Best Practice Life Cycle Analysis - balancing cost efficiency with low carbon structural steel design

This 2 part live streamed webinar delivered over 2 sessions via Zoom provides a comprehensive overview of strategies, theoretical framework, and methods to reduce embodied carbon in steel construction across a range of structural systems—including buildings, bridges, and renewable energy infrastructure. By the end of the webinar, participants will be able to calculate the embodied carbon of steel structures during the conceptual design stage, apply techniques to reduce embodied carbon emissions, and analyse real-world case studies of mono- and multi-storey steel structures to develop sustainable solutions. 

The webinar offers a clear understanding of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and how to use them to make informed design decisions, as well a deep look into current global, European, and Australian regulations on low-carbon structural design and construction. Advanced techniques for achieving lower-carbon structures, including the use of high-strength steel and hybrid construction methods, will be discussed. 

Presented by Associate Professor Alper Kanyilmaz from the Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy, the webinar offers an excellent opportunity to gain a European perspective on the topic of life cycle analysis from an expert in the field. The content aims to enable participants to confidently integrate sustainability into steel design and construction practices.

This is a live session with opportunities for Q&A and will not be recorded.

Who should attend

The webinar will be of interest to building industry participants including architects, engineers, building contractors plus sustainability managers and government & regulatory bodies.

What you can expect

• Both parts of the webinar are live streamed via Zoom.
• This event will not be recorded and must be viewed live
• You can post questions to the presenter which will be answered in the live streamed Q&A sessions
• A PDF copy of the PowerPoint presentations will be available to view in your ASI Dashboard.

Webinar Part 1 (to be held on Wednesday 7 May, 4pm to 6pm AEST)

• Welcome, Introduction, Learning Outcomes
• Challenges and opportunities for the steel community during the climate crisis at the European and Australian contexts.
• Detailed definition of life-cycle stages of a steel structure
• Product stage “raw materials” (A1)
• Product stage “transport” (A2) and “manufacturing” (A3), construction stage “transport” (A4) and “installation” (A5)
• End-of-life (C1, C2, C3, C4) and beyond-life (D) stages.
• What are EPDs? How to use them.
• Q&A

Webinar Part 2 (to be held on Thursday 8 May, 4pm to 6pm AEST)

• Welcome, Introduction, Learning Outcomes
• How to calculate the embodied carbon of a building structural system?
• Case study comparing steel, timber and concrete buildings with a sensitivity analysis of span length, building shape, slab types, material and profile selection (e.g. high strength steel, tubular profiles)
• How to balance the cost efficiency and embodied carbon by means of structural design for a steel framed building.
• Current regulations (worldwide, European and Australian) about low-carbon structural design and construction.
• Hands-on exercise using NABERS (National Australian Built Environment Rating System)
• Q&A