Last year, California experienced the worst wildfires to date. (Source: Live Science)

It wasn’t just wildfires. The fire that broke out in Grenfell Tower in West London last June claimed 71 lives and sparked a public outcry for stricter building regulations around fire safety. The material used as cladding to wrap the outer part of the building came under scrutiny as it was extremely flammable and contributed to the rapid spread of the flames.

To prevent further disasters, architects, builders and policymakers need to reexamine the materials that go into building people’s homes, workplaces and public facilities.

Materials Matter

Steel is one of the most popular materials for construction as it is 100 percent recyclable, cost-effective and easy to work with. Moreover, World Steel Association’s Steel Construction Fact Sheet shows that steel is the most-researched and best-understood construction material available today. Its inherent characteristics and widely-available reinforcement options make steel the safest construction material for fire resistance.

eel is one of the strongest construction materials under high heat. (Source: CIC)

Fire resistance refers to the duration of time a building can withstand the load of the building, limit the passage of flames and gases and insulate the building against rising temperatures during a fire.

Steel is considered to be a fire-resistant material because it can retain all of its strength in temperatures up to 370ºC (700ºF). At 500ºC (930ºF), it loses 30 percent of its strength and at temperatures above 538ºC (1000ºF), unprotected steel loses close to half of its strength.

To put things into perspective, aluminum starts to decrease in strength when temperatures rise above 100ºC (212ºF), and at 204ºC (400ºF), aluminum loses 60 percent of its strength. Copper also loses 25 percent of its strength at 204ºC (400ºF).

Putting Materials to the Test

Darchem Engineering conducted the first-ever fire-resistance test in 1990 comparing galvanized steel, stainless steel, aluminum and fiberglass. Each material was exposed to temperatures from 1000 to 1050ºC (1832 to 1922ºF) for a period of 5 minutes. Both types of steel passed with minimal damage, while aluminum collapsed after 26 seconds, and fiberglass collapsed almost immediately.

Fire-resistance tests show that stainless steel is one of the most fire-resistant materials available. (Source: Applus)

They also conducted a 2-hour test with the same materials exposed to temperatures from 552 to 555ºC (1026 to 1032ºF). For stainless steel, the testing time was extended to 3 hours and it still had the least amount of damage out of all the materials. Galvanized steel passed the 2-hour mark, but did produce some molten zinc. Aluminum failed after 12 minutes, while fiberglass gave out in 6 minutes.

The results showed that steel, especially stainless steel, is the most fire-resistant material. However, one can never be safe enough when it comes to fire safety, and there are several ways to increase the fire resistance of steel that fall into 3 major categories.

Passive Fire Protection

Passive fire protection methods include boards, sprays and films that insulate the steel surface or structure against high temperatures. Fire protection boards are the most common type of passive fire protection as they can be customized and designed to fit the interior of the building. However, they are quite labor-intensive and costly compared to other options.

Boards are the most common types of passive fire protection. (Source: IPCOM)

Active Fire Protection

Active fire protection refers to any automatic or manual measure that can be taken to detect or fight fires. These include water sprinkler systems, alarms, smoke detectors, first responders and more. With advancements in AI and smart sensors, active fire protection will see vast improvements in the years to come and software systems will likely play a great role in fire prevention and protection.

The majority of active fire protection measures will become automated. (Source: Frontier Fire)

Intumescent fire protection

Intumescent fire protection includes paint-like substances that swell up in high temperatures and act as insulation against the heat. Typically, the intumescent substance will become 50 times thicker than its original state at about 200-250°C, well before steel undergoes any structural damage. Recently, intumescent paints have become much more prominent than passive types of fire protection as they are cost-effective, and can be applied on and off-site saving builders time and money.

Most recently, scientists and engineers from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and national industrial developer JTC Corporation came up with a new intumescent fire protection paint called Firoshield. It is much cheaper than other types of intumescent paint and takes half the time to apply. The innovation will allow steel buildings to maintain its structural integrity for 2 hours with only 5 layers of paint, compared to the 15 layers required by other paints. 

Such innovations are expected to reinforce the safety of steel buildings, giving people more time for evacuation and limiting the spread of smoke and flames. On a final note, the fire-resistant qualities of steel should be taken into consideration not only for building frames and exteriors, but also for staircases, doors and other parts of a building that must stay intact for safe evacuations as well as for the safety of first responders.

