Colorcoat-Online - The sustainable specification

The sustainable specification

Sustainability in building design and specification covers factors which have an effect on social, economic and environmental impacts and considers these throughout the lifetime of the project.

The two frameworks, taken together, provide a comprehensive assessment of a particular product. In terms of both economic and environmental impact, they give rise to the models of Life-Cycle Costing (LCC) and Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) which provide a quantitative measure of sustainability.

The sustainable loop

In any evaluation of a product’s sustainability credentials, it is important to consider the whole lifetime of that product – from cradle to cradle. The sustainable loop provides an overview of all stages of a products life from raw materials through to utilisation in a building and end of life.

The three dimensions of sustainability

To assess the sustainable credentials of a construction product, it is important to consider each of these three performance dimensions over the whole lifecycle of the building and throughout the sustainable loop.

Life cycle costing and Colorcoat

To demonstrate the economics of product choice, Corus has carried out extensive research in collaboration with Oxford Brookes University and Sworn King Partners (quantity surveyors) to compare the effect of pre-finished steel and other materials on life-cycle costs. The full report, "Insite on Life Cycle Costing" is available to download from this page.

Life cycle analysis and Colorcoat

Corus has carried out a comprehensive LCA study of pre-finished steel, comparing Colorcoat® products to assess their impact on a wide range of environmental indicators. The full report ‘Insite on Environmental Impact’ is available from this page.

Pulling together the sustainable specification

To assess the suitability of a particular product for a ‘sustainable specification’ consideration of both the sustainable loop and the three dimensions of sustainability is a sensible starting point.

Corus sustainablility statements

The tools provided can be used to address many of the questions that you may get asked about the sustainable credentials of your supplier. The following statements can be presented to demonstrate the Corus approach sustainability credentials, or to consider alternative suppliers against. More detailed statements are available from the Colorcoat Connection® helpline.