The ABLE Façade System - Environmental Benefits

The ABLE Façade System has been designed as an alternative bomb-blast resistant walling solution to the traditional re-enforced concrete versions already available in the marketplace. By using steel instead of concrete it is possible to significantly reduce the environmental impact of the system, as detailed below:

Disadvantages of concrete

A major disadvantage of concrete construction is the environmental impact it has. Concrete construction has a large carbon footprint with one tonne of cement resulting in the emission of approximately one tonne of CO2.

This is coupled with the fact that only 50% is currently recycled for use in new building projects (compared to upto 99% for structural steel), as detailed in this exert from Building magazine:

"It is estimated by BRE's Green Guide that 50% of concrete is crushed and recycled, 40% is downcycled for use such as hardcore in substructure works or road construction and the remaining 10% is waste that goes to landfill. Down-cycling does help to reduce the use of aggregates, but does not help to reduce the supply of materials needed for new concrete."

Advantages of steel

By using steel instead of concrete the environmental impact of the product is significantly reduced, as detailed in the following exert from Building magazine:

"It is estimated that, worldwide, more than 85% of steel is recycled at the end of its life. Such a high figure might seem surprising until one realises that the process is enhanced by steel's natural magnetism, which makes it easy to sort.

In UK construction, the re-use and recycling rates of various steel products have been estimated at 92% for rebar, 85% for hot-dip galvanized sheet and 99% for structural steel sections. Some sections and cladding are reused in agricultural and industrial buildings especially, and this is facilitated by the use of bolted sections rather than riveting and/or welding. By saving remelting, re-use is the most environmentally advantageous approach at the end of a building's life.

The energy used in producing steel from recycled steel is roughly one-third of that for new steel. Recycling steel saves energy, CO2 and resources by displacing the need to make more steel from virgin sources.

Iron ore is vital for the production of steel and most of the world's iron ore production comes from a handful of large international mining companies and many of these have systems to minimise environmental impact."

Further benefits of AFS

Alumet has considered end-of-product-life issues in the design of the AFS and aims to include recyclable and sustainable products wherever possible within the system. All steel used is a combination of virgin and recycled steel. By utilising standard components and manufacturing the AFS in factory conditions, steel and aluminium sections in exact lengths can be purchased preventing needless waste in materials and costs.

The structure incorporates efficient waterproof insulation, giving a 'u'-value of 0.25 W/m2K. Due to the design there is potential for significantly more insulation to be incorporated should the brief require it, resulting in an even lower 'u'-value.

Sustainability is also achieved on the cladding through the use of recyclable steel and aluminium.

There are also a range of sustainable timber products available to use including oak, western red cedar and larch. Alumet ensures that all timber used is FSC certified, meaning that it is sourced from a well managed forest and does not contribute to deforestation.