward to seeing the steel credit implemented.”

The revision of the steel credit is part of a wider review of four of the GBCA’s Green Star Materials category credits - timber, PVC, concrete and steel. The results of the timber and PVC credits have already been released, with the results from the concrete review to be released later this year.

The revised steel credit can be viewed on the GBCA website. The public comment period will be open until 19 March 2010.