company news about Steel will become the cornerstone of sustainable urban construction

"Steel will be the cornerstone of sustainable urban construction. We are committed to building a sensory-enabled, intelligently responsive ecosystem that enables the future of human settlements through innovative material technologies." On July 10, Dr. Lee Tek-jun, chief researcher of structural research at POSCO Steel Solutions Research Institute, introduced POSCO's steel construction solutions based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) at the 2025 Life Cycle Assessment & Industrial Chain Collaborative Innovation Development Conference. He attracted the attention of experts and scholars attending the conference.
"Posco seeks to design steel buildings for the future. We work with architects, engineers, contractors and end users to provide a one-stop integrated solution from design, installation to maintenance, through the integration of optimization methods, through every stage of the building life cycle." According to Mr Lee, POSCO's LCA-based steel building solutions cover three core carbon reduction strategies. First, Material Substitution, in which steel is substituted for aluminum, significantly reduces embodied carbon emissions. The second is energy-saving Systems, which develop building components that can reduce the Energy consumption of building operation. The third is Digital Twin Design, which calculates and optimizes carbon emissions before construction begins.
"Managing embodied carbon is key to achieving sustainability in buildings." Professor Lee said. He introduced, The life cycle assessment of buildings includes Material Production, Transport, Construction, Operation, Demolition and disposal Disposal) several stages.
"In the life cycle assessment of buildings, the mining and processing of raw materials and the manufacturing of building parts are very important links to reduce carbon, and the process of on-site assembly and installation will also consume a lot of resources and energy. At the same time, transporting materials to the project site is the most overlooked part of carbon reduction. Carbon reduction in all processes deserves attention." "Based on this, POSCO's LCA-based steel construction solution selects low-carbon steel as raw material, optimizes construction methods to improve construction efficiency, adopts energy-efficient systems to reduce operational energy consumption, and simulates design based on digital twin to optimize energy consumption during the demolition and recycling phase," he said.
Mr. Li then introduced the differences between aluminum and steel in construction. "Steel can significantly reduce embodied carbon emissions compared to aluminium. The primary production of aluminum has high energy consumption and limited strength, requiring thicker sections. Although aluminum has good corrosion resistance in specific environments, it has low volumetric efficiency and high energy consumption in the recovery process. In contrast, steel has low carbon dioxide emissions, is 100% recyclable and has no loss of quality. At the same time, the thickness of steel is required to be lower (1.6 mm for steel vs. 3.0 mm for aluminum), which can significantly reduce transportation emissions if localized production can be achieved. What's more, we can build a supporting, mature global recycling infrastructure." "He said.
Professor Lee also provided a set of study cases. Based on POSCO's LCA-based steel building solution, the photovoltaic panel made of PosMAC steel plate and high recovery stainless steel STS304 is applied to the photovoltaic curtain wall system. There is no welding, and the automatic bending machine is used to form the photovoltaic power of 0.2 kW/panel, creating a diversified building facade on the basis of carbon reduction.
"Posco's life-cycle solution replaces high-carbon materials with low-carbon materials, reduces environmental impact through modular, dry and prefabricated construction, reduces operational energy consumption through power generation curtain walls and energy-saving facilities, and enables easy recycling and separation during the demolition phase." According to Li, the Korean industry is continuing to promote the development of low-carbon technology in steel buildings through digital simulation technology, the integration of smart steel products and building photovoltaic systems, and the development of artificial intelligence design platforms. "Steel is the ideal material to balance design, performance and sustainability. Posco will continue to promote the development of low-carbon construction technology. "He said finally.