Corporate Responsibility Report 2022-2023
Outcome 03 – Products that create sustainable infrastructure
Changes in mobility, urbanization, global infrastructure are among the major megatrends of this century. Society’s response to climate change as a fundamental driver of these megatrends requires sustainable solutions to which steel can provide an excellent response and in which steel can undoubtedly continue to play an essential role.
ArcelorMittal is committed to developing sustainable steel solutions for applications in construction, transport and (traffic) infrastructure works.
Sustainable steel products for the construction industry
The construction sector is an important market for ArcelorMittal Belgium: that is why ArcelorMittal’s research and development efforts focus on the development of ‘zero energy’ buildings as well as energy-positive buildings. In addition to the production of steel components, ArcelorMittal also plays a central role in the research of models that integrate renewable energy sources into buildings by using steel products.
Steligence®: sustainable and intelligent construction
Concept
Steligence® considers buildings as integrated, almost ‘living’ entities, embedded in the urban environment. In this context, it suggests that broader and more transparent collaboration between architects, engineers and property developers is called for to fully enable the potential to resolve the apparently competing demands of creativity, flexibility, sustainability and economics.
Advantages
By comparing a typical eight-storey office building in Europe, built using traditional construction methods, with an optimized building designed using the Steligence® approach, ten key benefits emerge:
- Optimal space and height
- More flexible office space
- Lighter weight foundations
- Speed of construction
- Reduced cost of ownership
- Lower environmental impact
- Higher sustainability ratings
- Improved comfort
- Greater creativity
- Less site traffic
We developed the Steligence® concept because we fundamentally believe that we can help architects, engineers and property developers to collaborate to build more sustainable, cost-effective buildings.
Greg Ludkovsky, Head of Global Research & Development ArcelorMittal
INDI-building at ArcelorMittal Gent
The new INDI building in Ghent is in use since 2020 and houses 220 employees of ArcelorMittal Belgium’s digitization teams. INDI stands for INDustrial Innovation. The design pushes architectural boundaries with innovative steel solutions. The building was constructed entirely according to the Steligence® concept and meets the strict requirements of sustainable building systems. It goes without saying that we deployed our own steel products here to the maximum extent possible:
- One of our latest organic clad products, Granite® HDXtreme, was used for the building’s cladding. It provides the best durability for the facade in severe weathering environment.
- In addition to the aesthetic & durable Granite® HDXtreme facade, the building features ArcelorMittal’s new Promisol S Hybrid® sandwich panels that provide good airtightness and a high level of insulation.
- Angelina® beams allow for long spans and thus large, column-free spaces.
- Composite floors of the Cofraplus® type are made of trapezoidal steel plates with open ribs for shuttering and reinforcing concrete floors.
- Our Magnelis® product was used for the lighting posts.
- The blast furnace slag, a by-product of the nearby blast furnace, was used as gravel for the parking lots and, after descaling, also as a foundation for the asphalt parking lot.
- Moreover, in the INDI building we find ArcelorMittal steels in the LED lighting and in the steel climate ceilings.
In addition, smart building solutions have been used here to improve recyclability or reuse. For example, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags were placed in the sandwich panels and cladding cassettes. The tags contain detailed information about each specific building element and can be read with a scanner.
A new standard of office comfort is set for the users of the building. There is sustainable heating and cooling thanks to a geothermal system that uses ground energy to maintain a constant temperature throughout the year. The spaces are open, flexible and filled with natural light. On dark days, smart LED lighting provides artificial lighting and maximum energy efficiency.
Granite® HFX Cool and Magnelis® for standing seam roofs
The landscape in many European cities and towns is characterized by standing seam roofs. They are manufactured from flexible metals and are an ideal solution for the roof shapes of apartment buildings and public buildings, where every millimetre of space under the roof must be used. Standing seam offers a high degree of wind resistance and excellent waterproofing, making it a popular roofing solution today. Organically coated steels such as ArcelorMittal Belgium’s Granite® HFX Cool family offer the necessary pliability, combined with a wear-resistant finish guaranteed for up to 20 years.
To achieve the double standing seam, roofers need flexible materials. For complicated roofs with many dormers and chimneys, the work must be done on site and at height. Our new Granite® HFX Cool Matt product processes well and can be formed at temperatures as low as -10°C.