India

India’s government is incentivizing the use of steel by providing construction grants for regions that need revitalization. This government money is fueling growth and increasing steel consumption in regions across the country. Some predict that India will increase its rank and surpass China as the top consumer of steel in 2018. This is because India has not yet achieved the level of development China has. In China, the economy is shifting. For years, much of China’s economy was made up of companies in the manufacturing industry, but with a growing upper and middle class, many of China’s industries are going from factories to office spaces. Services are expected to increase in China and lead to a decrease in the need for supplies like steel.

Indian steel consumption is rising thanks to new development projects. (Source: Quora)

SEE ALSO: India: A Rising Sun in the Global Renewable Energy Industry

ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)

Vietnam and the Philippines have been named two countries to watch in the ASEAN region. Unlike China and Japan, which have relatively more established economies, Vietnam and the Philippines are still in the development phase. Their rapid development is due in part to the growth of e-commerce. As the Vietnamese and Filipino governments race to build stronger countries, they’ll need steel to make improvements in the country’s infrastructure. Many of the cities in the region are outdated and in need of a total remodel. From creating a solid infrastructure to building offices and housing, steel will be in high demand in Vietnam and the Philippines in 2018.

Many ASEAN cities like Ho Chi Minh City pictured above is ripe for growth and development. (Source: Visa2Vietnam)

CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States)

CIS, also known as the Russian Commonwealth, is a confederation of 11 states made up of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. While Russia is the biggest and most powerful member state, the developing states are eager to catch up. CIS countries will undergo development projects including major infrastructure construction. Such state-level projects will require large amounts of steel and CIS countries will have to vamp up its own production as well as meet its needs through imports. As CIS countries develop, their citizens quality of life will likely increase, and they are expected to consume more goods such as cars and appliances made of steel as well.  

CIS member states are ripe for development and steel consumption in 2018. (Source: The Kremlin)

Japan

In the summer of 2020, Japan is set to host the biggest global summer games event. The government is investing significantly in this effort to build new sports facilities and other structures to accommodate the global event. A new stadium itself is said to have a budget of over USD 2 billion, and most of the construction will require steel. Japan already has some of the best infrastructure in the world. But it will need to adapt in order to accommodate the large number of visitors Tokyo will host over the three-week event.

Japan will need to build many sports venues such as its new stadium pictured above for 2020. (Source: CNN)

The United States

In the United States, the steel market is consumer-driven, and steel is a USD 113 billion industry. The U.S. is already the largest importer of steel by a wide margin. But the U.S. demand for steel is expected to increase. Steel is used for construction, infrastructure, energy, production, packaging, appliances and manufacturing. Many cities in the U.S. are expanding and improving their infrastructure. Cities like New York and San Francisco have aging buildings and transportation systems that need to be revitalized. Steel construction is also a way of creating more energy efficiency. As U.S. cities move to become more conservative with their natural resources, steel is one of the ways to reduce energy use. Things like steel reinforcements, steel roofs and other upgrades make buildings more efficient. Many household appliances and automobiles are also made of steel. As U.S. consumers purchase household appliances, cars and buildings, the U.S. demand for steel will continue to grow in 2018.

While 2018 will not likely see 2017 rates of growth, the steel industry will continue to grow as demand for steel-based goods increases. As developing countries become more dependent on modernized infrastructure, housing and conveniences, the steel industry will continue to show growth for the foreseeable future. Even in China, where manufacturing is beginning to slow down, there is a great demand for steel. In developing smart cities, for example, steel and technology work together to create more efficient cities for all citizens. Steel infrastructure will play a major role in the improvement of cities across the globe for years to come.

Weather Events of 2017

2017 saw some of the worst natural disasters across the globe. The Atlantic hurricane season hit hard, and Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria were especially devastating. Hurricane Harvey caused 82 direct deaths, and an estimated USD 180 billion worth of damage. Hurricane Irma swept across 9 U.S. states leaving 75 people dead and damage costs of USD 50 to 100 billion. Hurricane Maria is the worst natural disaster on record in Dominica with the official death toll at 51, but over 900 cremations have taken place in Puerto Rico following the storm.

The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey shows the importance of resistant housing. (Source: CNN)

In addition, typhoons, tornados and other weather events wreaked havoc on communities around the globe raising awareness for the need for better emergency and disaster relief systems and stronger shelters to withstand natural disasters.

