STEEL: The Sustainable Construction Solution for Mauritius

Ghunshyam Parsan CEng MICE MIStructE RPEM

TableofContents
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 2 Sustainability ............................................................................................................................... 2 Sustainable Construction ............................................................................................................ 2 Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 3 STEEL CONSTRUCTION .............................................................................................................. 4 Steel in Construction ................................................................................................................... 4 Construction process .................................................................................................................. 4 Design ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Detailing ................................................................................................................................... 5 Fabrication ............................................................................................................................... 6 Erection .................................................................................................................................... 6 SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION IN MAURITIAN CONTEXT ..................................................... 8 A comparison of steel and concrete ............................................................................................ 8 Re-Use & Recycle .................................................................................................................... 8 Material Demand ...................................................................................................................... 8 Energy ...................................................................................................................................... 8 Flexibility & Useful Life ............................................................................................................. 9 Off-Site Construction ................................................................................................................ 9 Health, Safety and Welfare ...................................................................................................... 9 Water...................................................................................................................................... 10 Speed of Construction............................................................................................................ 10 Supply Chain and Sector Support .......................................................................................... 11 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 12 References................................................................................................................................... 13

INTRODUCTION
Sustainability
Sustainability is the buzz word in Mauritius for the past couple of years and will continue to be so, especially in the context of the Maurice Ile Durable (MID) project. This is arguably the most ambitious project any government has undertaken in our history. And yet, there is a sense of urgency about it, and rightly so. Our very existence depends on the success of this project. The Mauritian Government has shown the political will that has been lacking in the rest of the world so far. But there is only so much the government can do. The private sector has to actively participate in its success, in terms of finance but also in terms of expertise and technology. The understanding of sustainability has greatly evolved in the past decade. It was initially associated solely with environment and protection of non-renewable resources. But now, it is globally accepted that sustainable development needs to have a much broader perspective, encompassing social and economic aspects as well. The UK Sustainable Development Strategy of 1999(1) defines sustainable development as the meeting of four objectives simultaneously. 1. 2. 3. 4. Social progress which recognises the needs of everyone. Effective protection of the environment. Prudent use of natural resources. Maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment.

Any plan of implementing a sustainable development programme has to consider all four of these objectives. To achieve this, the government will put in place a Master Plan that will cover the overall development of the country, all sectors included. However, more specific plans have to be developed for each sector, so that implementation can be facilitated. Each individual sector of our economy has to know what they should change in their sector to contribute to the global objectives of MID. It took European countries several years, decades even, to achieve this. We will do better and faster, because we can learn from their experiences and also because we simply have to.

SustainableConstruction
Buildings account for 40% of all energy consumption worldwide. So targeting this sector is of prime importance. Although most of the energy used by a building is during its operation, it is decisions taken at design and construction stage that influences the level of energy in use. Therefore building design has an important role to play in how efficient the building is for the rest of its expected life span. The choice of construction material and the amount of material used will have an important impact on the overall efficiency of the building. Social, economic as well as health and safety aspects will also influence the sustainable nature of a construction. Energy is used in buildings for space cooling (air-conditioning), heating, domestic hot water, ventilation, lighting and transportation. These aspects were discussed at length during the recent Green Building Design Initiative workshop organised by the BOI. The design of the building will influence all of these aspects.

Objectives
The purpose of this report is to bring to the attention of the authorities some aspects of sustainable development in the construction sector in Mauritius. The report is not an exhaustive study and further studies will definitely be required. However, this report proposes a change of direction that will allow the construction industry to meet the demands of MID and the population at large. Mauritius is at a point on its development path where there will be massive investment in infrastructure. The government has already committed itself to major projects such as Tianli and Highlands. There is therefore both a need and an opportunity to set the direction for the future of the construction industry in this country. This report proposes one such direction in the form of steel construction. Steel construction is not new in Mauritius. However, it has so far been limited to industrial applications such as power plants, sugar factories etc. Some of the recent supermarkets and retail premises have also adopted steel construction. Among the most popular steel-framed structures in Mauritius are the State Bank Building, Telecom Tower and in a near future the iconic building of Green MCB Building at Ebne. However, concrete is still predominant. This report aims to demonstrate why Mauritius should develop a sustainable construction industry by making use of steel as main construction material. It also aims to show the benefits of adopting innovative methods of construction such as off-site construction. Concrete is not set to disappear completely. There are indeed several cases where concrete will be the better solution. But the current situation in Mauritius is such that concrete is perceived as the only solution. This report aims to prove that perception wrong. It aims to show how a larger market share to steel will benefit the country, its Maurice Ile Durable project, the workforce of the construction sector and users of buildings at large.