Magnelis® steel from ArcelorMittal Belgium is also used for standing seam roofs. Architects like the patina that darkens over time. In addition, Magnelis® has minimal reflection, making it suitable for low buildings. For roofs, Magnelis® in a thickness of 0.6 mm is usually used; this offers roofers the flexibility they need, and long-term protection against corrosion.
Ultra-high-strength steels: an asset for high-rise racks
The growth of e-commerce businesses and the increase of robotization demand increasingly smarter solutions for warehouses. The specific thing about high-rise racks is that they are an integral part of the structure of the building and that they often also support the outside of the building.
The use of ultra-high-strength steels for the construction of racks (both uprights and beams) contributes to lower material consumption (less steel and lower costs). In addition, it allows longer spans, thus freeing up more functional space in the racks. ArcelorMittal Belgium supplies various European companies that produce profiles for high bay racks.
Granite® HDX & HDXtreme: aesthetics, sustainability and protection
The Granite® HDX & HDXtreme organic coatings are designed for roofing, cladding and architectural applications where climate conditions are demanding. The products are part of ArcelorMittal’s Nature range of organically coated steel for construction solutions and is free of heavy metals and chromates. Apart from INDI building using Granite® HDXtreme, examples of applications of Granite® HDX are the facades of the Stoas Vilentum University of Applied Sciences in Wageningen and the Arcus College in Heerlen, both in the Netherlands.
Sustainable steel products for the transport sector
Steel pipeline for the transport of oxygen to ArcelorMittal Gent
In September 2019, a new oxygen pipeline was commissioned to supply liquid oxygen to our site in Ghent. The underground pipeline, which was built and is being operated by Air Liquide, starts in Temse and ends on the ArcelorMittal Gent site. Thanks to this pipeline, 100 truck drives to ArcelorMittal Gent are avoided daily.
ArcelorMittal Gent entrusted the production of the pipeline to Corinth Pipeworks, which in turn used steel from ArcelorMittal Krakow (Poland) for the production of the pipes. Steel grade L360NE was chosen on account of its excellent tensile strength and roughness. These properties are achieved thanks to the low phosphorus and carbon content in the steel.
25% lighter trailers thanks to our steel solutions
Trailtech is a showcase of steel solutions for the chassis of freight trailers, developed by ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products. It makes semi-trailers up to 25% lighter and reduces emissions and fuel consumption.
The ArcelorMittal Trailtech showcase is based on the Amstrong® range, produced at ArcelorMittal Belgium. By using an optimized combination of high and ultra-high strength steels from the Amstrong® and Amstrong® Ultra ranges, Trailtech demonstrates that the weight of existing chassis can be reduced by a quarter without affecting performance. The achieved mass savings reduce fuel consumption and can result in an annual CO2 saving of 4,000 kilograms for each trailer. The weight reduction can also be used to increase the payload of the trailer. And the high-strength steels allow manufacturers to make longer beams that run the full length of the chassis.
Together, these benefits significantly reduce the number of welds required, positively impacting emissions and welding costs. ArcelorMittal’s generic Trailtech solution makes extensive use of Amstrong® 500MC and Amstrong® Ultra 700MC – high-performance steels that resist fatigue – even with the heavy use that trailers endure.
Since the transportation sector is a major contributor to emissions in the European Union (EU), Trailtech can have a significant impact and help achieve the goals of the European Green Deal.
Sustainable steel products for transport infrastructure
Steel crumple poles
Advanced high-strength steels such as Magnelis® are also used to create safe lighting poles for road infrastructure. In the event of a collision with a so-called crumple (“zip”) pole, the conical pole transforms into a soft strip of steel. The base of the pole remains anchored in the ground while the steel strip bends and wraps or zips around the car. This reduces the impact in the event of a collision. Magnelis® is an exceptional coating that offers up to ten times better corrosion protection compared to standard galvanized products. ArcelorMittal guarantees a service life of 25 years for Magnelis® products in lighting poles.
Steel crash barriers for motorways
The use of ultra-high strength and low alloy steels in combination with the Magnelis® metal coating provides more safe and long-lasting crash barriers. The Magnelis® coating consists of zinc, 3.5% aluminium and 3% magnesium and protects the crash barriers against corrosion while maintaining the mechanical properties. Magnelis®, which uses less zinc than pure zinc coatings and therefore significantly reduces the runoff of zinc into the soil, has a 20-year guarantee for crash barriers. The edges of Magnelis® coverings repair themselves even when they are damaged – a property that other coatings cannot match.
