Year in Review 2016: How aluminium has revolutionized the construction sector

Use of aluminium in building and construction began in the early 20th century. Prior to that due to scarce availability and high cost, its use was primarily restricted to small-scale detailing. From 1930 onward, architects and engineers started exploring the use of aluminium in construction on a wider scale.

Since then, construction engineering has undergone a sea change. Today a modern construction is rarely erected without using aluminium in it.

Aluminium for construction is mostly used in alloyed forms. Aluminium alloys have high tensile strength and are also fairly extrudable. Here are some of the most trending topics in construction industry covered in the year 2016.  

In USA, building projects that use aluminium can qualify for green building status under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.

Aluminium for green building status

Aluminium is recognized as one of the most energy efficient and sustainable construction materials. As the world is striving for more environment sustainability, aluminium is a big part of the solution. It is to be noted that the estimated recycled content of aluminum building materials used today is between 50 and 85 per cent making aluminium a sustainable source for building materials.

1. In May 2016, Bahrain announced it is working on 40 environment-friendly building projects as part of its sustainable development initiative aimed at reducing power and water consumption besides carbon emissions at these facilities. The initiative will likely boost the demand for aluminium construction systems in the Gulf country. The green building initiative is one of most important strategic objectives for the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning.

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2. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation announced its plan to popularise the Energy Conservation Building Code, beginning with 25 model buildings, both government and commercial, being made reference models for others. Resultantly, the use of aluminium profiles, panels and other extrusion products for construction will grow given the fact- the white metal is recyclable and helps in reducing carbon footprint.

3. A joint project by America’s SERA Architects and Cutler Anderson Architects in association has earned the nation’s highest accolade for sustainability in the built environment, thanks to the use of aluminium reflecting panels and other "green" components and technologies.

The architects’ renovation of The Edith Green – Wendell Wyatt Federal Building (EGWW) in Portland, Oregon received the 2016 Top Ten Plus award from the American Institute of Architects, ahead of 10 other exemplar sustainable projects listed on the AIA’s annual ‘Top Ten’ list.

4. New Major Contracts from Los Angeles to Frankfurt - Europe’s highest skyscraper will be clad with an aluminium-glass façade made in Gundelfingen, Bavaria. Josef Gartner GmbH was awarded the contract for the building shell of 460m high Lakhta Centre in St. Petersburg. Gartner will also manufacture the façades for The Circle at Zurich airport, the largest building project in Switzerland.

5. Products manufactured by Emirates Global Aluminium (“EGA”) – one of the world’s five largest producers of primary aluminium – have been declared suitable for sustainable building practices, as per the criteria defined by the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (“LEED”) rating system and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (“DGNB”, the German Sustainable Building Council).

6. Reynaers Aluminium Romania, the local branch of a European company reports that 20% of new homes in Romania are using premium aluminium joinery. According to Reynaers’ data, Residential projects contribute to the growth of the premium aluminium segment on the joinery market, the residential segment registered a significant growth in 2016.

7. Qatar Green Building Council’s (QGBC) Qatar Green Directory was honoured with the Sustainability Initiative of the Year award at the Construction Week Awards 2016.This initiative was outlined to increase awareness and education for advancing sustainable development and environment across globe as well as in domestic market.

Aluminium and sustainable energy source

The Arcade, a large office building in Mumbai, has become the first self-sufficient commercial building in the country in terms of power generation and supply by installing as many as 808 solar panels, all made of aluminium. Spread across 25,000 square foot roof, the aluminium solar panels are capable of generating 250 kilowatt peak power (KWp) thereby reducing the total annual electricity bill of the building by 30 per cent.

As explained by Aluminum Association, aluminium is superior to steel and iron in its ability to reflect the infrared (heat) rays of the sun. Properly coated aluminium roofs can reflect up to 95 per cent of the solar energy that strikes them, dramatically improving energy efficiency.

Other usage of aluminium in construction

Aluminium for construction finds use in a large number of applications including commercial and residential buildings, stadiums, bridges, masts and towers. Aluminium was chosen due to its light weight, high-barrier quality (ideally sought for food vending stalls), anti-rust properties, and recyclability.

1. The popularity of Japanese paper-folding art origami is going beyond paper to wrap aluminium in its wings creating three-dimensional novel objects for interior designing. Make Architects of the United Kingdom recently created aluminium origami kiosks for food vendors and holiday artisans who usually look for temporary, mobile structures in a festive setting to do business.


2. China has built the world’s most powerful and the largest single aperture radio telescope in the southwestern province of Guizhou in expectation of an “extraordinary impact” on astronomy. Made up of 4,450 triangular aluminium panels, the $180m telescope’s dish is half a kilometre in diameter, with a total area equivalent in size to 30 football pitches.

Global market for aluminium in architectural, building and construction (ABC) sector is evolving fast. It is the second most rapidly growing sector after transportation. What makes aluminium more apt for building and construction is its weight and strength ratio, durability, anti-corrosive nature sand low maintenance.  Aluminium structures in construction can weigh 35 to 65 per cent less than steel, without compromising on strength. The modern skyscraper could not have been possible without the use of aluminium. With increased urbanisation and enhanced focus on sustainability the use of aluminium in construction will see further rise in future.

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