Building council out to forge 'green' steel
The Age
Saturday February 20, 2010
STEEL has become a little "greener" as a building material under revised, draft Green Star rules announced by the Green Building Council of Australia.The GBCA has changed its Green Star credit criteria for steel, placing more emphasis on best-practice steel production and fabrication in addition recycling.The aim is to use steel in a more efficient and energy-saving way, so that less steel is used in any particular product.Large amounts of carbon dioxide are produced when turning iron ore into steel.The revised draft steel credit rating was released this week after a 12-month review, for a four-week public comment period ending on March 19.GBCA chief executive Romilly Madew said a review found that Australia's steel industry was already at world's best practice, recycling about 90 per cent of its product.Under the revised credit scheme, up to two "green" points will be awarded when two benchmarks are met.The first is that at least 95 per cent of the total structural steel and reinforcing steel by mass is sourced from steel-making facilities that have a current, valid ISO 14001 environmental management system in place. The second is that manufacturers must be members of the World Steel Association's Climate Action Program and meet key best practice, technical criteria.Green Star has included a steel credit since its inception in 2003.BlueScope Steel and OneSteel both welcomed the revised credit scheme as a big step forward."While there will still be some challenges for the industry to attain the credit, it is achievable," a BlueScope spokesman said.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. The results from the concrete review will be released later this year.
© 2010 The Age
