Utilization of structural steel in buildings
Open accessAbstract
Over one-quarter of steel produced annually is used in the construction of buildings. Making this steel causes carbon dioxide emissions, which climate change experts recommend be reduced by half in the next 37 years. One option to achieve this is to design and build more efficiently, still delivering the same service from buildings but using less steel to do so. To estimate how much steel could be saved from this option, 23 steel-framed building designs are studied, sourced from leading UK engineering firms. The utilization of each beam is found and buildings are analysed to find patterns. The results for over 10 000 beams show that average utilization is below 50% of their capacity. The primary reason for this low value is ‘rationalization’—providing extra material to reduce labour costs. By designing for minimum material rather than minimum cost, steel use in buildings could be drastically reduced, leading to an equivalent reduction in ‘embodied’ carbon emissions.
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Steel structural elements in existing buildings are 40% underutilized.
“steel structural elements in existing buildings have been found to be 40% underutilized (Moynihan and Allwood 2014).”
From Reusing Heavy-Section Steel in Buildings: Carbon Reduction Potential and Material Availability (2025) · cites this paper as Moynihan and Allwood 2014
The Discussion (Evidence for rationalization as the cause of low utilization; page unavailable) estimates that 36% of beam mass could be removed without loss of safety or service, broadly supporting the claim's approximate 40% figure. But this estimate concerns beams in 23 commercially designed UK steel-framed buildings, not all structural elements in existing buildings. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredMoynihan and Allwood investigated the design of 23 steel-structured buildings and found that for over 100 00 beams, on average less than half of the loadbearing capacity was being utilized, indicating a substantial scope of savings in steel due to closer specifications and different load-bearing elements.
“Moynihan and Allwood [71] investigated the design of 23 steel-structured buildings and found that for over 100 00 beams, on average less than half of the loadbearing capacity was being utilized, indicating a substantial scope of savings in steel due to closer specifications and different load-bearing elements.”
From Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review (2019) · cites this paper as [71]
Light-weight design of buildings can reduce material-related GHG emissions by 19% to 50%.
“| | Light-weight design | ↓19 [16]-50% [71] | -↑ | ↓ - | MH | ◊ Conventions, labor costs |”
From Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review (2019) · cites this paper as [71]
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Flagged first, then by citations
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Sorted by citations
Hertwich, E. G., Ali, S., Ciacci, L., Fishman, T., Heeren, N., Masanet, E., Asghari, F. N., Olivetti, E., Pauliuk, S., Tu, Q., et al. (2019) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ab0fe3 · Cited by 477 · see citing works
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Reusing Heavy-Section Steel in Buildings: Carbon Reduction Potential and Material Availability
Berglund-Brown, J., & Ochsendorf, J. (2025) · Journal of Architectural Engineering · doi:10.1061/jaeied.aeeng-1918 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
- Authors
- Moynihan, M. C., & Allwood, J. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Allwood, Julian M.
- Venue
- Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
- Publisher
- The Royal Society
- Published
- 2014-08-08
- Volume
- 470
- Issue
- 2168
- Pages
- 20140170
- ISSN
- 1364-5021 (ISSN-L)
- 1471-2946
- PMC
- PMC4075790
- OpenAlex
- W2078220456
- Cited by
- 141
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 6.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Cambridge University Engineering Department Publications Database (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/G007217/1)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Civil and Structural Engineering › Structural Engineering and Materials Analysis
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Sustainable Building Design and Assessment
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Civil and Structural Engineering › Civil and Structural Engineering Research
- Keywords
- structural steel, steel frame buildings, embodied carbon, carbon emission reduction, rationalization, material efficiency
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