This year's event focused on carbon and the climate emergency, coinciding with COP26. Whilst there have been many references to 'blah blah blah' associated with the latter, it was refreshing and very encouraging to hear what is happening in the UK steel construction sector. We started the presentations with a very thought provoking and inspiring message from Will Arnold (Institution of Structural Engineers) who noted that 'as engineers we have more power than most to actually do something [about climate change]'. He added that if, and it is more than possible through 'good' design using knowledge we already possess, we reduce the amount of steel in a large building by 20% we can save 'carbon' that is the equivalent of 1000 flights to New York. A significant contribution would be made by using more informed values of loading - he noted that the level of imposed loading we normally design for corresponds to people standing jammed together and with another layer lying on top of them! We then heard from Walter Swann (Arcelor Mittal) and Sara Halliday (Severfield) about what a steel producer and a steelwork contractor are already doing and plan to do to reduce their carbon emissions. Generically, SCI's Michael Sansom talked about a number of sector initiatives to measure, reduce and report carbon emissions.

The second part of the event included a series of presentations concerning design tools and services for the sector. Stuart Campbell (Trimble) gave an overview of the TEDDs product before Callum Heavens (SCI) described the philosophy behind, and examples of, specialist TEDDS modules that SCI are about to launch. The final presentation from Constantinos Kyprianou focused on services SCI offer regarding the fire and thermal performance of building details.

One of the reasons for developing our design tools is that so-called Generation 2 Eurocodes are on the way (approaching technical finalisation now, and currently anticipated to be published by BSI between 2026 and 2028). Whilst these codes will be easier to use through better harmonisation between parts (including standardised wording and format) and scope that better reflects modern practice, there is a tendency to greater complexity of some specific design rules and increased levels of safety (often at the price of less economical solutions). We at SCI therefore need to continue to produce industry 'standard' guidance that facilitates correct use of the new rules, and exploits the Eurocodes' desire to not prevent expert users doing something more accurate than the code rules provide.

So joining the two parts of our event, at SCI we have a responsibility to help designers do the best job they can, and maintaining levels of safety whilst reducing the amount of material should clearly be a priority. Engineering is all about being ingenious, and we must apply what we know. So I would challenge all of us - are we doing what we can to mitigate climate change?

Recordings of all presentations are available here.

Thanks to our event sponsors:

Buildings account for nearly half of the UK's total carbon emissions and are therefore targeted for significant improvement by regulations. In response to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, the UK Climate Change Act 2008 and the goals set by COP26, national regulations are requiring ever more energy efficient buildings.

In the UK climate, heat losses through the building envelope (the shell of a structure separating the outside from the inside environment) account for more than 75% of the total heat loss including air leakage. The thermal insulation provided by the building envelope is key to energy efficiency but thermal bridges, which are weak spots in the insulation, lead to local heat losses that reduce the thermal efficiency. There are cases where it is necessary to detail steel components that penetrate the building envelope or where the structure is connected to foundations or other elements, therefore this should be done without causing excessive heat loss or causing a condensation risk.

SCI has experience on the thermal performance and assessing the impact of thermal bridging in the building envelope from involvement in past multi-year research projects such as TABASCO (contract RFSR-CT-00028) and BATIMASS (contract RFSR-CT-00033). SCI has published several documents on the topic: P410: Thermal bridging in steel construction, which provides guidance on thermal bridging in hot-rolled steel structural frames and P411: Thermal bridging in light steel framing and modular construction, which focuses on thermal bridging in light steel frames.

SCI's flexibility means we can offer bespoke consultancy by providing thermal modelling analysis and holistic consultancy on the thermal performance of the building envelope by using specialist thermal analysis software. The employed thermal analysis allows the simulation of heat flow effects in a 2D or 3D space and can assess:

1. Transmittance of heat losses and thermal performance;
2. Risks of surface condensation;

The established heat flow depends on the thickness and thermal transmittance of materials, resistance of air layers and temperature gradient between the defined surface areas of the boundaries of the modelled system. The methodology can include, but not limited to, thermal bridging analysis of each junction undertaken in accordance with EN 10211:2017. The post-processing analysis would involve establishing planar (U-values) or linear (ѱ-values) thermal transmittance performance and risks associated with surface condensation (f_RSi value).

The case studies that can be modelled could range from a planar wall element (such as those found in light steel framing applications), to composite junction details, and to a thermal analysis for a whole or section of a building. An example of assessing the performance of a thermal break is illustrated in Figure 1. Further information is found on our webpage and the presentation given on our SCI annual event, found here.

Figure 1: Thermal modelling of a balcony detail with no thermal break and with thermal break between steel and concrete

For more information or if you are in need in SCI's services in this field please contact Constantinos Kyprianou at SCI.

The UK structural steelwork decarbonisation roadmap was formally launched by Lee Rowley MP and Parliamentary Under-Secretary at BEIS, at BCSA's head office in Whitehall on 22nd November.

The BCSA Roadmap, developed by a team comprising leading UK steel suppliers and steelwork contractors, BCSA and SCI, sets out how the sector will decarbonise by 2050. The roadmap describes six decarbonisation strategies that the sector will concurrently deploy to meet national net zero targets by 2050. The roadmap also identifies a number of technologies, pilot and industrial-scale demonstration projects that are already underway in Europe demonstrating that the sector is already committed and taking action to address the climate emergency.

