LEED v3 Material Resources (MR)
MR Credit 4 Recycled Content for AEP Span

Applicable Credits:
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a U.S. Green Building Council program which includes a voluntary rating system intended to rate a building’s performance and long term sustainability. LEED rates an entire project on an overall scale. It assigns credits or points for achievement in a wide variety of categories. This letter specifically addresses Materials & Resources Credit 4: Recycled Content that has the following credits/points available:

LEED Credits:	Max points	ASC Profiles Support	
MR Credit 4– Recycled Content. 10% (1 point)
and 20% (2 points)	2	Partial credit can be applied to steel products. Steel Recycled Content Value = (Value of Steel Product) (Post-Consumer recycled content %+ ½ pre consumer recycled content %).	

The information contained in the enclosed October 2012 Steel Recycling Institute publication Steel Takes LEED® with Recycled Content provides post-consumer and pre-consumer recycled content percentages for North American steel building products and is considered acceptable documentation by the USGBC LEED rating system and green codes and standards.

AEP Span purchases steel made from a Basic Oxygen Furnace facility (BOF). As per the Steel Recycling Institute publication, steel made from a BOF facility contains an average post-consumer recycled content of 19.8% and an average pre-consumer recycled content of 14.4%. The total steel recycled content value under LEED for steel manufactured from a BOF is 27% (19.8% post- consumer + (½ x 14.4% pre-consumer)).

Upon your request at the time of quotation, AEP Span can purchase steel made from an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) if your project requires a high-recycled content. As per the Steel Recycling Institute publication, steel made in an EAF facility contains an average post-consumer recycled content of 69% and an average pre-consumer recycled content of 19.5%. The total steel recycled content value under LEED for steel manufactured from an EAF is 78.8% (69% post-consumer + (½ x 19.5% pre-consumer)).

The recycled content of the fasteners and other buyouts is very difficult to obtain. AEP Span resells these products and is unable to ascertain the recycled content of these materials.

Please note that sheet steel supplied from mills located in the Western U.S. does not meet the 500-mile requirement for extracting or harvesting of raw materials. In fact, there are no mining operations in the Western U.S. nor are there any steel melting/scrap recycling facilities capable of making sheet steel west of St. Louis, Missouri.

AEP Span • A Division of ASC Profiles LLC
2110 Enterprise Boulevard, West Sacramento, CA 95691
Toll Free: 800.733.4955 • Fax: 253.272.0791 • www.aepspan.com

October 2012

Steel Takes LEED®	with Recycled Content

steel beams and columns

steel studs

steel roofing

steel decking

steel doors ductwork steel siding
corrugated steel pipe

other steel compnoents

Designers and builders have long recognized and lauded steel for tts strength, durability, and functionality. Increasingly, however, architects and engineers are recognizing steel'simportant envi­ ronmental attributes- especially tts high recycled content and high recovery rate.
For many years, there has been a strong eco­ nomic motive to incorporate recycling into the process for making steel, but today's environmen­ tal concerns makerecycling even more important. Recycling saves money while conserving energy and other resources, as well as reducing solid, liQuid , and gaseous wastes.
Recycled con tent is a measure of how much recycled material is contained in a finished prod­ uct. On the other hand,  the efficiency  wtth which a material is recycled is indicated by tts recovery rate. This is a measure of how often a product is recycled at the end of its useful life.  Steel' s high recovery rate is a direct result  of  the tact  that  it is a cradle-to-cradle material constantly being multi-cycled into the array of steel products in our economy.
Thus,  steel  is  an  exceptional   pertormer  by both measurements. In the constructionindustry, increased interest in recycling has been driven largely by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED") rating system. The LEED rating system provides credit for the use of materials with
high levels of recycled content. No credits are granted for the eQually importan t recovery rate ot the materials. Howeve,r the International Green

The amount of recycled content in steel prod­ ucts will vary as a function ot the cost and avail­ ability of steel scrap, as well as metallurgical reQuirem en ts. As the worictwide dema nd for steel increases,   the  available   scrap  will  be stretched
among more and more steel products, meaning that more steel from virgin materials will enter the production stream to meet the demand. Howeve,r because ot steel's high recovery rat e, more scrap will  also  be  available   tor  future   recycling, thus
minimizing the long-term amount ot virgin mate­ rial reQuired.