Natural-Disaster-Resistant Homes

For people living in areas prone to natural disasters, a resistant home can make the difference between total property loss and a safe haven. Worldwide, home builders and buyers alike are prioritizing the home’s ability to withstand natural disasters, leading to innovative architectural feats.

The Tsunami House was built to withstand natural disasters. (Source: My Fancy House)

On Camano Island in Washington State, the “Tsunami House” is made to be a safe waterfront home, able to withstand stormy waters. The main living level was built five feet above ground, and the foundations are built on pilings capable of withstanding high-velocity waves. The lower home area was designed with breakaway walls. For both strength and aesthetic purposes, this house contains steel inside and out, with composite and galvanized exterior siding, aluminum windows, and milled finish steel materials indoors. A steel staircase structure ensures safe passage.

The SURVIV(AL) House is sustainable and has a safe room in case of hurricanes or tornadoes. (Source: Inhabitat)

Another example of a home built to survive natural disasters is the SURVIV(AL) hurricane proof house is a solar-powered home with a steel-encased safe room built to withstand the effects of extreme weather like hurricanes and tornadoes. Students from the University of Alabama created this home with a safe room that can withstand a two-by-four plank landing at 200 mph.

The Ophir home sits on a hillside with exposed steel frames to withstand earthquakes. (Source: Inhabitat)

The Ophir home was built in 2010 by a couple in New Zealand following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake that forced many people from their homes and community. The couple, however, built their home back up from scratch, but this time, made sure it would not collapse under any circumstances. Not only can the home withstand earthquakes, it is designed to maximize exposure to sunlight for sustainable living as well. A distinctive feature of the home is its exposed steel frames that support the concrete walls.

The Benefits of Building with Steel    

Steel is one of the most popular materials for construction, but its properties make it especially valuable for natural-disaster-resistant homes. Steel has a high strength to weight ratio for durability, without the heft and its associated transport costs. It requires very little maintenance, even when used as an exterior surface, and will withstand the effects of time. It is also an eco-friendly, cost-efficient material for construction.

Steel Frames are ideal for the construction of natural disaster resistant homes. (Source: Stratco)

In fact, steel can withstand forces up to 150 mph as an exterior material, without becoming damaged. Steel is also an excellent reinforcement when used with concrete, offering the stiffness, strength and ductility needed to help a building withstand damage from events like earthquakes. As part of a building’s foundation structure, steel reinforcements help anchor the foundation, and the entire home, keeping it where it belongs through wind, waves, quakes and rain.

The damage left behind by natural disasters this year show that the effects last well beyond the initial onset. While there is no such thing as a completely weather-proof building, steel can offer a great deal of security and help minimize the destructive outcomes of Mother Nature.

Cover photo courtesy of CENHS.

Biggest Challenges in Bridge Construction

The major challenges for building urban bridges are the availability of skilled labor, access to urban areas and environmental compatibility.

A worker paints the Anzhaite Long-span Suspension Bridge in Jishou, Hunan, China (Source: The Daily Mail)

Building bridges in megacities with the current scarcity of skilled labor will require a massive recourse to prefabrication. In a few circumstances, prefabricated bridge units will be transported on water with tugs and barges, which will allow the use of heavy, large units. In most cases, prefabricated bridge units will be transported on the ground through congested urban roads, which will lead to the use of light, modular units.

A floating crane lifts prefabricated deck sections onto the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (Source: San Francisco Public Press)

The availability of deck assembly areas and the interference of construction operations with adjacent infrastructure are additional challenges that will govern the bridge design process. As such, incremental launching construction from aerial platforms will see new applications, especially when combined with on-site welding of field splices among modular bridge units. The welding of field splices will also allow for optimized segmentation of bridge units, diminish the cost of field splices, and will relax the fabrication tolerances of the units.

Size Determines Cost, Cost Determines Everything Else

When constructing a bridge for an urban area, the size of a bridge governs the construction process. in turn, the construction cost of a bridge determines the materials and technology. Technology includes labor and investment in special construction equipment. The quantities of structural materials for a bridge depend on the design loads of the bridge, the flexural and shear span of the bridge units, and the mechanical strength of the material.

The Jiaozhou Bay Bridge in China is the longest sea-crossing bridge in the world (Source: The New York Times)

Small and large-scale bridge projects are both necessary in megacities and demand will only increase in light of the newly emerging megacities all over the world. When looking at both the construction of new bridges and the maintenance of existing bridges, the number of small-scale projects will definitely be larger than the number of large-scale projects. The impact these construction projects will have on the mobility of people and goods within a megacity is massive.