STEELCONSTRUCTION
SteelinConstruction
Structural steel is a descendent of cast iron and wrought iron which were used extensively before 1850s in buildings and bridges. It is made in blast furnaces at very high temperatures, from iron and carbon. Iron is the most abundant material available on Earth in terms of weight. When mixed with carbon, it produces a ductile material with high tensile strength. It has much better properties than the other two named which made it an instant hit as a construction material. Bridges were the first structures to be made in steel because of its high strength-to-weight ratio that allows it to span great distances unsupported. Steel is used extensively even in concrete structures. Concrete alone is not very useful for construction as it is very poor in tension. Steel bars are added to the concrete. What is commonly called concrete structures is in fact reinforced concrete, the steel being the reinforcing element, in the form of reinforcement bars (rebars). Such steel accounts for as much as 20% of the concrete. Steel construction refers to the method of construction that uses steel as the main framework or skeleton of the building. The partitions, envelope, slabs and roof can be of different materials. So in a typical multi-storey building, the beams and columns will be of steel. This steel comes in the form of pre-designed, pre-fabricated bars that are simply bolted on site. It accounts for 70% of non-dwelling construction in UK. Steel is also used extensively as part of the envelope. Insulated sandwich cladding consisting of two thin sheets of steel with a layer of insulation in between has become very popular for the speed and high quality finish. In Mauritius, steel roofing is already quite popular for industrial and domestic markets. Insulated steel roof is only starting to make an appearance in commercial developments. The floor slabs remain in concrete but even then, profiled metal sheets are used as permanent shuttering and to provide architectural finish. This has been present in Mauritius for quite some time. Profilage has been commercialising its CofraPlus for almost a decade but it is only now that its use is picking up. The use of such metal decking saves up to 40% of concrete in slabs and reduces the amount of rebars by half.

Constructionprocess
Steel construction utilises off-site construction methods, where the structure is fully fabricated to the nearest millimetre of precision and then simply bolted together on site. The following describes the process of building a typical steel structure. Design Following Architects conceptual design, a Design Team consisting of Architect, Structural Engineer, M&E Engineer, QS etc do a detailed design. The main objectives of the structural design are to make sure: 1. The building fulfils its intended functions. 2. The building is safe to build, to use, to maintain and to demolish. 3. The building makes economic use of resources

Figure 1: Design Model

Modern design of steel structures is done by competent professionals using state-of-the-art technology and software. They are helped by a vast knowledge base from a steel industry that invests massively in technical development and dissemination. Specific guidance is available from institutions such as the Steel Construction Institute, British Constructional Steelwork Association, American Iron and Steel Institute, to name a few. Detailing Detailing is the process of producing a 3D computer model of the building with details such as member sizes, welds, bolts and holes etc. The model is accurate to the nearest millimetre. This process has replaced the traditional drafting of construction drawings. The modern day drawing office is a team of highly skilled detailers with the latest computer technology at their service.

Figure 2: 3D Detailing Model

Sinc ce a single e model in ncorporates all the ele ements of the structu ure, possibility of er rror and no possibility of mismatc ch between drawings. T The ence with other trad des such as M&E or o facade etc to cross-refere uirements within w the structure right r from the start. Drawings a are requ gen nerated with h the require ed annotatio ons and dim mensions.

there is very littl le model is also use ed eir to integrate the then automaticall a ly

The e model is not n simply a visual repr resentation of the struc cture. It is a an intelligen nt model wit th a vast array of o parametric information built in n. Such inf formation is s used throughout th he construction process for fabrication, , transport, erection, Building B Inf formation Managemen M nt (BIM M) etc. Fab brication Onc ce the mo odel comple eted and approved by all par rties, its in nformation is exporte ed elec ctronically to o the CNC machines m in n the workshop for fabr rication.

