1. Large Valorisation on Sustainability of Steel Structures
Assesment and valorisation tool for the sustainability of steel structures
CESB2016 –
M. Netusil & F.Wald
Czech Technical University in Prague
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Department of Steel and Timber Structures

2. AMECO General presentation
Software to deal with Life Cycle Assessment of bridges and buildings with structural steel
Calculations according to ISO & 44
Free tool developed by CTICM (France) on the behalf of ArcelorMittal and disseminated by several partners under RFS2-CT LVS3

3. AMECO General presentation
AMECO includes following modules:
Module A :
Production stage (Raw material supply, transport, manufacturing)
Construction stage (transport, construction)
Module B : Use stage
Module added in AMECO version 3 in the frame of LVS3 project
For buildings only
An option is available to ignore this module during calculations
Module C : End-of-life stage (deconstruction, transport, waste process, disposal)
Module D : Benefits and loads beyond system boundaries (Reuse, recycling and recovery)

4. Definition of the frontiers of the system
Production and manufacturing impacts here
PRODUCT stage
CONSTRUCTION PROCESS
stage
USE stage
END-OF-LIFE stage
Benefits and loads beyond the system boundary A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 C1 C2 C3 C4 D
Reuse- Recovery- Recycling- potential
Raw material supply
Transport
Manufacturing
Transport
Construction – installation process
Use
Maintenance
Repair
Replacement
Refurbishment
Deconstruction demolition
Transport
Waste processing
Disposal B6
Operational energy use B7
Operational water use
Mandatory
Benefits of recycling calculated here
EPD cradle-to-gate
Mandatory
Optional
EPD cradle-to-gate with option
Mandatory
Optional
EPD cradle-to-grave 4

5. Keyword #1, the functional unit: object of an LCA study
Examples: 1m² of cladding, 1 beam for a specific span and load,
Comparisons between products only for equivalent functions
vs.
vs.
1kg steel
1kg concrete
1m steel barrier
1m concrete barrier 5

6. AMECO General operation
AMECO general organisation
Based on a user friendly multilingual interface
For windows OS (from Vista versions)
Menus and toolbar
Tabs
Definition of the parameters through windows selected by tabs
Definition zone
Notification zone

7. AMECO Definition of a building
Main parameters for the definition of a building in AMECO (1st tab)
Building defined by its main dimensions - Width of each façade - Height between floors - Number of floors
4 possible types of buildings : residential, offices, industrial or commercial
The User has to define the location of the building among one of the 52 European cities already included in the geographical database of AMECO

8. AMECO Definition of a building
Data included in AMECO for each location :
For each month of the year
Outside temperature
Solar incident radiation for each of the 4 main orientations (S, W, N, E)
Night fraction of the day
Type of climatic region (5 possible choices)
Dfc
Dfb
Cfb
Csb
Csa

9. AMECO Definition of a building
Definition of the facades (2nd tab)
Façade areas automatically calculated
Definition of opening areas for each façade by the User
Definition of the type of façade through a list of macro-components
Light steel panel walls, double clay walls For each one, several type of insulation
Data associated to each macro component : U values, Recycling rates, LCA impact coefficients (see background document)

10. AMECO Definition of a building
Definition of the facades
Definition of the type of glazing through a list of macro-components
Double glazing, several emissivity types
Definition of the shading and shutter devices

11. AMECO Definition of a building
Definition of the base floor (3rd tab)
2 types of base floors - Slab on ground floor - Suspended floor
Definition of the masses of concrete and reinforcement for base floor
Definition of the roof (4th tab)
2 types of roofs (macro-components)

12. AMECO Definition of a building
Display of the occupancy data (5th tab)
Occupancy data are not modifiable. They are linked to the type of building :
- heating temperature
- cooling temperature
- air flow rate (heating and cooling)
- occupancy and light period of the day
Residential building light
Kitchen and living area
Other conditioned areas
From To
Gain
(W/m2)
Monday to Friday 7 17 23 10 5
Saturday and Sunday