In addttion to recycled content, steel can con­ tribute toward several other LEED credits, eriher directly or indirectly. Steel is dimensionally stable and, when property designed, can provide an exceptionally tight building envelope tor less air loss and better HVAC pertormance over time. Steel is made to exact specifications, so on-stte waste is minimized. Material from demolttion or construction can beeasily recycled, with the mag­ netic properites of steel greatly facilitating its sep­ aration from other materials. Thus, in addition to tts outstanding recycled content and an enviable recovery rate, steel's other functional properites contribute to the material's solid environmental pertormance.

As w tth any building process or material, there are areas for improvem ent. A great benefit of LEED is that it can help the steel industry recover even more scrap, as contractors improve their recycling collection methods at the job site  so that less incidental iron and steel scrap escapes

America n Iron and Ste el Institut e

Construction Code considers both the recycled	 	                                                                                       content and the recoveryrate of materials.

Online Steel Recycling Resources
www.recycle-steel.org
Includes detailedinfonnaiton onrecycling rates, recycling databases, and the environmental ben­ efitsof steel for homes, buildings, steelroofing, and bridges.

www.aisc.org/sustainability
Includes detailedinfonnaiton onhow steel factors into the LEED•   rating system, steel mill recycled content documentation, and articles about the
use of steel in sustainable projects.

Scrap consumption in the Untted States is maximized between the two types ot modem steel mill s, each of which generatesproducts that are 100% recyclable and therefore contribute to steel' s high recovery rate. One process produces much of the steel tor light flat-rolled steel prod­ ucts, with about 30% recycled content. The other process makes steel tor a wide range ot prod­ ucts, including flat-rolled, but is the only method used domestically for the production of structural shapes, which have over 90% recycled content. (These processes are covered in detail on the fol­ lowing pages).

Modern Steel Production	Technologies

Typical BOF
Products

hollow structural sections

steel studs

l

IJ

J

I

steel deck

plate purlins

to landfills. Similarly, commercial buildings and residential housing can have better disciplined recycling syst ems for increasedrecovery. As steel products reach the end of useful life, we want to seethe recovery rate continue to increase so that even more scrap is recycled into new steel prod­ ucts for future service to society.
Steel is the most recycled material in North America and, indeed, the worid. In the United States alone, almost 86 million tons of steel were recycled or exported for recycling in  2011.  This is done for economic as w ell as environmental reasons. However, tt should also be clearly under­ stood that many steel products are durables, and even though two out of every three pounds of new steel are produced from old steel,  the  fact that cars, appliances, and bridges last a long time makes it necessary to continue to extract virgin ore to supplement the production of new steel. Economic expansion, domestically and interna­ tionally, creates additional demand that cannot be fully met by available scrap supplies.

Unlike other competing industries, recycling in the steel industry is second nature. The North American steel industry has been recycling steel scrap for over 170 years through a vast network of scrap facilities. Today, this network includes some 2,500 scrap processors and 12,500 auto dismantlers. Many have been in the business for more than 100 years. The pre-consumer, post­ consumer, and total recycled content of steel products in the United States can be determined for the calendar year 2011 using information from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), the lnstttute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), and the U.S. Geological Survey. Additionally, a study prepared for the AISI by William T. Hogan, S.A., and Frank T. Koelble of Fordham University is used to establish pre- and post-consumer frac­ tions of purchased scrap.
The steel and ironindustriesenjoy an open-loop recycling capabiltty, w tth available scrap typically going to the closest melting furnace. This open­ loop recycling allows, for  example,  an  old  car to be melted down to produce a new soup can; then, as the new soup can is recycled, it is melt ed down to produce a new car, appliance, or perhaps