Although one may assume large-scale bridge projects with a larger budget will allow for design optimization and the efficient use of high-grade steels, scale economies in competition with other megacities will govern the availability of construction materials and workforce. Eventually, the scarcity of structural materials will lead to the efficient, eco-friendly use of steel and concrete in large and small-scale bridge projects alike.

Prefabrication and Incremental Launching for Bridge Construction

It is true that small-scale bridge projects have smaller budgets for technology, which limit design optimization and construction mechanization and increase the labor demand. Therefore, small-scale bridges will most likely be procured as packages of multiple bridges to acquire scale economies and a more efficient use of materials with the optimized design of modular units.

On the other hand, large-scale bridge projects allow for massive investment in special construction equipment, which will facilitate the prefabrication of modular bridge units in smart, eco-friendly factories. It will also diminish the labor demand of site assembly and the need for complementary infrastructure in an urban environment, as well as enhance the quality and durability of the final product.

Thus, large-scale bridge projects will be designed for modularity and have prefabricated standardized units with asynchronous production lines. Parts of the bridge will likely have different cycle times, just-in-time delivery, and require minimal site operations. Overall, construction technology and risk management of the trans-disciplinary relationships of mechanized construction will dictate the design of large-scale bridge projects in megacities.

Workers assemble a prefabricated bridge in Pennsylvania, U.S. (Source: Roads and Bridges)

Small-scale bridge projects will take advantage of incremental launching technologies. Launched bridges minimize the interference between deck construction and the obstruction to overpass, and this is a major advantage for urban bridges designed to overpass congested infrastructure. Launched bridges do not require extra clearance to support the deck during construction, which simplifies connecting the bridge with existing roads and railways. Launched bridges do not require additional right-of-way as the deck is built behind the abutment and incrementally pushed into position. Additionally, the construction area is far from the infrastructure to overpass, which minimizes the risk for workers and the traveling public.

Incremental launching applied to a bridge deck construction process (Source: CARLOS FERNANDEZ CASADO S.L)

Materials For the Future Generation of Urban Bridges

Steel and concrete are the most common materials for bridges. In the field of steel bridges, high-grade steel will reduce the self-weight of bridge superstructures and the cost of piers and foundations. New composite systems and mechanized plate corrugation will increase the buckling capacity of unstiffened web panels and compression flanges to avoid the use of welded stiffeners.

In the field of prestressed concrete, new steels for rebar will offer higher strength and corrosion resistance to increase the durability and service life of the next generation of urban bridges. Post-tensioning materials are already extremely efficient, and the challenge will revolve around finding new duct systems and passivating materials to able to avoid the quality concerns raised by cement grouts.

Full-span precasting has been employed in thousands of spans of high-speed railway projects and in hundreds of spans of light-rail transit projects. Both steel and prestressed concrete bridges will be present in the mass transit systems of megacities, and both types of bridges are perfectly compatible with steel decks should high-grade steel turn out financially competitive over prestressed concrete in the megacity-oriented life cycle cost analysis.

Modern large-scale bridge projects are designed for 75 or 100-year service life in the USA. The use of renewable protective materials can easily meet this target in steel bridges, but the evolution of design loads and service conditions of urban bridges is hard to predict. Steel bridges offer a major advantage over prestressed-concrete bridges from this point of view, as they are more adaptable and can be modified, strengthened and adapted to new use conditions.

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When ski resorts finally open for the season, flocks of winter sports enthusiasts head to the mountains teeming with excitement as they sit down on the almighty chairlift for the first run of day.

It wasn’t always so easy, however, to get to the top of the spotless sun-kissed peaks beckoning to be tread upon. Before the chairlift, skiing required a mountaineer’s mindset, and the willingness to climb for most of the day for one or two epic runs back down to the bottom.

This all changed when a former steel worker named James Curran forever changed the sport of skiing by inventing the steel chairlift in the winter of 1936.

The Beginning of New Skiing Era

Sun Valley, Idaho is a well-known ski destination, and a favorite region in the heart of the United States for the rich and famous to come enjoy the beautiful winter alpine scenery. Little known, however, is the fact that Sun Valley was where the world’s first three chairlifts were installed, replacing the aging tow-rope system.

