FACILITATING GREATER REUSE & RECYCLING OF STRUCTURAL STEEL IN THE CONSTRUCTION & DEMOLITION PROCESS DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURAL SCIENCE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE FACILITATING GREATER REUSE AND RECYCLING OF STRUCTURAL STEEL IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION PROCESS FINAL REPORT 20 March 2006 Project Team Dr Mark Gorgolewski Prof. Vera Straka Jordan Edmonds Carmela Sergio Action Plan 2000 Canadian Institute of Steel Construction FINAL REPORT 1 FACILITATING GREATER REUSE & RECYCLING OF STRUCTURAL STEEL IN THE CONSTRUCTION & DEMOLITION PROCESS Project advisory group The project steering committee provided much useful guidance and assistance throughout the project The members of the steering committee were as follows: David MacKinnon – Canadian Institute for Steel Construction Sylvie Boulanger – Canadian Institute for Steel Construction Susan Wuycik – Spec-Sec Fabricators Matt Humphries – Halsall Engineering Tony De Fina – Russel Metals Ken De Souza – Dofasco Steel Ryan Priestly – Priestly Demolition Vera Straka, – Ryerson University, Architectural Science Jordan Edmonds – Ryerson University, Architectural Science Mark Gorgolewski – Ryerson University, Architectural Science The project was carried out by the Department of Architectural Science at Ryerson University with assistance from the Canadian Institute for Steel Construction. The work was funded by the Enhanced Recycling Component of the Government of Canada Action Plan 2000 on Climate Change, Minerals and Metals Program (managed by the Minerals and Metals Sector, Natural Resources Canada), and by the Canadian Institute for Steel Construction (CISC). FINAL REPORT 2 FACILITATING GREATER REUSE & RECYCLING OF STRUCTURAL STEEL IN THE CONSTRUCTION & DEMOLITION PROCESS Executive Summary The aim of this project is to develop a greater understanding of the materials flows in the steel construction industry and using this knowledge to provide tools that will facilitate greater reuse and recycling of steel components. The project involved three inter-related activities: Industry survey Initial work focused on investigating the materials flows and mechanisms within the steel construction sector to understand the opportunities for steel component reuse. A variety of organisations were contacted and surveyed, including steel service centres, demolition contractors, salvage yards, designers, and steel fabricators. The aim was to better understand the processes, and if possible the numbers, linked to construction, recycling and reuse of steel. The results of this stage are reported in chapter 2 of this report. The diagram below indicates the main steel flows that were identified. In summary, the conclusions of this work suggest that reuse of steel components does occur but much of in an informal way, often for secondary uses. The shoring industry is a major user of larger reused sections, as they can adapt their requirements to suit availability. For other building uses, matching demand for particular sections with what is available at any time is a problem. Also, procedural issues can prevent much reuse. Pre-engineered, mainly industrial and storage, buildings regularly are deconstructed for reuse. Other major factors that affect steel reuse are the value of scrap steel, health and safety legislation, and construction economic activity. The recent high value of scrap steel on world markets has discouraged FINAL REPORT 3 FACILITATING GREATER REUSE & RECYCLING OF STRUCTURAL STEEL IN THE CONSTRUCTION & DEMOLITION PROCESS steel component reuse. The value of reused steel components is linked to the cost of new steel. Demolition contractors and salvage yards can get a high price for scrap steel that goes to steel mills for recycling and so they are not willing to make the additional effort and incur extra costs to extract the components in such a way that they can be reused. Health and safety legislation is sometimes perceived to add cost due to the more careful processes of deconstruction that are necessary for steel components to be removed undamaged for reuse. Others dispute this, although it is accepted that additional time is often required. When demolition contractors are busy they will tend to choose the quickest option which does not usually involve the care required for component reuse. Also, demolition is often on the critical path of a new build project and the client wants this done as quickly as possible. Deconstruction adds time to the process. Accurate figures for the amount of recycling and reuse of steel from demolition were difficult to obtain. However, from discussions with the industry it was estimated that approximately 90% of steel arising from demolition goes back to the steel mills for recycling, about 10% goes to some form of component reuse, and only a minimal amount, perhaps less than 1% goes to landfill as it is difficult to extract from the waste stream. However, in