OREANDA-NEWS.  July 10, 2012. Energy-efficient and sustainable construction is playing an increasingly large role in the construction of buildings. Steel is also used increasingly in the process due to its smaller carbon footprint and its recycled content of 100%, reported the press-centre of ArcelorMittal.

Within the scope of a cooperation between ArcelorMittal and the University of Luxembourg, Rector Rolf Tarrach accepted a product display from Georges Axmann, Head of Product Development at ArcelorMittal Long Carbon Europe. The display will be used in lectures about steel construction at the university. The display has been fitted with full-size original cross-sections from ArcelorMittal’s product range and illustrates the wide variety of rolled dimensions, shapes and grades of steel sections. Among other things, it shows large girders with a web height of up to 1,100 mm and flange thicknesses of 140 mm. These rolled sections are some of the most outstanding products in Luxembourg’s steel industry; they are used in the construction of buildings and bridges in Europe and throughout the world.

Georges Axmann commented: “When it comes to the construction of buildings, innovative steel sections and steel grades achieve advantages in terms of costs and resources thanks to their high strength and simultaneous weight-saving ability. We are working on improving these properties even further with continuous research in order, for example, to establish steel and glass solutions more firmly in the construction of facades.”

Professor Odenbreit, holder of the Chair for Steel and Facade engineering at Luxembourg University explained: “We are working on a series of projects which are intended to cover the widest possible range of applications in which steel is used. Among other things, our aim is to further increase the load-bearing effect of composite steel girders, to be better able to estimate the room climate inside composite steel buildings and to explore the interplay of forces in bonds between steel and glass. The experimental laboratory on the new Belval campus in the immediate vicinity of ArcelorMittal in Esch will make a major contribution to further intensifying the research cooperation.”

With the ArcelorMittal Chair for Steel and Facade Engineering, Luxembourg University and ArcelorMittal have set the bar for pushing ahead with sustainable and energy-efficient construction.