The Australian Steel Institute (ASI) has launched Steel Sustainability Australia (SSA): a certification program that provides a clear pathway for steel businesses to operate more responsibly and transparently while being part of an environmentally and socially sustainable future.
According to ASI, transitioning to net zero is one of the greatest challenges the world has ever faced, requiring a complete transformation of how we live, work, build, consume and travel.
The built environment will play a major role in this transformation. According to the World Green Building Council, 75 per cent of annual global greenhouse emissions are from the built environment (encompassing buildings and infrastructure).
With up to 75 per cent of the infrastructure that will be needed by 2050 yet to be built, it is critical that design and investment decisions made today consider the scale, scope and severity of climate change impacts that will affect these built assets.
ASI Sustainability Manager Jerusha Beresford said the SSA certification program was developed in response to the ever-present focus on the sustainable performance and decarbonisation of the Australian construction industry, including the exponential growth in demand for lower carbon and responsibly sourced construction materials.
“This is borne from the global focus on climate change and the net zero carbon emissions targets set by governments and corporations alike, as well as the need for a more sustainably operating society in growing urban populations.
“Specifiers need to be able to identity more sustainable building products, and steel suppliers need certification that their products are sustainably manufactured and processed and are sourced through responsible and ethical supply chains.”
Superseding ASI’s Environmental Sustainability Charter, the SSA program engages the entire steel value chain by certifying downstream steel businesses such as fabricators, roll formers, and reinforcing processors, and verifying upstream steel producers against best practice environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators aligned to the principles supporting the Green Building Council of Australia’s (GBCA) Responsible Product Framework.
The SSA program also provides specifiers, engineers, builders and government with the means to identify sustainable steel suppliers through transparent and consistent measurement of environmental, social and health impacts across the entire steel value chain.
The SSA program is a recognised initiative under GBCA’s Responsible Product Framework, rewarding points under Green Star rating tools.
GBCA Head of Market Transformation Jorge Chapa said: “As a developer or builder, your objective is to create a great building that drives investment, gets tenants on-board, and meets all your corporate social responsibility needs.
“As a result, the products used in your development need to be responsible, healthy and drive environmental outcomes.
“Building products need to be manufactured and installed in such a way that they reduce the impacts on nature and the environment and drive the reduction of carbon content.”
“In GBCA’s Responsible Product Framework, there are a number of different credits that apply to building products and steel: the responsible structure credit, the responsible envelope credit, and the credit around carbon emissions and embodied carbon within a building.”