F Figure 3: Co omputer con ntrolled cutt ting and dril lling machin ne

Stee el sections ordered (e electronically) are deliv vered to the workshop p in exact quantities in i bars s. The steel bars of dif fferent sizes are cut to o accurate length, l clea aned and as ssembled by b skill led workers s. The assem mblies are painted p and d loaded, re eady for tran nsportation to site. The e traditional l workforce on site is s replaced by skilled operators o w working in a controlle ed env vironment. Since S most of the work k is done in n a factory, sheltered f from the ele ements, in a clea an, dry plac ce with specific machin nes and op perations sta andards se et for each process, th he wor rkforce is in much bette er working conditions than on site e. In additio on to social and welfar re ben nefits, their work w efficiency is enha anced and mistakes m ar re reduced t to a minimu um. Waste is i by far f lower th han in-situ traditional t c construction n techniques s and the q quality of th he work is of o muc ch higher st tandard. Erection A small s team of skilled site workers are use ed to erect the structu ure delivere ed from the wor rkshop. For a typical st tructure, the e steel columns will be e lifted off th he truck by a crane an nd positioned on pre-prepare p ed foundatio ons. The co olumns will be b bolted in n place. The e beams and rafte ers are then bolted to o the colum mns at holes s pre-drilled d in the col lumns. Onc ce the set of o colu umns and beams are e assembled, the sam me process s is repeate ed with another set of o colu umns and beams, witho out ever doing anything except bo olting.

Figure 4: Workers W erec cting steel on o site using g MEWP's

The e amount of f work on site is minim mal compare ed to traditional constr ruction. The e assemblie es are simply bo olted togeth her in quick k and safe e establishe ed process ses. Work at height is i minimised and only the as ssemblies are a transpor rted to site. There is no requireme ent for wate er s and the e work progr resses muc ch faster tha an traditiona al build met thods. A typ pical erectio on on site a team m consists of a crane operator, a foreman, and two wo orkers on M MEWPs an nd this sma all 2 team m can typically cover up u to 1000 m of floor area a in a sin ngle week.

ME EWP: Mobile e Elevated Working W Platfo orm.

SUSTAINABLECONSTRUCTIONINMAURITIANCONTEXT
Acomparisonofsteelandconcrete
Steel construction is beneficial to all three criteria for sustainable construction: social, economic and environmental. Many of the benefits are reaped immediately at construction whereas some are more long term benefits. Re-Use & Recycle Steel is made from iron, which is the most abundant material on Earth. There are 1920 x 1018 tons of iron on Earth (2). There is so much iron on Earth that the Earth acts like one giant magnet. That is why a compass points to North Pole. This iron represents a virtually inexhaustible natural resource comparable to the Sun itself. Steel is also the most recycled material in the world. Steel is recognised for its multi-cyclability. That is, it can be recycled over and over indefinitely without any loss in its properties or quality. Considered globally, 50% of all structural steel are from recycled steel (1). At the opposite end of the spectrum, concrete has almost no recycling potential. It can only be down-cycled into aggregate for roads or landfill. Construction demolition accounts for a substantial part of waste that goes to landfills. With steel construction, construction demolition is entirely recycled into new steel. Steel goes one step further than recycling. Steel can be re-used as is. The component nature of steel structures means that the steel can be dismantled from one building and reassembled into another. There are several cases where the entire building can be dismantled when no longer required and re-built at another location and given a new life. This is simply not possible with concrete. In Mauritius, structural steel can already be recycled into steel bars using the existing plants at Samlo Steel or Murray & Roberts. Once there is a market for steel construction, these facilities will probably be expanded to turn the used steel into new steel sections for steel construction. Material Demand Both steel and cement are imported into Mauritius, either as finished bars or raw materials. However, because of the much better strength to weight ratio of steel, steel structures are significantly lighter than concrete structures, thus requiring less material. This has a knock on effect on several factors. Less freight is required to bring the construction material in. Less transport is required to carry it to site and less storage space is required to store it. Since steel structures are lightweight, the foundations to such buildings require less material and there is less soil excavation required on site. Once the building is demolished after its lifespan, the steel can be recycled in Mauritius and used in another building. Thus, in the long term, the amount of steel imported for construction will decrease significantly. In addition to obvious economic savings, there is a corresponding saving in fossil energy associated with the transport. Energy Both steel and cement require energy-intensive manufacturing processes. However, technological progress in steel making has allowed producers such as CORUS to reduce their energy use by around 40% over the last 35 years. On the other hand, cement

