The role of steel in sustainable construction takes centre stage during the opening conference of the second day of Made in Steel 2021

 

Davide Albertini Petroni (Confindustria Assoimmobiliare), Annalisa Citterio (CNH Industrial), Antonio Citterio (Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel) and Carlo Mapelli (Polytechnic of Milan) took part in the round table discussion: "POLIS, innovation and sustainability for a new idea of the world"

 

Milan, 6 October 2021 - Designing a new beginning, relaunching today's cities and rethinking the metropolises of tomorrow. Steel has a sustainable DNA, is flexible and resilient, and can play a leading role in the sustainable development of urban planning.

 

The topic was analysed during the round table discussion "POLIS, innovation and sustainability for a new idea of the world" which opened the second day of Made in Steel 2021, introduced by Lucio Dall'Angelo (General Manager siderweb) and chaired by Francesca Morandi (Content manager siderweb) and Emanuele Norsa (Kallanish and siderweb collaborator).

 

«Urban development - said Davide Albertini Petroni, Vice President of Confindustria Assoimmobiliare - must necessarily be combined with a vision. We have two opportunities: administrative stability, which will give our projects more continuity and win international investors' confidence, and the creation of development anchors for our cities. Affordable housing prices are also key to long-term growth. That's why we need a new paradigm that goes hand in hand with changes in our development model. We must design green products and make use of reusable materials, such as steel».

 

Companies that operate in urban centres should match any future urban development with sustainability-driven initiatives, as Annalisa Citterio, CNH Industrial Sustainability Manager pointed out: «Interconnections are key to urban development. We need to connect both from a geographical and a business point of view, and this will help us roll out partnership projects with all the necessary stakeholders. Sustainable and decarbonised mobility, therefore, play a pivotal role: if we are to achieve real sustainability, we must keep up with technology and make sure that we work smart".

 

«When we think about the cities of tomorrow - explained Antonio Citterio, co-founder architect of Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel - we see greener and more connected cities attracting more and more people. How we can actually plan for this urban development and where should we direct our investments? Given the speed of change, planning about the end of life of our buildings is essential. Steel will therefore play a crucial role in this process due to its characteristics and its continued recovery cycles. Concrete is the least green material and must be replaced with something else. Steel is the best candidate for replacing concrete. In the next few years, it will increasingly be used as a finished surface rather than a mere structural element».

 

«Steel - said Carlo Mapelli, Professor at the Polytechnic of Milan - is resistant, versatile and resilient. Furthermore, it is one hundred per cent recyclable. However, there is not enough steel around and we must therefore continue to extract it. We must contribute to the decarbonisation process, and replace coal with natural gas. Sooner or later, we will see new regulations requiring the use of materials with low environmental impact forcing steel users to prove they are using certified “carbon-free” materials. Regulators will, most likely, introduce a new steel label, reporting the precise amount of recycled content for each product».