| Title | A Case Study on Structural Steel Reuse: From Source Material to New Construction |
|---|---|
| ID_Doc | 16346 |
| Authors | Bennet, IE; Ara, K; Mohammadi, C; Steneker, P |
| Title | A Case Study on Structural Steel Reuse: From Source Material to New Construction |
| Year | 2024 |
| Published | |
| Abstract | Canada's most prominent parliament building, Centre Block, is currently undergoing an extensive rehabilitation. As part of this rehabilitation, some original 1916 structural steel requires removal, and several new structural components are being introduced. Like many existing buildings undergoing modifications, the removed materials could be recovered as a resource for future works instead of being recycled or becoming waste, enabling a circular economy approach. Several challenges were identified for the successful implementation of this reuse of steel, including modifying salvaging procedures, developing proper inspection processes, providing an inventory framework, and optimizing the reintegration of the members into the new design. This paper outlines the methods used by the project team to overcome these challenges and adopt a circular economy approach for the structural steel, facilitating the reuse of the removed structural members in Centre Block's rehabilitation. This case study documents the procedure from deconstruction to new design, including the development of a computational design tool which identifies each unique salvaged member and finds a location for its reuse. The automation of this portion of the process reduces time spent identifying potential beam reuse locations, improves design efficiency, and enables a rapid response to evolving design constraints. Current projections of the implementation of this circular economy approach indicates an embodied carbon savings of 625 tCO2e for 1700 reused beams, with the potential for a broader impact as additional members are retained for reuse on other projects. Furthermore, the establishment of this methodology can facilitate this process for a larger inventory across multiple concurrent projects. |
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