addition a considerable number of steel structures are not completely demolished. Rather they undergo major adaptive reuse where the steel structure is reused in the same location but for a new use. This is a very beneficial form of steel reuse. It has been estimated that reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of between 3,000 and 4,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually results from current construction steel reuse. Further annual reductions of 300 to 350 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year (200 tonnes from adaptive building reuse and 100 to 150 tonnes from component reuse) may be possible as a consequence of increased awareness resulting from greater environmental concern in the industry and the information supplied by this project. Assuming such a rate of growth, over 5 years, total savings resulting from steel reuse may be between 19,500 and 24,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and over 10 years may be between 46,500 and 59,250 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Web site The second part of the project involved establishing a web site to inform the industry about opportunities for reusing steel in environmentally responsible ways and to facilitate the exchange of steel construction components. A reuse-steel.org web site has been established with information for designers, case studies, resources, news items, and the opportunity for posting ‘available’ items of used construction steel components that are offered for sale and ‘wanted’ postings from those looking for steel components. Case studies and information papers For the third component of the project, eight case studies about relevant building projects that feature some steel reuse were prepared, each one focusing on a particular building and aspects of steel reuse, how it affected the design and construction process, and what lessons can be learned. The case studies are aimed at architects and structural engineers. In addition, 4 information papers were prepared. Rather than looking at a specific building, these focus on a particular issue, and provide designers with guidance on how to address issues that will aid in component reuse. Each case study and information paper will be published individually and made available to view and download through the reuse-steel.org web site. Finally, a dissemination plan has been proposed to ensure that the work carried out is presented to a wide audience of relevant groups, and recommendations have been made about future work that may increase the level of component reuse. FINAL REPORT 4 FACILITATING GREATER REUSE & RECYCLING OF STRUCTURAL STEEL IN THE CONSTRUCTION & DEMOLITION PROCESS Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION 7 1.1 BACKGROUND 7 1.2 RECYCLING AND REUSE AND CLIMATE CHANGE 9 1.2.1 THE WASTE MANAGEMENT HIERARCHY 9 1.2.2 ADVANTAGES OF REUSE AND RECYCLING 10 1.2.3 FORMS OF REUSE AND RECYCLING 10 1.2.4 STEEL REUSE 11 1.2.5 LEEDTM 12 1.3 THE SCOPE OF THIS PROJECT 13 2 SURVEY AND REVIEW OF STEEL SALVAGE INDUSTRY 14 2.1 ORGANISATIONS CONTACTED 14 2.1.1 STEEL SERVICE CENTRES (SSCS) 14 2.1.2 DEMOLITION CONTRACTORS 19 2.1.3 SCRAP STEEL DEALERS/SALVAGE YARDS 22 2.1.4 STEEL FABRICATORS & ERECTORS 25 2.1.5 DESIGNERS 29 2.1.6 SHORING INDUSTRY 31 2.2 STRUCTURE OF THE INDUSTRY 33 2.3 SUMMARY OF SURVEYS 33 3 REUSE-STEEL.ORG WEB SITE 36 3.1 MATERIALS EXCHANGE WEB SITES 36 3.1.1 REVIEW OF EXISTING CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS EXCHANGE WEB SITES 37 3.1.2 PROPOSAL FOR EXCHANGE FACILITATION 37 3.2 PROPOSED STRUCTURE AND CONTENT OF REUSE-STEEL.ORG WEB SITE 38 3.2.1 STRUCTURE OF THE WEB SITE 39 3.2.2 WEB SITE EFFECTIVENESS 41 4 CASE STUDIES 42 4.1 LIST OF IDENTIFIED PROJECTS 42 4.2 SUMMARIES OF CASE STUDIES 45 4.2.1 UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO SCARBOROUGH CAMPUS STUDENT CENTRE 45 4.2.2 MOUNTAIN EQUIPMENT CO-OP OTTAWA, ONTARIO 46 4.2.3 PARKWOOD RESIDENCES 47 4.2.4 REUSE OF STRUCTURAL STEEL AT BEDZED 48 4.2.5 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ANGUS TECHNÔPOLE 49 4.2.6 THE DECONSTRUCTION AND REBUILDING OF 740 RUE BEL-AIR, MONTRÉAL 50 4.2.7 BMW SALES AND SERVICE CENTRE, DOWNTOWN TORONTO 51 4.2.8 ROY STIBBS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, COQUITLAM, BRITISH COLUMBIA 52 FINAL REPORT 5 FACILITATING GREATER REUSE & RECYCLING OF STRUCTURAL STEEL IN THE CONSTRUCTION & DEMOLITION PROCESS 5 INFORMATION PAPERS 53 5.1 SUMMARIES OF INFORMATION PAPERS 53 5.1.1 DESIGN FOR ADAPTABILITY IN STEEL 53 5.1.2 STEEL COMPONENT DESIGN FOR DECONSTRUCTION 54 5.1.3 EARNING LEEDTM CREDITS THROUGH REUSE OF STEEL 55 5.1.4 REVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF STRUCTURAL STEEL STANDARDS 56 6 DISSEMINATION STRATEGY 57 7 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 59 7.1 CONCLUSIONS FROM SURVEYS 59 7.2 OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT 61 7.2.1 CONCERNS AND LIABILITY ISSUES 63 7.3 RECOMMENDATIONS 64 APPENDIX A