Sustainable Construction A Life Cycle Approach in Engineering

Life cycle inventory of stainless steel – A review of challenges,
methods and applications
B. Rossi
University of Liège, Liège, Belgique barbara.rossi@ulg.ac.be
ABSTRACT: This paper presents life cycle inventories (LCI) of stainless steel products (coldrolled
coils) with a focus on the challenges associated to the use of this material in the construction
domain: roofs, façades, technical equipment, structural components.
After an introduction describing recent applications of stainless steel in the construction domain,
an overview of the challenges related to the use of this material is presented. In this section,
a special attention is paid to the Leadership in Environmental and Engineering Design
(LEED) developed by the US Green Building Council (USGBC), that was one of the world’s
first green building rating system (1990) and most widely used internationally. The most recognized
European environmental assessment methods will also be mentioned.
Several grades will then be described with regard to their mechanical (resistance and ductility)
and physical properties (solar reflectance, thermal emittance) as well as surface finishes
available for the construction domain. Afterwards, three grades in the form of cold-rolled coils
(grades 304, 316 and 430) will be compared in terms of life-cycle inventory from cradle to gate
including the end-of-life treatment. Indeed, since stainless steel is recycled to more than 90% at
the end of its life and recyclable and indefinite number of times, the method that will be taken
into account is referred as “allocation for scrap inputs and outputs using the closed material loop
recycling methodology”. A short description of the reference method will also be provided.
Last, depending on the recycling rate and thus net recycling content, several impacts such as
the energy demand and CO 2 emissions will be compared. The influence of the end-of-life credit
method will be underlined and discussed.
1 INTRODUCTION
Stainless steel is perceived by the average man as a highly decorative material as well as durable,
aesthetic and easily maintained. Stainless steel manufacturers and retailers as well as construction
engineers and architects agree to say that this material has a great potential in the market
for sustainable constructions thanks to its intrinsic properties: mechanical properties
(strength, ductility, fire resistance), not polluting (even if left in a rubbish dump), recyclable indefinitely,
highly recovered at the end of its life, durable (thanks to the protective oxide layer)
and easily maintained, adaptable to future renovation or reconstruction or even reuse of entire
parts of the construction, interesting physical properties such as the emittance, easily combined
with other construction materials (see for instance Birat et al. 2005, Hiroyuki & Toshiyuki 2005,
Baddoo 2008, Houska 2008). Moreover, due to the development of life cycle cost analysis
(LCC) of structures, the adjective economic is sometimes naturally joined to stainless steel alternatives
especially seen the development of ferritic grades (Rossi 2008).
A lot of examples of constructions in which stainless steel has been used for its aesthetic expression
and durability exist: the Francois Mitterand Library in Paris (Arch. Dominique Perrault)
where stainless steel mesh where used for the interior ceiling, the Torre Caja in Madrid (see Fig.
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