Sustainable competitiveness of aluminium building products

Abstract

Purpose

To explore the potential and weaknesses of aluminium building products in practice and to consider the material's competitiveness and sustainable performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The characteristics of aluminium are reviewed and data is collected from architects and materials’ suppliers. These two groups are chosen because they have most influence on the builder's decision and consequently on the selection of the building material.

Findings

Standards addressing sustainability are currently being developed and will soon be obligatory for building and construction activities. These changes are also likely to have an impact on the conditions for competition.. Aluminium possesses high potential for sustainable building applications mainly due to its light‐weight, durability, formability, low maintenance need and excellent recycling properties. From the perspectives of architects and providers, these facts are not known sufficiently yet. In addition no correlations between sustainability and the current competitiveness of aluminium building products are observed.

Research limitations/implications

The research has been carried out in Germany, which may limit the usefulness of the results elsewhere.

Practical implications

A useful information source for architects, engineers and providers of aluminium building products.

Originality/value

This paper identifies the current knowledge gap of architects and providers concerning the potential of aluminium in respect to the whole life‐cycle as well as the use of sustainability to influence the competitiveness of aluminium products.

Citation

Radlbeck, C., Dienes, E. and Kosteas, D. (2005), "Sustainable competitiveness of aluminium building products", Structural Survey, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 131-137. https://doi.org/10.1108/02630800510593693