Every year, thousands of tonnes of steel beams and columns from demolished buildings are melted down in furnaces rather than being bolted straight into new structures. More than 85% of structural steel in UK buildings is recycled, but less than 15% is reused—a gap that matters because steel recycling is energy-intensive and makes the iron and steel industry the UK’s largest industrial source of both energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. RESTOR is the first project to combine non-destructive testing, machine learning, and building information modelling to change this. It will use sensor measurements to determine the material properties of used steel members, then optimise their repurposing into new building configurations. The project will produce a generative design tool that automatically creates building layouts from salvaged steel, with validated structural performance. If successful, RESTOR could shift construction from energy-hungry recycling to low-energy reuse, cutting emissions from the steel sector while supporting the post-COVID infrastructure pipeline. The impact would be felt in the supply chains and carbon footprints of every new multi-storey building in the UK.
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Steel buildings form the vast majority of multi-storey and industrial buildings in the UK. More than 85% of the structural steel in existing buildings is recycled at the end of their service life whereas less than 15% is reused. However, steel recycling is energy-demanding and contributes to the UK iron and steel industry being the largest industrial sector in terms of both energy demands and greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, there is a genuine need for cutting-edge technical innovations embedded in the circular economy that maximizes sustainable, efficient and low-energy reuse, rather than energy-demanding recycling, of structural steel. RESTOR is the first project of its kind to apply sophisticated non-destructive testing (NDT), machine learning optimization, and building information modelling to reuse structural steel in construction. At the end of the first lifespan of used steel members (e.g., beams, columns, braces), RESTOR will allow their material properties to be determined based on NDT measurements. RESTOR will optimize the repurposing of used steel members and validate their structural performance during their second lifespan. It will develop a new, validated and optimized state-of-the-art generative design tool that will create automated and optimized building configurations made of used steel members. The outputs of RESTOR will therefore enable sustainable delivery of the infrastructure projects planned as part of the post-COVID-19 economic recovery strategy.
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