During 1936 and 1937, James Curran, who worked for the Union Pacific Railroad which owned the Proctor Mountain Resort, drew inspiration for the first chairlift design from banana conveyor systems.

Curran’s chairlift was developed by re-engineering banana hooks, adding chairs and creating a machine with a greater capacity to power the steel cables up and down the mountain. The chairlift was a great success, and was the catalyst for the evolution of today’s alpine sports.

Drawing from Curran’s chairlift design, the first ski lift would be installed in present-day Czech Republic in 1940, bringing new enthusiasm in the sport of skiing to Europe.

How Chairlifts Built the Modern Alpine Sports Industry

Fast-forwarding a few decades and snowstorms later, the chairlift, although now much more technical, has not seen a massive redesign. The basic characteristics of the chairlift, including the steel ropes that carry the structure and equally-spaced chairs ranging from two to eight passengers, remain the same.

Because of the easy access to high peaks and extensive trails, alpine sports have seen much growth in mainstream popularity. Riders of all ages queue at the bottom of chairlifts, waiting for their turn to be swept up and shuttled to the top of their favorite runs.

During operating seasons, 1,200 to 4,000 skiers and snowboarders are transported up mountains every hour depending on chair size. The chairlift’s reliability and trustworthy fortified steel construction enable riders to bob up and down as they climb upwards sometimes hundreds of feet above the mountain, without doubting the safety of their journey.

Chairlift manufacturers like the Doppelmayr Garaventa and Leitner Groups, are constantly improving the design and safety features of their lift systems. “All ropeway types are planned, designed and built using the very best technology,” said a representative from Doppelmayr Garaventa. “All of our surface lifts, chair and gondola lifts are always state of the art.”

Chairlifts are a huge contributing factor in what continues to drive the multibillion-dollar ski and snowboard industry. Construction and technical advancements now allow lifts to move more people up mountains, faster, and more safely, ultimately allowing for more runs throughout a winter’s day.

The Future of the Chairlift

Climate change is playing a large part in slowing global ski resort growth and the building of new chairlifts. Less snowfall and shorter operating seasons have been driving the cost of lift tickets to rise astronomically, affecting the number of newcomers to try out winter sports.

This, however, has not deterred ski meccas like Colorado in continuing to pursue the ultimate skiing and snowboarding experience for riders, by adding new chairlifts to resorts and expanding terrain.

For the chairlift, its steel construction will allow it to weather any condition and hopefully will be carrying skiers and snowboarders up mountains across the globe for many more years to come.

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The mere mention of the city conjures up images such as towering skyscrapers, luxury hotels and mysterious desert dunes.

But compared to its neighboring emirates, this “Miracle in the Desert” has very few gas reserves. As such, Dubai began preparing for the post-oil era long before its onset. The large increases in oil prices after the Gulf War of 1990 encouraged the city to focus its efforts primarily on free trade and has since transformed into a global hub for trade and logistics.

Now, countries throughout the Middle East are looking to Dubai, which is considered the world’s most strikingly modern and prosperous city, as a model of success.

Seeing the potential of the region, POSCO opened its first office in the Middle East in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1975. Later, in 1998, the steel company opened the Dubai presence of its Singapore office, which was promoted as the Dubai office in 2006.

Currently, there are four employees working at this location who oversee POSCO activities in 19 countries: 14 in the Middle East and 5 in North Africa.

In response to changing marketing conditions, the Dubai office is working to increase the sales of products by focusing on reinforcing its solution-based marketing capabilities. It is also working hard to promote POSCO’s innovative solutions to its clients ordering construction projects, and is seeking to create new business opportunities with other Middle Eastern offices of POSCO affiliates.

To get an idea of where the future of POSCO is headed in terms of construction, it only makes sense to take a look at some of Dubai’s most impressive architectural projects of the past which used steel as a construction material. Here are three of them:

Burj Khalifa

Also known as the “Jewel of Dubai”, this 164-story building is the tallest free-standing structure in the world. The building took about five and a half years to build, and used over 31,400 metric tons of steel rebar. Laid end to end, this would stretch over a quarter of the way around the world!

The Burj Khalifa has since become a symbol of the wealth and progress embodied by the Persian Gulf city and currently houses a mix of residential spaces, corporate suites and the Armani Hotel Dubai, the world’s first hotel designed and developed by Giorgio Armani himself.

