A detailed and precise analysis of the sustainability of stainless steel makes the choice of stainless a logical one. This might explain why, as society and governments are becoming more conscious of environmental and economic factors, the growth in the use of stainless steel has been the highest of any material in the world. Some applications that have been researched particularly on sustainability are listed below. For more stainless steel applications, please click here.
Published: 12/3/2019
Last modified: 12/3/2019
According to the Zero Waste International Association (http://www.zwia.org/), Zero Waste is the conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials without burning, and with no discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment or human health.
Choosing stainless steel for an application ensures that it will be produced in a responsible way, have low maintenance costs during its long life and that it will be reused indefinitely because it is easy to recycle without loss of quality.
Published: 16/1/2018
Last modified: 16/1/2018
Changing their pipes to stainless steel ones has meant enormous amounts of water have been saved in Tokyo, Seoul and Taipei. With this booklet, ISSF would like to tell this story to the rest of the world, so other cities and communities will consider stainless steel pipes an option to reduce leaking pipes and to save precious water.
This brochure is available in Chinese, English, French, Italian, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish [clicking on the language will download the pdf].
Published: 16/1/2018
Last modified: 16/1/2018
Durable, beautiful, safe and hygienic, stainless steel provides an ideal solution in a wide range of urban construction applications – including lamp-posts, barriers, hand rails, art-work and other types of street furniture. Its extended useful life and relatively low life cycle cost make it an attractive option for public authorities who are seeking economical long-term solutions. The ISSF believes that stainless steel is the sustainable solution for street furniture. This brochure showcases contemporary ideas and examples from around the world and gives descriptions of each application as well as details of locations and material suppliers.
Published: 5/7/2016
Last modified: 5/7/2016
The efficient operation of public infrastructure has a strong effect on the quality of our daily lives: reliable access to energy and drinking water; the ease of travelling by road, rail, air or water; the safe disposal of waste and sewage; all determine how we live and work. In these sectors, stainless steel plays an important but often unnoticed role.
Material selection is a decisive factor for the durability of infrastructural buildings and installations. It is the key to maximum availability and low life-cycle cost. The present brochure illustrates examples of stainless steel use in infrastructural applications in different parts of the world. It will foster the exchange of best practice and encourage authorities, private investors and design engineers to consider the stainless steel option whenever they embark upon infrastructural projects.
The brochure is available in English and Chinese [clicking on the language will open the brochure]
Published: 29/5/2015
Last modified: 29/5/2015
Life expectancy is increasing strongly. As more and more people are getting older and older, society must be prepared to cater for the specific needs of elderly people. Many of the applications discussed in this brochure in the context of old age are also attractive to other users to make living environments safer, more comfortable and attractive.
This brochure is available in English, Chinese and Portuguese.
Published: 29/5/2015
Last modified: 29/5/2015
Only a couple of years after the invention of stainless steels, architects started discovering its potential for building and construction - in both visible and non-visible applications. The ISSF publications shows just a few of the recent examples. However diverse they may be in terms of scope, purpose and product used, they have one thing in common: they are part of an architecture that is made to last.
Download Stainless Steel as an Architectural Material Volume I in English or Chinese
Download Stainless Steel as an Architectural Material Volume II in English or Chinese
Download Stainless Steel as an Architectural Material Volume III in English
Download Stainless Steel as an Architectural Material Volume IV in English
Published: 2/12/2014
Last modified: 2/12/2014
From a simple feeding pail to the most advanced fully robotised milking equipment, stainless steel is found on farms in numerous applications, where it is an alternative to plastics, light metal and above all galvanised steel.
This new brochure from ISSF explains why stainless steel in used in agricultural applications and highlights applications in fences, gates and partitions, feeding, watering, electrical and mechanical equipment, skin care, dairy farming, ancillary equipment and storage tanks for slurry and waste water.
Published: 18/11/2014
Last modified: 18/11/2014
Self-service machines – dispensers, vending machines, ticket machines etc. – must meet a number of requirements. Stainless steel has an ideal profile and is available in many different suitable grades.
This brochure explains why stainless steel is an ideal material to be used in self-service machines and highlights some common applications like vending machine fronts, keypads, mechanical parts, beverage dispensers, drinking water dispensers and vending machines, milk vending stations, ticket machines and access control and coin-operated controls.
Published: 4/11/2014
Last modified: 4/11/2014
Its inert and corrosion-resistant nature makes stainless steel an ideal material for contact with drinking water in all stages from extraction to domestic plumbing. Stainless steel is the only metallic material that is suitable for any usual drinking water composition.
This new brochure from ISSF explains why stainless steel is an ideal material for contact with drinking water and highlights applications in water intake, water preparation, water storage and distribution.
