IAASP: Information & Articles About Saving our Planet

Americans use 100 million steel cans and 200 million aluminum beverages cans every day, according to the National Energy Education Development Project. Without metal recycling, the country might be afloat in metal. The choices seem simple: The metal can be burned in waste-to-energy plants, dumped in a landfill, or recycled. Of the three choices, recycling is recognized as the most efficient way to reduce aluminum and steel waste.

Aluminum and Steel Recycling

Unlike copper, iron and other common metals, aluminum only exists in combination with other elements. When aluminum is combined at a reduction plant or smelter, it forms an extremely hard material known as alumina. It is then dissolved in a liquid salt (or molten) in large pots. A powerful current is run through the liquid which separates the aluminum from the oxygen as the molten aluminum sinks to the bottom of a pot. The whole reduction process involves a large amount of electrical energy.

Making aluminum from recycled aluminum scrap, on the other hand, takes much less energy. In fact, recycling four aluminum cans saves as much energy as the energy in one cup of gasoline, according to the National Energy Education Development Project. This decrease in energy gives aluminum items their high scrap value. Aluminum manufacturers save both energy and money by using recycled aluminum.

Recycling Aluminum

The cycle for recycled aluminum begins as cans are taken by consumers to a scrap company or grocery store. From there, it moves on to a recycling plant. Here, the aluminum is shredded and melted where it becomes an ingot, or molten aluminum. These ingots are fashioned into aluminum sheets or other forms. From there, the aluminum is made into new cans and the cycle begins again.

Recycling Steel

Steel is the most recycled material in the United States. It dominates the recycling industry because it exists in endless amounts of steel scrap from cars, appliances, and torn-down buildings and bridges. Because recycled steel takes 60 percent less energy to make than iron ore, nearly all of today’s steel products are made with some recycled steel.

Steel can recycling follows almost the same process as aluminum can recycling. Once steel scrap is collected from homes, recycling centers, or waste-to-energy plants it is shipped to a scrap processor or dealer.

The steel scrap is melted in a furnace and then poured into casters that continuously roll and flatten the steel into sheets. Recycled steel is made into an endless array of products, such as new cars, girders for buildings, or food cans. In the U.S., steel cans and other steel products contain at least 25 percent recycled steel, with some containing nearly 100 percent recycled steel.

To determine if a can is made of steel or aluminum, take a separate magnet to each item. Steel will immediately attract to the magnet while aluminum will not. Steel recyclers may accept cans containing both steel and aluminum. Aluminum recyclers, however, may limit their acceptance to only 100 percent aluminum cans.

The recycling of aluminum and steel is a process that can occur again and again. Both do not lose their strength or quality during the method of recycling. This never-ending process continues to save energy and resources.

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You would have probably heard a lot about building ‘green houses, about using ‘green designs to conserve our natural resources and save money. And perhaps you wonder how? Well to answer those questions we must place in perspective what our average normal buildings consume. As a ballpark figure, in the US, normal commercial buildings account for about 18 percent of the total energy consumption and 33 percent of the total electricity consumption. On an average every year such buildings generate about 18 percent of total manmade CO2 emissions in the US. Green designs aim at cutting these figures, which in turn yield many benefits.

Green designs approach the entire process of building houses in a holistic manner. To arrive at a green design requires a complete estimation of the terrain, availability of locally available construction material, suitable local green designs, application of relevant green technologies as also the sort of incentives offered by the government.

How do designers use ‘lay of the land for their green designs? Terrain mapping includes wind flow studies to arrive at the best optimum positioning of windows and ventilation shafts so as to use natural air and obviate the use of air conditioners. Terrain mapping also includes considerations of astronomy wherein the average annual day/ night hours are calculated so that the best optimum mix of solar technologies can be utilized. Technology is brought in to control the switching on and off of lights according to the daylight to conserve electricity. They check the consistency and composition of soil, the depth of the water table and then calculate the best way to utilize nearby water resources and develop water-harvesting processes best suited for the site. Water conservation is a key aspect of green designs wherein recycled water from the bathrooms is used to green the gardens. Scientifically designed roofs, channel rainwater to soak pits, which help invigorate the underlying water table, are some other ways that are incorporated in green designs.

Green designs use concepts such as Compressed Earth Blocks, Cob Houses, Earth Shelters, Straw Bale, Rammed Earth, Adobe (not the software!) construction and likewise. Each of these designs has its pros and cons and of course applicability depending on the area where one decides to use them. The vital detail is that such designs are no longer the in the realms of conceptual art but are being used by mainstream architects. Additionally, almost every state in the US offers attractive tax benefits to go green helping save precious money. Green designs are truly the future of architecture.

More information about sustainable design, see AIA.org.