Princess Tower

(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

Also a record-breaker, the Princess Tower is the world’s tallest residential tower at 414 meters and 107 floors. The building boasts 763 luxury apartments, including a number of penthouse apartments overlooking the Palm Jumeirah, a dramatic artificial archipelago that resembles a palm tree.

Yet the most impressive aspect of the Princess Tower is its grandiose exterior, which includes a decorative dome that sits atop the building like a giant crown. The dome, which was finished in February 2012, has a mast on the top of it, which weighs 110 tons and is made of aluminum and steel.

O-14

(Image courtesy of Archdaily)

O-14’s façade is an inventive merger of structure and solar shading that is based on a perforated exoskeleton that challenges the concept of an office building altogether. The 1,300 openings in the tower’s shell create a sensational show of natural light that allows for a unique and ever-changing interior space, and permits cool air to filter through the building, thus saving energy.

The outer concrete and steel skin of O-14 also play a fundamental role in supporting the inner tower with an array of linking beams. Eliminating the need of interior columns creates more floor space, and as such, more areas for rent.

Considering the fact that Dubai is seemingly always under construction, and in constant pursuit of breaking even more world records, it’s certain that the demand for steel and POSCO’s services will continue to increase.

University of Phoenix Stadium 

(Image Source: University of Phoenix Stadium Official Website)

Located in Glendale Arizona in America, University of Phoenix Stadium is a multi-purpose facility with unique features of retractable steel roof and field. The 63,400-seat stadium, which is expandable to 72,200, have the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals and Annual VIZIO Fiesta Bowl as the primary tenants. As a marvel of design, engineering, and technology, the stadium was voted as one of the top ten sports facilities in the world by Business Week in 2006.

Here are some facts that even football enthusiasts might have not known before. With a solid mission for the environment, University of Phoenix Stadium is a member of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). When tailgating, a big part of game day experience, guests are given complimentary recyclable bags for disposal of recyclable materials. While the 10% of stadium’s seating is made from recycled plastic, the venue uses “Green” products such as hand soap, all cleaning solutions, microfiber mops and rags to preserve water and the environment.

Another interesting fact about the stadium is that the stadium’s field is wheeled in and out on 546 steel wheels that ride along 13 parallel steel rails, traveling 741 feet. It is almost unimaginable to guess how much steel was used for the construction!

(Reference: University of Phoenix Stadium Official Website)

Allianz Arena

(Image Source: Allianz Arena Official Website)

Allianz Arena, Europe’s contemporary stadium, with the size of more than 70,000 spectators, is the third home for FC Bayern Munich. Its extraordinary facade, covered with 2,760 diamond-shaped cushions, constantly amazes visitors. The stadium is always filled with fans every season because of the tenant team’s star players and other facilities such as outstanding catering and parking space at the venue.

As a special feature, Allianz Arena is lit in red when the host team is Bayern Munich, in blue when it is 1860 Munich, and in white when the German national team hosts the football match.

For the construction of Allianz Arena, approximately 22,000 tons of steel was used. The retractable roof is where massive amount of the steel was applied to. Overall, the stadium was warmly welcomed by the Munich community and more than 60 percent considered Allianz Arena as a favorable construction project. According to “Cicero”, political journal, the stadium became Germany’s favorite sports location.

(Reference: Allianz Arena Official Website)

Estádio Municipal de Aveiro

(Image Source: Panoramio)

Located in Aveiro, Portugal, Estádio Municipal de Aveiro Stadium was designed for UEFA Euro 2004 tournament as the fifth-largest football ground of the country. A home ground for Sport Clube Beira-Mar of the Segunda Liga, the stadium is a venue for various football matches including the Portugal national team games.

Estádio Municipal de Aveiro Stadium is known for its dynamic design which is a combination of simple shapes and lively colors. Designed by Tomás Taveira, the stadium benefits from its cheerful colors as the intense tonalities bring out the celebration atmosphere of sporting events. Examples of the polychromic feature are red steel pylons, sky-blue edges of the roof and seating areas of rainbow shades. Having a capacity for 32,830 spectators and the special design features, the stadium is visually appealing both empty and full of people.

