Steel is a vital in new commercial, industrial and residential construction, in repurposing existing buildings and supporting other infrastructure that contributes to a healthy and productive society.
For such applications Lysaght manufactures a range of steel roof and wall claddings, rainwater goods such as gutters, downpipes and flashings, structural components including purlins and decking, and even fencing and home addition structures.
The steel that is used is sourced from Lysaght’s parent company, BlueScope – Australia’s only manufacturer of metallic coated and prepainted steel sheet and coil products, including popular COLORBOND® steel and ZINCALUME® steel.
It all begins with BlueScope
BlueScope is one of the largest global producers of metal coated and prepainted steel products and as such sustainability is a core focus in what BlueScope makes and how it operates.
The base steel product manufactured by BlueScope is supported by an Environmental Product Declaration (EDP), which provides transparency into the manufacture and lifecycle environmental impact of the steel. An EDP is a third-party verified and registered document, and in the case of BlueScope’s steel, the declaration is product specific, ensuring the results are representative of the exact products that have been specified.
For additional assurance, the COLORBOND® steel that BlueScope supplies Lysaght is also covered by GreenTagCertTM GreenRate™ product certification, demonstrating commitment to the product sustainability journey.
GreenRate™ is a comprehensive third party-verified ecolabelling program aligned with the ISO 14024 standard for environmental labels and declarations. It evaluates products against a range of sustainability attributes, including health and ecotoxicity of materials and availability of environmental footprints (water and carbon).
The program also evaluates the manufacturer’s environmental and social responsibility performance across a range of criteria, including environmental management systems, and ethical labour and supply chains.
GreenRate™ certification is recognised by the Green Building Council of Australia and the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia. Specifying products with GreenRate™ can be a fast, cost-effective means for projects to earn points under their respective tools, Green Star and Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) Rating.
Further sustainability measures are met by BlueScope through the ResponsibleSteel™ initiative. BlueScope’s Port Kembla Steelworks the first site in the Asia Pacific region to meet certification requirements.
ResponsibleSteel™ is the global steel industry's multi-stakeholder sustainability standard and certification program, designed so that customers, stakeholders and consumers can be confident that the steel they use has been sourced and produced responsibly. To comply, the Port Kembla Steelworks meets 12 site standard principles, covering environmental, social and governance criteria. Climate change and greenhouse gas emission is a key principle, requiring decarbonisation in line with the Paris Agreement.
The Lysaght contribution
As a division of BlueScope, Lysaght shares these same sustainability commitment, values and ambitions, and further adds to the sustainability equation with some key performance measures of its own, based around design, dematerialisation and recyclability.
Good design is an important consideration when trying to achieve environmental goals. The functionality and flexibility of LYSAGHT® steel roof and wall claddings and other product lines brings added efficiencies to the job site. As an example, a roof clad in LYSAGHT® steel is lighter and requires less supportive framing, meaning fewer resources are used in construction – the use of LYSAGHT® steel cladding can even result in embodied carbon savings compared to other materials.
It’s a similar situation when comparing LYSAGHT® steel wall cladding with the alternatives. The strength to weight performance of LYSAGHT® steel products quite simply surpass those of just about all other construction materials.
Another key benefit of using LYSAGHT® roof and wall cladding is its longevity and recyclability. Shaped from ZINCALUME® steel and COLORBOND® steel, these products offer years of reliable performance with only minimal maintenance requirements. Then at the end of the product’s lifecycle, the LYSAGHT® steel cladding can be fully recycled to manufacture new steel products, completing the cycle.
Additionally, the recycled content featured in COLORBOND® steel, from which a great many LYSAGHT® steel construction products are shaped, already contains 25 per cent recycled content.
Lysaght also operates a Product Innovation Group, which along with driving research and product advancements, considers broader processes to streamline the manufacture and supply of the LYSAGHT® steel range to customers.
One way Lysaght does this is by offering a job site rollforming service, this allows builders to achieve longer spans on their projects, which in turn reduces installation time. The process also reduces transportation costs – it’s much easier and efficient to transport steel coils than large fully shaped panels – and means fewer trucks on the road.
When it comes to sustainability, every initiative contributes to our overall goals.