The U.S. Department of Energy reports that buildings account for 40 percent of all the energy used in this country, 71 percent of electricity, 38 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, 30 percent of raw material use, 30 percent of waste output (136 million tons annually) and 12 percent of potable water consumption. These are astounding figures. They underscore the reality that facility construction, renovation and operation consume more of the earth’s resources than any other human activity.

This knowledge has provided considerable momentum for sustainable buildings and the reduction of environmental impacts throughout the life of a structure. Building owners, architects, engineers, federal agencies (such as DOE and EPA), and codes and standards now emphasize the practice of sustainable building design and construction.

The Metal Building Manufacturers Association has proactively embraced the sustainable construction movement as well. MBMA’s Sustainability Committee has developed two major initiatives. It created a task group to monitor the development of high-performance green construction codes and standards, such as ASHRAE 189.1, Standard for the Design of High Performance Green Buildings, which was published in 2010, and the ICC International Green Construction Code, which will be published in 2012.

It also appointed a task group to research life cycle assessment as it relates to metal building systems. According to the International Organization for Standardization, “LCA is a technique for assessing the environmental aspects and potential impacts associated with a product by: compiling an inventory of relevant inputs and outputs of a product system; evaluating the potential environmental impacts associated with those inputs and outputs; and interpreting the results of the inventory analysis and impact assessment phases in relation to the objectives of the study.”

There is a growing body of rating systems, standards and codes where LCA is beginning to play an important role. At this time there is a low level of incentives to spur the use of LCA in our industry, but that is rapidly changing. There is momentum spurring further development of and refinement of LCA initiatives.

MBMA’s task group will oversee a study of life cycle assessments that will analyze the available tools and their importance to the industry. The MBMA study will also produce the industry average for key environmental impacts as established by the ISO series of international standards on life cycle assessments. Their work will assist manufacturers and the industry in using life cycle analysis economically and practically. Hopefully, it will lead to the creation of innovative new products and markets that will drive sustainability into practice. The task group concurs that there is a need for increased use of LCA at all levels to drive innovation in building manufacturing, design and construction.

MBMA’s LCA research will help owners make informed choices among various building design options, as well as building structural systems, assemblies and products. Their work will identify products and/or assemblies causing the maximum and minimum environmental impact throughout a building’s life cycle and define ways to mitigate impacts related to specific environmental issues. The fact that metal building systems are made of steel make them a material of choice since steel is 100 percent recyclable and the industry prides itself on high-performance design, efficient use of materials, clean and dust-free fabrication, minimum site waste, and adaptability and flexibility over the life span of a building.

New Tools

In other news, MBMA is pleased to announce the publication of “Concrete Masonry Walls for Metal Building Systems,” a resource developed cooperatively by the National Concrete Masonry Association, MBMA and the ICC. This 116-page manual for architects, engineers, code officials and metal building manufacturers describes advantages and requirements for building concrete masonry hard walls on metal buildings. The resource provides masonry design standards and industry practices, as well as design aids, construction recommendations and schematic details that show how to integrate masonry with metal buildings. It also includes an appendix with design examples using the NCMA Structural Masonry Design System Software (CMS10V5). The publication can be purchased online at www.ncma.org.

In addition, you may benefit from the wealth of free, downloadable educational resources recently added to the MBMA website, www. mbma.com. These materials are useful for building owners, developers, architects and engineers, builders, suppliers, contractors, building officials and all types of professionals who work in the built environment. Items range from case studies to fact sheets to specifications. You can view them all at www.mbma.com/bookstore; just click on “Brochures.”

Chuck Haslebacher is the chairman of the Metal Building Manufacturers Association, Cleveland. For more information visit mbma.com