(Reference: Wikipedia)

Michigan Stadium

(Image Source: MGoBlue)

One of the America’s most classic stadium, Michigan Stadium, also known as the Big House, is a symbolic icon of University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Opened in 1927, which was the golden age of college football, the stadium was modeled after the Yale Bowl and was constructed with 440 tons of reinforcing steel and 31,000 square feet of wire mesh. Started with an initial capacity of 84,401, the venue currently upholds up to 109,901 spectators after a major renovation in 2010. Although the stadium is not known for extravagant colors or sleek, modern design, the stadium embodies its own meaning as one of the oldest and largest college football arenas in America.

(Reference Source: MGoBlue)

Wembley Stadium

(Image Source: Wembley Stadium Official Website)

Sponsored by EE, Wembley Stadium is a multiplex football stadium in Wembley Park, London, United Kingdom. Wembley Stadium is known for hosting major football matches, such as FA Cup Finals and home ground matches for England National Football Team. Wembley Stadium opened in 2007 after demolishing the previous Wembley Stadium. The stadium has a retractable roof, just as many other modern stadiums, and 134m-high Wembley Arch over the venue. .

Wembley Stadium is one of UEFA category 4 stadiums. Category 4 is the highest of the category. With 90,000 in capacity, Wembley Stadium is the second largest stadium in Europe and largest in the United Kingdom. Considering the immense size of the structure, which even contains 2,618 toilets, about 23,000 tons of steel were used for its renovation. This stadium is currently owned by the Football Association where HRH the Duke of Cambridge (Prince William) being the current president.

(Reference: Wembley Stadium Official Website)

As shown, today’s large venues, especially these amazing stadiums, are built on steel skeletons. As an essential material for the modern world, steel will continue to evolve into even more ambitious and innovative creatures in the future.

The POSCO Green Building, which was completed in 1 year and 2 months after starting construction last September, consists of an office building (5 floors, B1~4F, total square of 5571㎡), joint housing building of 5 units (3 floors), 4 modular home units and a PR exhibition hall.

 The POSCO Green Building was carried out as part of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport R&D project, ‘Research on spreading green technology to market demand-based new buildings’ which aims to present a new approach to domestic green building construction, and considered environment-friendly and low energy in the processes from design and construction to operation and disposal.

 More than 100 green technologies including solar power, geothermal air-conditioning and heating, vacuum outsulation, and ICT (Information Communication Technology) are applied to the building, optimizing energy performance and saving energy usage from 30 to 100% compared to existing buildings. Further, it is an environment-friendly building where approximately 35% of the energy required by the building is self-generated utilizing new renewable energy.

 Energy reduction materials developed by POSCO were also greatly used. In the front of the building, a steel curtain wall, which boasts the best domestic insulation performance, was installed, generating insulation effects of more than double existing aluminum curtain walls, while vacuum outsulation was applied to the exterior walls to increase heat retention ability.

 In addition, self-cleaning steel plates were applied to the building’s exterior walls, allowing for the overall exterior to maintain a clean appearance while pollutants can be removed by rainwater. This steel plate has a 30% longer lifecycle than regular steel plates. High corrosion-resistant alloy gilt steel plates were used in the facilities to save rainwater, and high manganese steel that reduces vibration was experimentally applied for the first time to the sound-blocking floor to solve noise between floors.

 The Green Building also considers the environment in disposal on top of construction. Slag from production of melted iron was incorporated in place of cement, an important construction material, to reduce energy necessary to produce the cement. Reuse steel structure methods were applied to the steel frame for the building. Dampers were installed to absorb vibration to prevent shifts from external shocks such as earthquakes, and supplementary materials were combined using bolts so they can be reused once the building’s lifecycle ends.

 Further, a Building Energy Management System (BEMS), which controls air-conditioning & heating and OLED lighting automatically by analyzing the production-delivery-consumption process of energy and sensing temperature differences caused by sunlight, is applied to improve energy efficiency and allow intelligent energy management.

 POSCO plans to utilize the Green Building as a model to spread energy-reduction type homes.

 The POSCOMAGIC R&D Center, which focuses on non-ferrous mineral research, will be also established in the Green Building, consistently carrying out industry-academia research linked with POSCO’s non-ferrous business and developing competitive new environment-friendly materials

 A showroom will also be made available in the PR exhibition hall, marketing environment-friendly steel construction materials applied to the Green Building, while the design-construction-energy management system operation experience of the Green Building will be proactively utilized for the green construction industry both domestically and internationally, contributing to the creation of new demand in environment-friendly steel construction materials. In addition, the Green Building will be open to the public and give an opportunity to meet new materials and steel construction materials applied in the building.