(Chicago, IL) – Steel facility and job-site tours, networking opportunities, educational seminars, and presentations on state-of-the-art industry technologies and products will be part of more than 170 free events scheduled across the country for SteelDay on September 18. Hosted by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) and its members, SteelDay is the first-ever national day of interaction with the structural steel industry.
SteelDay is a fabulous opportunity for the public to learn firsthand about the greenest building material available on earth: steel. Attendees will be able to visit steel fabricators, service centers, galvanizers, and other steel facilities to witness advanced technologies in action and see how the structural steel industry is building high-performance projects that have minimal environmental impact our planet.
SteelDay guests at events will discover some of structural steel's sustainable attributes such as:
Steel beams and columns have a recycled content of 93.3%, the highest of any building framing material. At the end of its life, 98% gets recycled. It's the most recycled product on the planet, reducing mining and landfill requirements.While other materials cannot be recycled for the same use, steel beams and columns can be remade into new beams and columns. While other products can only be recycled into a lower quality product (down-cycled), steel can be recycled over and over again without any loss of quality (multi-cycled).Structural steel has a low carbon footprint.Steel production has seen a reduction in carbon emissions by 47% since 1990 -- by comparison the Kyoto protocol would have mandated a 5.2% reduction by 2012.Structural steel mills exhibit superior water resource management; the steelmaking process has a 95% water recycling rate with no external discharges, resulting in a very low net consumption.The structural steel industry has earned an EPA best industry performance designation.
AISC will host a special SteelDay event in Chicago's Millennium Park. Surrounded by some of the city's famous buildings, guests will have the opportunity to explore several education stations on structural steel and its applications, as well as attend a special presentation on sustainable steel construction. An optional tour of Millennium Park structures will also be offered. For more information, please visit www.steelday.org/chicago.
More information on SteelDay and all of its events can be found at www.steelday.org.