Published: 21/10/2014
Last modified: 21/10/2014
Chronic exposure to smoke from traditional cooking practices is one of the world’s biggest – but least well-known – killers. This new brochure from ISSF explains why stainless steel is part of the solution for this problem. It highlights the health and environmental effects and then introduces different kind of alternative stoves that can be used like forced air stoves or solar cooking stoves.
Published: 28/5/2013
Last modified: 28/5/2013
As Sustainability is about much more than just the environment, the new animation and brochure show how Stainless Steel contributes to a sustainable world in areas ranging from transport, healthcare, water provisions and food.
Click here to access the interactive animation
Click here to download the informative brochure (pdf).
Published: 2/5/2013
Last modified: 2/5/2013
Mitigating climate change is one of the major challenges today. The development of new energy sources and energy savings calls for a wide range of technologies, in which stainless steels prove useful. ISSF has launched a new animation, which explains where stainless steel is and can be used.
Published: 2/10/2012
Last modified: 2/10/2012
A Sustainable Solution for Green Energy.
Energy from biomass is among the cheapest forms of renewable energy. The equipment to produce biogas comes into contact with corrosive elements. Properly specified stainless steels can withstand the corrosive materials in a biogas plant. This brochure explains why stainless steel is typically utilised in digesters, pumps and valves, agitators, pipes and fittings and purification applications.
Published: 1/6/2012
Last modified: 1/6/2012
Stainless steel is finding increasing use in tunnels for its fire and corrosion resistance properties and long maintenance-free life. ISSF has launched an animation and brochure in the Sustainable Stainless series which provides detailed case studies to demonstrate why stainless steel is becoming the material of choice in road, rail, metro and long sub-sea tunnels.
Published: 10/5/2012
Last modified: 10/5/2012
Duplex stainless steels are increasingly used as structural materials in building and architecture because of their exceptional mechanical properties. Their room temperature yield strength in the solution annealed condition is more than twice that of standard austenitic stainless steels not alloyed with nitrogen. Over the last few years, they have started playing an increasingly important role in the construction of bridges, wherever specific environmental conditions combine with the need for high load-bearing capability.
Download the brochure here
Published: 10/5/2012
Last modified: 10/5/2012
This brochure details current best practice and stainless steel solutions to harness the energy of the sun. It provides designers with information about current stainless steel options for solar energy capture and an overview of the technical properties of stainless steel.
Download the brochure here
Two case studies on stainless steel in Solar Energy Use are also available:
The stainless steel solar facade of a highway maintenance building at Bursins, Switzerland
This brochure introduces a highway maintenance building was developed as a replacement for an existing maintenance building on the same site. The client, État de Vaud, organised an architectural competition for the design of the new building. For the first time in western Switzerland, clear sustainability demands were outlined in an architectural competition. The client demanded that the ecological, energy and economic aspects of sustainability should be considered in the design of the building. Download here
Stainless Steel Tilted Solar Roof: German Nautical Museum Stralsund
In this case study we want to show how a stainless steel-based solution was used in a photovoltaic application. Thin stainless steel foil serves as a substrate for the photovoltaic cells. Download here
Published: 10/5/2012
Last modified: 10/5/2012
The modern dairy industry requires the use of cleanable, corrosion-resistant stainless steel equipment to meet the needs of milk product consumers everywhere. The latest brochure in the Sustainable Stainless series explains the role of stainless steels in the dairy industry and how they contribute to a sustainable solution for the human diet.
Download the brochure here
Published: 10/5/2012
Last modified: 10/5/2012
Stainless steel plays a key role in a new generation of adsorption chillers, the heart of environmentally friendly cooling equipment. A significant percentage of the energy consumed is used to keep rooms within a specific temperature range. Conventional cooling systems utilise a compressor, which is usually electrically driven and hence energy-intensive to operate.
Download the brochure here
Published: 10/5/2012
Last modified: 10/5/2012
The use of water produces wastewater which is a valuable, sustainable resource that should be treated appropriately. This new brochure from ISSF will give you more detailed information on where stainless steel is used in sewage treatment plants and why. Operators of WWTPs and the manufacturers of the equipment used in them are very much aware of its technical and economical advantages. Some of their testimonies have also been included in this brochure.
Download the brochure here.
Published: 10/5/2012
Last modified: 10/5/2012
Successful desalination requires a material that can resist the aggressive corrosion caused by seawater and brine. Utilising stainless steel to create fresh water further increases the sustainability profile of the desalination industry. The durability, the minimal maintenance requirements, the high-level of recycled content and 100% recyclability at the end of its life make stainless steel a good choice economically and environmentally. This brochure will give you more detailed information on desalination in stainless steel complemented with some case studies.
Download the brochure here.
Published: 8/5/2012
Last modified: 9/5/2012
Utilising stainless steel to create railcars increases the sustainability profile of the rail industry and is also a good example of how the social, economic and environmental factors of material selection interact to make a technical solution sustainable.
This brochure is available in English and Chinese. [clicking on the language will open the pdf]