The launch was attended by representatives from BCSA, SCI and other organisations who supported and helped to develop the roadmap. The roadmap is available at www.steelconstruction.org.

Lee Rowley MP and Dr David Moore, CEO, BCSA

The UK Engineering and Physical Research Council funded REBUILD project is conducting a choice experiment amongst UK based building professionals who make decisions about the options of using reclaimed structural products in new builds. The products focussed on are structural steel, concrete and bricks. Project work to date has included testing innovate approaches to reclaim such products, without damage, to be re-used directly as products. The project team have demonstrated the technical feasibility and published their findings in a number of journals (references below).

The survey is known as a 'choice experiment' to compare new versus reclaimed products based on three key attributes - price, visual appearance and embodied carbon. We would be extremely grateful for your cooperation by completing the survey on the basis of your professional role and expertise.

If you consider yourself to be expert in steel but not in brick or concrete structural products then please just complete the steel section.

We appreciate there are many factors that need to be taken into account in procuring a building project but we are interested to know whether there are combinations of the three attributes when you might choose a reclaimed product over a new product. There is no presumption that you would or you should.

The survey will take between 3-4 minutes to complete for each structural material . The project team would value any additional comments about the survey or the topic of reclaimed products in the open text box at the end of the survey.

Your responses will be treated in the strictest confidence and protected under University of Exeter data storage regulations and GDPR (https://www.exeter.ac.uk/departments/cgr/ig/gdpr/)

To start the survey please click here

Many thanks,
Professor Peter Hopkinson

Selected publications (others currently under review)

Ajayebi, A., Hopkinson, P., Zhou, K., Lam, D., Chen, H. M., & Wang, Y. (2020). Spatiotemporal model to quantify stocks of building structural products for a prospective circular economy. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 162, 105026.
DOI: 10.1016/J.RESCONREC.2020.105026

Ajayabi, A., Chen, H.-M., Zhou, K., Hopkinson, P., Wang, Y. and Lam, D. (2019). REBUILD: Regenerative Buildings and Construction systems for a Circular Economy. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 225: 012015.
DOI: 10.1088/1755-1315/225/1/012015

Hopkinson, P., Chen, H.-M., Zhou, K., Wang, Y. & Lam, D. (2018). Recovery and reuse of structural products from end-of-life buildings. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering Sustainability, 0, 1-10.
DOI: 10.1680/jensu.18.00007

Zhou, K., Chen, H. -M., Wang, Y., Lam, D., Ajayebi, A., & Hopkinson, P. (2020). Developing advanced techniques to reclaim existing end of service life (EoSL) bricks - An assessment of reuse technical viability. Developments in the Built Environment, 2, 100006.
DOI: 10.1016/j.dibe.2020.100006

The new Advisory Desk service emails sent this month included;

Advisory Desk Note - AD 414
Slip-resistant connections to BS EN 1993-1-8

Advisory Desk Note - AD 476
Design of a parallel flange channel for axial compression and bending

If you are an SCI Sole Trader or Corporate Member and not receiving these email alerts go to the SCI Information Portal and in your Profile click on notifications/alerts and select the notifications you require.

All the Advisory Desk Notes and Questions and Answers together with other technical resources are all available at all times on the SCI Information Portal.

For SCI Sole Trader and Corporate members, SCI offers support through our Advisory Desk Service. For questions asked which we feel are pertinent to the wider member audience we publish anonymously the questions and answers.

Where some questions relate to SCI Publications we publish the question and answers in Connect.

This month our published question is about;
P398 Moment-resisting Joints - T-Stubs flanges in bending

Question: In P398 Moment-resisting Joints, Table 2.2, the length of a T-stub flange in bending appears to be based on the yielding around one bolt. Does the length need to be multiplied by the number of bolts in a row or group for the total effective length or is the resistance due to one bolt only?

Answer: The tabulated value is the effective length of the T-stub equivalent to the bolt pair/plate configuration identified in the table, so the length does not need to be doubled or multiplied by the number of rows. Tables 2.3 and 2.4 give the effective length of the T-stub for bolt rows acting in combination. The examples in P398 show how the effective length is used to determine the tension resistance of the T-stub and therefore its contribution to the moment resistance of the joint.

For all other membership Advisory Question /Answers please visit the the SCI Information Portal.

The Advisory Desk Service is for SCI Corporate and Sole Trader Members advisory@steel-sci.com | +44 (0) 1344 636525

SCI Online Training Courses

Our public courses and webinars keep engineers updated with the latest developments within steel design and equip them to design competently, efficiently and safely.

Next SCI Member webinar is;

Wind Actions and Snow Loads
14 December 21
Time: 12:30-13:30

This webinar will introduce wind actions and snow loads in accordance with the Eurocodes and the UK National Annexes. The presentation on wind actions will cover the recommended approach of considering quadrants around the site for hand calculations. Snow loading is relatively straightforward, so after covering the uniform snow condition, the course will discuss the UK provisions for drifted snow. The special provisions dominant openings and for roof loads in combination will be discussed.

Register for this event here

For course reminders, publication updates and article notifications follow SCI on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.