prod duction rem mains one of f the worlds s most energy intensiv ve industries s. Cement production p i is the third bigges st producer of CO2, after transport t and power generation n. Con ncrete can used u for pas ssive coolin ng in buildin ngs, thus red ducing the energy used for coolin ng How wever, only four inches s of slab are e sufficient for f effective e passive co ooling. With ribbed stee el dec ck slab solu utions, the exposed slab area is s enhanced d and is be eneficial to the passiv ve cooling. In addition, 40% of o concrete required in the slab ca an be saved d with such solutions. In uritius, this is already commerciali c ised as Cof fraPlus by Profilage. P Mau Flex xibility & Us seful Life Stee el solutions s provide clear-span spaces s that t provide fle exibility to its use. This allows an a easier change in use of th he building. In a rapidly y changing economic e e environment t, this mean ns that t the buildin ng can be used for lo onger befor re demolitio on. Moreove er, steel structures ar re dura able and adaptable, a e extending t the life of the structu ure and imp proving the eir economi ic viab bility. Steel buildings b ar re easily altered or exte ended both horizontally y and vertic cally. Off-Site Constr ruction Stee el construct tion is an of ff-site const truction met thod, where e the steel m members ar re fabricate ed in fa actories and d only assembled toge ether on site e. This has a wide rang ge of benefits. Since th he construction ha appens in a closed con ntrolled environment, waste w is reduced to a minimum m and ality is enhanced. In tra aditional reinforced con ncrete cons struction, there is a lot of waste on o qua site. The waste es include raw materia als. Concre ete is mixed d in excess of what is required fo or r ent bars are e wasted be ecause they y are supplie ed in fixed length to sit te the day. Steel reinforceme d their use is not optim mised. Form mwork is als so wasted. Formwork is required d temporaril ly and duri ing construction while the concre ete sets. Aft ter that, it is removed and most of it goes to t was ste. Hea alth, Safety and Welfar re A major m socia al impact of o off-site construction c n is the welfare of w workers. Fo or traditiona al concrete cons struction, th he workers are conce entrated on n site. The ey are expo osed to th he elem ments and have to wo ork in muddy and dusty y environment. They h have to han ndle cement, whic ch is a haza ardous mat terial. They work in clo ose proximit ty to heavy mechanical equipmen nt, rota ating machin nes and trucks, with hi igh risks of accide ents. They spend s a lot t of time e working at a height on scaffoldin ng, with h the assoc ciated risks s of fall fro om heig ght. They benefit from f minim mal welf fare facilitie es of poor standard on site. The workforce is also a itinera ant. The ey do not have h a fixed d work plac ce. The ey work a few weeks s on one site s and d then move e on to anot ther site. Th hey spend a lot of their t time tra avelling.
Fig gure 5: Tidy y factory layo out

With h off-site st teel constru uction, most t of the work is do one in facto ories. The workers w are e sheltered d from the e elements, working w in a an and dry environmen nt. There is no hazardo ous materia al to handle e and there is no risk of o clea

