Why Steel Is the Best Material to Build Dallas’ Future

In recent years, Texas has seen a surge in business as startups and leading companies have moved to cities across the state. The growth in population and businesses has caused a surge in demand for new buildings, and with that demand has come a desire for innovative engineering and architecture to attract top talent.

Texas’s economic boom will require steel as a reliable building material. It is the most versatile, sustainable and durable building material for construction at the scale that Texas needs as it continues to build to meet growing demand.

The inherent properties of steel make it an ideal material for building Texas’ future, outpacing alternative materials like engineered wood, which is promoted by some due to misleading claims about its sustainability.

The facts about steel’s sustainability are clear. It is recyclable; in fact, 93% of structural steel is made from recycled materials. Its durability also reduces the need for structural repairs in the long term, lowering the costs and emissions of building maintenance.

The industry has made transparency a core value as it continues to accelerate the transition to a lower-carbon future. In the United States, the steel industry is leading the global transition to greener industrial methods. Most U.S. steel mills use electric arc furnaces, which emit 75% less CO2 than the traditional blast furnaces favored by China.

That means higher-quality, lower-carbon steel for America’s infrastructure. This shift to electric arc furnaces is why the U.S. steel industry has exceeded its Kyoto Protocol CO2 emissions reduction target by seven times.

The structural steel industry has long been at the heart of America’s economic prosperity, creating long-term jobs throughout the supply chain, from production to fabrication to construction. The movement to replace steel with alternative building materials, such as engineered wood, is shortsighted and will cause irreversible economic damage to one of America’s strongest industries and create long-term problems for the commercial real estate sector. The engineered wood industry has not been transparent about the carbon costs of engineered wood.

Not only is the durability of structural timber questionable, it is also unproven in the long term, especially during fires or earthquakes. Steel has a long history of durability, including in harsh environments, lasting longer than the alternative and providing peace of mind to city planners. Steel is durable in adverse weather and is classified as a non-combustible material. The same cannot be said for wood.

New buildings are springing up all over Texas to house businesses, families, and students, and the best option for building these buildings is steel. The flexibility of the material allows for innovative designs and construction methods. An example of this is the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where a modular construction process was used to build the new tall gates at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport’s Terminal C. Each module was designed to be structurally sound when standing on its own on the production site, and was built about a mile away before being moved into place.

This method provided flexibility to the construction team and reduced construction time by 22%. The result was minimal disruption to air travel at the world’s third-busiest airport. Steel’s flexibility and strength-to-weight ratio made this possible, ensuring the safety and structural integrity of the new terminal while facilitating a more efficient construction and installation process.

Further innovation in the steel industry will continue to increase productivity while reducing emissions. Moreover, as new challenges arise, steel’s flexibility and adaptability will make it a critical material for building America’s future.

Texas faces a fundamental challenge as it builds for the future. Rising temperatures, unpredictable weather and changing work patterns are challenging city planners and engineers. One thing that won’t change is the durability and sustainability of steel. As cities navigate the complexities of building for the future, steel must provide the physical framework for future construction and growth.

Brian Ward is a senior fellow in steel construction at the American Institute of Steel Construction.

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