Recycled content of structural steel

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Author Message John Bunzick, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: bunzick Post Number: 1085 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Monday, August 10, 2009 - 08:52 am:    Does anyone have experience with what a realistic level of recycled content of structural steel is? I want to go beyond--well beyond if I can--the default value of 25 percent. Richard Howard, AIA CSI CCS LEED-AP Senior Member Username: rick_howard Post Number: 218 Registered: 07-2003 Posted on Monday, August 10, 2009 - 11:01 am:    It depends on the type of furnace used to produce the steel and the current availability of scrap steel. The Steel Recycling Institute has data you can use in projecting what percentage might be feasible. A good place to start is with their white paper on recycled content based on recent usage statistics. http://www.recycle-steel.org/pdfs/Inherent2007FINAL.pdf John Bunzick, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: bunzick Post Number: 1087 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Monday, August 10, 2009 - 12:19 pm:    I have found most of the published data from the steel industry. I'm trying to get a handle on what people have successfully gotten on projects, and what documentation they have used to get it. Richard Howard, AIA CSI CCS LEED-AP Senior Member Username: rick_howard Post Number: 219 Registered: 07-2003 Posted on Monday, August 10, 2009 - 01:17 pm:    The following numbers were used for our recently bid project at West Point. We justified our percentages based on the average recycled content as reported by the the Steel Recycling Institute for domestic production for the most recently available calendar year. We assumed structural shapes, rebar, and steel joists would have to be produced by electric arc furnace and all other steel by basic oxygen furnace. As determined from SRI: Structural steel shapes = 61.75%; All other steel = 25.35%. We rounded down our specified requirement to 60% for EAF-produced steel. Actual recycled content will have to be confirmed by mill certificates. Everything else steel gets USGBC's "given" 25%. John Bunzick, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: bunzick Post Number: 1088 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Monday, August 10, 2009 - 01:31 pm:    Those were approximately the figures we would be using. SRI has a December 2008 paper showing 72.6% (LEED calculation) for electric arc furnace (structural) steel and 28.4% for basic oxygen furnace steel. Have you found that the mill certificates include the back-up data on recycled content? I also noticed a number of very small mills that produce smaller shapes that may be used in typical misc. steel work. One company called these "merchant" shapes. I have no idea what level of recycled content they achieve. Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 889 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Monday, August 10, 2009 - 01:59 pm:    John- you should check the local plant closest to the project, also. In the Seattle area (for example) you can get up to 90% recycled content on some shapes and sizes. John Bunzick, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: bunzick Post Number: 1090 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Monday, August 10, 2009 - 02:44 pm:    My problem is, in part, figuring out where the local fabricators get their shapes. Richard Howard, AIA CSI CCS LEED-AP Senior Member Username: rick_howard Post Number: 220 Registered: 07-2003 Posted on Monday, August 10, 2009 - 03:27 pm:    When I said mill certificates, I should have said a LEED letter template filled in by the steel producer and delivered along with the usual mill certificate documentation. USGBC will require their format. A high recycling rate in an area means they have more post-consumer steel to raise the calculated recycled content. "Cash for clunkers" should help by putting a lot more post-consumer steel into play over the next year.