a structural beam used to repair some por1ion of the Golden GateBridge. For this reason, average ind ustry statistics more accurately portray the overall impact of industry recycling activ tty than do those of an individual comp any.
Basic Oxygen Furnace
Dom estic basic oxygen furnace (BOF) facilities consumed a total of 13,957,000 tons of ferrous scrap in the production of 37,798,500 tons of raw steel during 2011. Based on U.S. Geological Survey statistics, 4,971,000 of these ferrous scrap tons  had  been   generated  as  unsalable  steel
product within the confines of these steelmaking sites. In the steel industry,  these tons are a mix of "runaround scrap• and pre-consumer scrap. (The runaround scrap is specifically excluded from recycled content since it is scrap that is recoveredw tthin the same steel mill process that generated it.) Estimates by the St eel Recycling lnstttute identify about 80% of this unsalable steel as pre-consumer scrap, equating to 3,976,800 tons (4,971,000 x 80%). Additionally, these opera­ tions reported that they consumed 45,000 tons of obsolete scrap (buildings and warehouses dis­ mantled on-stte at the mill) during this timeframe. This volume is classified as post-consumer scrap.
As a result of the above, based on the total scrap consumed, outside purchases of scrap equate to 8,941,000 tons[13,957,000-    (4,971,000+45,000)].
According  to the Fordham University  study, the
post-consumer fraction of the purchased ferrous scrap would be 83.4%, while 16.6% of these pur­ chases would be pre-consumer. This equates to 1,484,200 tons of pre-consumer scrap (8,941,000 x 16.6%) which is mainly generated by manufac­ turing processes for products made with steel.

Therefore, the total recycled content to produce the 37,798,500 tons of raw st eel in the BOF is:
13,957,000 / 37,798,500 = 36.9%
(Total Tons Ferrous Scrap/ Total Tons Raw Stee0

2

Also, the post-consumer recycledcontentis:	Also, the post-consmuer recycled contentis:
(8,941,000 - 1,4,84,200) + 45,000 = 7,501,800	(45,538,000 · 7,559,300) + 69,000) = 38,074,700
and	38,074,700 / 55,152,600 = 69.0%

Typ i ca l EAF

7,501,800 / 37,798,500 = 19.8%
(Post-Consumer Scrap / Total  Tons  Raw  St eeO F inally, the p re-consumer recycled content is:
(3,976,800 + 1,484,200) / 37,798,500 =
5,461,000 / 37,798,500= 14.4%
(Pre-Consumer Scrap / Total Tons Raw Steel)
Electric Arc Furnace
The electric arc furnace (EAF) facil tties con­ sumed a total of 49,575,000 tons of ferrous scrap in the production of 55,152,600 tons of raw steel during 2011. Based on U.S. Geological Survey adjusted statistics, 3,968,000 of these ferrous scrap tons had been generated as unsalable steel product w tthin the confines of these steelmal<ing
sit es . Ag ain, in the steel industry, these tons are a mix of • runaround scrap" and pre-consumer scrap. Estimates by the Steel Recycling Institute identify about 80% of this unsalable steel as pre-consumer scrap, eQua ting to 3 ,174,400 tons
(3,968 ,000 x 80%). Additionally, these opera­ tions  reported  that  they consumed 69,000 tons
of obsolete scrap (buildings and warehouses dis­ mantled on-stte at the mill) during this time frame. This volume is classified as post-consumer scrap.
As a result, based on the total scrap consumed, outside purchases of scrap eQuat e to 45,538, 000 tons  [49,575 ,000   -   (3, 968 ,000   +  69, 000)).

Contact Us
Steel Recycling Institut e
680 Andersen Dr. • Pittsburgh, PA 15220-2700 412.922.2772• sri@recycle-steel.org
VIINW.rec ycle- steel.org

American Institut e of Steel Construction
One East Wacker Dr., Suite 700 • Chicago, IL 60601 866.ASK.AISC  •  solutionsll  aisc.org www.aisc.org

Accord ing  to  the Fordham  Univers ity  study, the
pos t -consumer fraction of the p urc hased fer­ rous scrap would be 83.4%, while 16.6% of these purchases would be pre-consumer. This eQua tes to 7,559,300 tons of pre-consumer scrap (45,538,000 x 16.6%) which is mainly generated by manufacturing processes for products made with st eel.
Therefore, the totalrecycled contentto produce the 55,152,600 tons of raw steel in theEAF is:
49,575,000 / 55,152,600=89.89%
(Total Tons FerrousScrap/Total Tons Raw St eel)

