Global Environmental Impacts due to Cement and Steel

The consumption of building materials has consistently increased in the past century, causing increased global environmental impacts. In particular, cement and steel are responsible for significant global carbon dioxide emissions, the greenhouse gas contributing most to climate change. Though engineers work to reduce consumption through designing efficient structures, there have been no sustained government policies to encourage economy in the use of building materials. Given that the earth has limited natural resources, this trend of consumption is unsustainable. It can be theorized that in time, consumption will either reach a plateau, in keeping with population trends, or start to decrease as resources become scarce. This paper presents trends in the consumption of the two primary structural building materials, cement and steel, along with their associated embodied energies and environmental impacts. Together, this provides an understanding of the magnitude of the global environmental impacts due to unrestrained consumption of building materials. The paper also suggests immediate actions that structural engineers can take to mitigate the impacts of these materials.