Steel sustainability assessment — Do BSA tools really assess steel properties?

• Comparison of dwelling sustainability assessment methods when dealing with steel construction
• Case study pointed out the steel sustainability benefits.
• A systemic approach is needed, preferably during early design, to assure sustainable construction.
• BSA methods should be improved to suit better the sustainable benefits from non-ordinary construction solution.
• High quality information for development of new and improvement of sustainability assessment methods is provided.

Steel structures represent an interesting alternative to conventional construction solutions. Their characteristics can easily be highlighted when looking at construction sustainability principles, such as its durability, adaptability or recyclability. This paper compares the assessment procedure of three building sustainability assessment systems (BSA): SBToolPT-H, BREEAM's Code for Sustainable Homes and LEED for homes v4 when dealing with steel solutions. BSA tools are developed to independently provide an evaluation of buildings' sustainability performance considering different impact categories. However, these may not valorise all the possible benefits a construction solution can have due to weighing, calculation procedures' constraints and indicators addressed. The way these systems address steel sustainability advantages is discussed through their application to a case study single family building. This research work showed that existing BSA tools mainly focus on conventional construction and thus some sustainable benefits of other solutions can often be hardly acknowledged. To deal with sustainable construction aspects, in particular with steel construction, a systemic approach is needed, at early design stages to aid defining the sustainable building concept through tangible goals so to achieve the most appropriate balance between socio-cultural, economic and environmental fields.