(Post-Consumer Scrap / Total Tons Raw SteeQ and
Finally, the pre-consumer recycled content is:
(3,174,400 + 7,559,300) 1 55,152,600 =
10,733,700 / 55,152,600 = 19.5%
(Pre-Consumer Scrap/ Total Tons Raw Steel) The above discussion and calculations demon­
strate conclusively the inherent recycled content of steel produced today In North America. To buy domestic steel is to "Buy Recycled."
Understanding the recycled content of  steel, one should not attempt to select one steel pro­ ducer over another on the basis of a simplistic comparison of relative scrap usage or recycled content. After its useful product life, steel is recy­ cled back into another steel produc t. Thus steel w tth about 30% recycled content or with about 90% recycled content are both complementary parts of the holistic cradle-to-cradle infrastructure of steelmaking, product manufacture, scrap gen­ eration, and recycling.
Steel is truly the most recycled material.

Pr od uct s

y

x-	- x

y
beams and columns

X

C
c h a n n e l s

,--l
angles

r

pl ate steel deck piling

3

To: Architects, Engineers, Designers, and Specifiers Re:  LEED® -NC    2009 Recycled Content Value of Steel
Building Products
The U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED") Green Building Rating System aims to improve occupant well-being, environ­ mental performance, and economic returns of buildings using established and innova­ tive practices, standards, and technologies.
Mat erials &Resources Credit 4: Recycled Content intends to increasedemand for building products that incorporate recycled content materials, thereby reducing impacts resulting from extraction and processing of virgin materials. As discussed and demonstrated below, North American steel building prod ucts contribut e positively tow ard both available po ints. The following is required by LEED-NC:

Credit 4 C1 or 2 points) •u se mat erials with recycled content such that the sum of post ­ consumer recycled content plus one-half  of  the pre-consumer content constitutes at least  10% or 20% (based on cost) of the total value of the materials in the project.•

"Therecycled content value of amaterial assembly shall be determined by weight. Therecycled fraction of the assembly is then multiplied by the cost of assembly to determine the recycled content value.• Since steel (the material) and steel (the building product) are the same, the value of the steel building product is directly muttiplied by steel's recycled content, or:

Steel Recycled Content Value = (ValUe of Steel Product) (Post-Consl.rner % + ½ Pre-Consumer%)
The information contained within this brochure provides post-co nsumer and pre-consumer recycled content percentages for North American st eel building products and is considered acceptable docu ­ mentation by the USGBC LEED rating system  and green  codes and  standards.  These percentages and values of st eel building products are easily entered into the LEED Letter Template spreadsheet for
calculation.

To illustrate the application of these steel recycled content values to LEED, manual calculations are shown below for typical Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) and Electric Arc  Furnace  (EAF) steel  buil ding prod ucts w ith nom inal $10,000 p urc hases, using 2011 data. St eel b uild ing prod ucts include st eel stud framing, structural steel framing (wide-flange beams, channels, angles, etc.), rebar, roofing, sid­ ing, decking, doors and sashes, windows, ductwork, pipe, fixtures, hardWare (hing es, handles, braces, screws, and nails), culverts, storm drains, and manhole covers.

BOF Steel Recycled Content Value for Typical Product: Steel Stud Framing
BOF St eel Recycled Content Value = 19.8% + (½ x 14.4%) = 27%
Value= ($10,000) (27.0%) = $2,700
(Positive net contributor to 10% and 20% minimum percentage for each point threshold)

EAF Steel Recycled Content Value for Typical Product: Wide-FlangeStructural Steel Framing
EAF Steel Recycled Content Value = 69.0 % + (½ x 19.5%) = 78.8%
Value= ($10,000) (78.8%) = $7,880
(Positive net contributor to 10% and 20% minimum percentage for each point threshold)

Steel Recycling Institute
680 Anders«1Dr. Pittsburgh, PA 15220- 2700
412.922.2772
sri@rElCyc le-st eel.org

American
Ins titute of Steel
Construction
One EastWacker CK.,
S u i t e 700
C h ica g o , I L
6060   1
866.ASK.AISC
solutions@aisc.org

America n
l ron and Steel
!Institu t e
American
Iron and Steel Institute
25
Massachusetts Avenue NN, Suite 800
'A'ashington, DC
2000 1
202.452.7100

4	F083-12