fall from f height t. Although there are machines m inv volved, the machines a are fixed an nd the healt th and d safety risk ks are much h lower com mpared to th he mobile equipments e used on sit te. They ca an be provided much m better welfare fac cilities such h as toilets, , canteen, s staff clubs etc. Factor ry based working g supports a stable wo orkforce. Workers W have a fixed w workplace and a they ca an w C Consequent tly, they spe end much less time tra avelling and d enjoy from m live near the workplace. bett ter family lif fe. Stable communities c s are built around a facto ories, which h is simply not possible with h an itinera ant site-bas sed workfo orce. In Ma auritius, the e construct tion sector is a majo or prov vider of em mployment and therefo ore the soc cial benefits s of steel c construction n cannot be b igno ored. Wat ter Ano other key po oint that is particularly p important in n the Mauritian n context is water. . Concrete e construction is heavily wa ater intensiv ve. Water is s eded for hy ydration of the concret te, to make e nee the concrete mix m workable and pum mpable. The e er concrete has to remain saturated with wate ing its curin ng process. A lot of wa ater is used d duri to clean c form mwork befor re and aft ter use. All equ uipment and d vehicles have h to be cleaned as s well l. The exte ensive use of water results r in a mud ddy site and d a lot of water w is sim mply wasted d. In Mauritius, M a this wasted water all r is potable e water from the CWA. A steel constru uction site is complete ely different t. Not a single dr rop of water r is required d, other than Figure 6: Clean and dry site e cilities. Eve en for welfa are facilities s, for welfare fac less s water is re equired than n for a conc crete site be ecause the site period for steel co onstruction is i muc ch shorter. This resul lts in signif ficant savin ng in water and a clean, dry site. With an a incr reasing wor rld populatio on, global warming, w ris se of sea le evel and de evelopment of societies s, water crisis is set to be the t problem m of tomorr row, even bigger b than the economic crisis of o toda ay. Spe eed of Cons struction Dev velopers of commercia al buildings in developed countrie es chose st teel as their r first choic ce bec cause of the e speed of construction. For the same s capita al investme ent, a steel building ha as the added adva antage of being b delivered much fa aster than a concrete building, sa aving severa al eks and eve en months on the overall constru uction progr ramme. The e sooner the building is i wee deliv vered, the sooner s can the building g space be rented and the sooner r the develo oper will start cashing in on his investm ment. In a competitive world, there e is no arguing agains st that. Stee el allow ws a faster constructio on because the structu ure is swiftly y bolted on site, requiri ing very little time e compared d to concret te construct tion. A sing gle erection team can p put up abou ut 50 tonne es 2 of steel s a week k. That should cover about 1000 m of floor space, in a single wee ek. On large er proj jects, sever ral teams ca an work alongside. This is made possible p bec cause only small team ms of 4 or 5 peop ple are use ed. There is s no formwo ork, no tem mporary jacks in the middle m of th he

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construction space and no curing time involved. So as soon as the steel contractor has finished one part of the structure, other trades can occupy that space immediately for M&E, glazing etc. With concrete construction, there is a lot of temporary structures such as scaffolding, formwork and jacks that disrupts the work of other trades. Once the concrete structure is in place, there is a curing and setting time of a few weeks that has to be allowed before the formwork can be removed and the site handed over to the next trade. In multi-storey construction, this curing time is of particular importance because it determines the speed with which successive floors can be constructed. In steel construction, all the floors can be installed in one go without any time wasted for curing etc. A shorter construction period has also several other advantages. A short site occupation means less health and safety risks to site workers, less noise, pollution and other disruption to the local community and less construction-related transport affecting the normal traffic. Mauritius is at the cross roads of development and speed of construction will now determine the speed with which infrastructure can be delivered. Infrastructure building is essential to allow us to continue our economic progress, to deliver a better quality of life to Mauritian citizens and to accommodate a much larger tourist population. The speed of construction may well be the bottle neck that prevents us going as fast as we would wish. Supply Chain and Sector Support Because steel is the first choice of the developed world, there has been a lot of investment in research and development in these countries to make steel construction more efficient. A number of structural solutions have been developed to cater for the various building needs, such as long-spanning systems, service integration, fire protection, shallow construction, acoustics, dynamics etc. There is a vast wealth of information disseminated by the steelwork industry worldwide. Adopting steel construction allows us to benefit from all this work that has already been done.

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CONCLUSION
Steel construction may be relatively new and innovative in Mauritius but it has been the mainstream construction method in most developed countries for a long time. We can learn from practices in these countries to adapt steel construction to Mauritian needs to deliver high standard infrastructure that meets social, economic and environmental aspirations of Maurice Ile Durable. This report has given an overview of the various benefits steel has over concrete: Recyclability of steel Lower material demand from overseas Lower levels of energy consumption during construction and during lifespan of the building Flexibility and extended lifespan of the building Re-use and retained market value of the material after lifespan of the building High quality, low waste off-site construction Speed and economy of construction Enormous saving in water usage Better health and safety standards Better welfare of construction workforce Benefit from state-of-the-art technologies from developed countries.

Steel construction will not pick up on its own in Mauritius. Private sector developers may not have the will or the time to try new methods. Architects and engineers in the private sector may not have enough incentive to try innovative structural solutions, except for prestigious projects such as the upcoming iconic Green MCB building at Ebne, designed by Architect Jean Francois Koenig. Developers and professionals alike will be much more at ease with steel construction if they witness its use on a larger scale by others first. For all the reasons evoked above, that others will have to be the government. It is the government that has to take the lead and show the way by utilising steel construction on public building projects.

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References
(1) A Better Quality of Life a Strategy for Sustainable Development for the United Kingdom, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, London, 1999. (2) www.sustainablesteel.co.uk

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