LEED/BREEAM credits via Dramix®

Today, we are joined by Kadir, a dedicated professional with over four years of experience at Bekaert. In his current role within the Bekaert Building Products Division, Kadir leads the charge in sustainability efforts, as well as driving the growth of the precast business and exploring new growth opportunities. In this interview, Kadir shares his insights into sustainable construction materials and how they can contribute to environmental goals and green building certifications.

How can I know which construction materials are sustainable?

Embodied carbon refers to the emissions arising from the manufacture to the disposal of building materials. A building’s embodied carbon emission is as high as the carbon emission from energy consumption throughout its lifetime. As energy grids become greener and buildings become more energy efficient, the importance of embodied carbon grows. 

Reduction of embodied carbon contributes to climate change goals in the short term. To quantify the embodied carbon, a building lifecycle assessment (LCA) is conducted to measure the environmental impact of building materials used in the project. 

By doing an LCA we can compare the environmental impact of different building materials for example steel fiber reinforced concrete vs traditionally reinforced concrete. LCA is an effective method to objectively compare life-cycle carbon emission of any construction project.

“ Using our EPD, we can measure the environmental impact of Dramix® steel fiber versus other reinforcement solutions.

How does Dramix® EPD play a role in any of this?

To make an LCA we use Environmental Product Declaration EPD’s which is an independently approved document that provides a summary of the environmental impact of a product throughout its life cycle.

Bekaert started its EPD program in 2021 and got EPD certification for various plants around the globe. Using our EPD we can measure the environmental impact of Dramix® steel fiber versus other reinforcement solutions. This is where the ecological impact of Dramix® becomes evident: optimizing the floor design and reducing the thickness of the concrete by using high quality steel fibers such as Dramix® 4D means you save on concrete, steel and water, less material equals less CO2.

How does this impact Green Building Certification like BREEAM and LEED?

There are various green building certifications used in different regions. Each certification system has a different scoring methodology, impact categories or indicators. These certifications aim to provide methods and tools to assess the environmental effects of buildings and to set standards to make an objective assessment of how resource-efficient a building is.

Green building certification systems include various credits where Dramix EPD and Life Cycle Assessment could support reaching targets.

“ As Bekaert, we support our customers to achieve certification targets by offering sustainable reinforcement solutions.

Will using Dramix help me acquire more LEED/BREEAM credits?

Dramix® could help on material credits for your green building certification. You can conduct an LCA and demonstrate the CO2 savings to earn building life cycle credits. You can use Dramix EPDs as part of your sustainable building materials. Bekaert supports you in tracing raw material sourcing with transparency to contribute to responsible sourcing credits. Also, steel fiber reinforcement is an efficient construction method, it produces significantly less waste compared to traditional reinforcement which could support reaching credits for both waste management and material efficiency. 

As Bekaert we support our customers to achieve certification targets by offering sustainable reinforcement solutions.

We can help you make the correct choice

We hope you now see why it is important to select the correct steel fiber for your intended application to ensure optimal performance and durability of the reinforced concrete structure. At Bekaert our experts are always willing and available to give you specific recommendations and help you make the correct choice. Feel free to contact us with your questions about the correct steel fiber to choose for your specific application.