13. AMECO Definition of a building
Definition of the systems in the building (6th tab)
Heating system : electric resistance, gas fuel heater, liquid fuel h., solid fuel h., split, no heating
Cooling system : split, absorption cooling device, compression cooling device, no cooling
Mechanical ventilation unit with or without heat recovery system (definition of the efficiency and heat recovery percentage)
Domestic Hot Water : electric boiler, gas boiler, stand alone water heater, no DHW

14. AMECO Definition of a building
Definition of the structure of the building (7th tab)
Steel columns (mass)
Steel beams
Studs
Bolts
Plate for connections

15. AMECO Definition of a building
Definition of the structural systems of floors in the building (8th tab)
Type of slabs : plain slab, composite slab, permanent formwork, prefabricated, dry floors
Several types of steel sheeting proposed from database
Type of concrete (poured in situ or prefabricated elements)
Concrete grade
Steel reinforcement

16. AMECO Definition of a building
Definition of transport conditions for the elements used the building (9th tab)
Either average (european data) or user defined values
User defined values : by electric trains or by regular trucks, with the definition of the distances
For concrete elements, distance by mixer trucks (poured in situ) or by regular trucks (prefabricated elements)

17. AMECO Results
Following impacts are calculated and displayed (10th tab) :
Global warming potential
Ozone depletion potential
Acidification potential
Use of renewable primary energy
Use of non renewable fuel energy
Use of fresh water
…..
A total of 24 impacts

18. AMECO Results
Several type of graphical outputs
Bar charts

19. AMECO Results
Tables

20. AMECO Results
Radial graphics

21. AMECO Results
All data, parameters and results can also be displayed, saved and printed from a calculation report

22. Three types of structural systems are analyzed:
AMECO Case study – Office building
The Objective of this study is to compare the environmental quality of an office building made with different type of structural systems
Three types of structural systems are analyzed:
steel-concrete composite structure
concrete structure
optimized steel-concrete composite structure (this optimization has been done on the basis of an ECO-Design)

23. Dimensions of the building plan: 42x24 m
Definition of the building
Dimensions of the building plan: 42x24 m
Number of levels in the superstructure (excluding ground floor): 8 levels
Located in Paris

24. Heating & cooling: split system
Occupancy and systems
Office building type
Heating & cooling: split system
Mechanical ventilation with a heat recovery system
DHW system: electrical boiler

25. Composite structure Concrete structure Strucutral systems
Steel profiles in S355
Steel Deck COFRA+60 with 15 cm of concrete (C30/37)
Stabilisation by central concrete core (C30/37)
Concrete structure
Prefabricated hollow core slab (C30/37)
Steel reinforced concrete for the beams and columns (C30/37)

26. Eco-optimised Composite structure
Strucutral systems
Eco-optimised Composite structure
Steel profiles in S460
Steel Deck COFRA+60 with 15 cm of concrete (C30/37)
Stabilisation by steel bracing (S460)

27. Transport of Concrete :
Transport of Steel :
Total weight : t
Transport : 500 km by regular trucks
Transport of Concrete :
Total weight : 4676 t
Transport : 50km by mixer trucks

28. Results
The use phase (module B) accounts for about 91% of the global GWP impact, for any type of structure

29. Results – optimized steel x concrete
+82%

30. Results – conclusions
Low influence of the structural system on the global environmental impacts of the building, in comparison with exploitation and activity of buildings
Advantages in the field of environmental footprint to use composite Steel and Concrete structure (best configurations for both materials)
Structures more sustainable thanks to the recycling of material at the end of life (infinite recycling of steel and valorization of crushed concrete) = use of the Module D
Minimizing the use of material by using High strength steel – where it is feasible….

31. MATERIALS TO DOWNLOAD
The software Ameco 3 can be downloaded from the website including background materials and more case studies including their validation comparing with other methodology.
International website of the project is where all documents are available in 17 languages including the software and smart phone app.

32. THANK YOU FOR ATTENTION
Questions?