Nucor Corporation announced that the new steel plate mill being built in Brandenburg, Kentucky has publicly registered to pursue LEED v4 for Building and Design certification. Nucor Steel Brandenburg is the first steel mill in the world to pursue certification under LEED v4, which is more stringent than previous LEED rating systems and ambitiously aligns each credit category with sustainable performance, climate change, and revolutionizes the manufacturing landscape through third-party transparency and reporting requirements.
“Sustainability has been at the core of Nucor’s business model since we first started making steel in the 1960s. Our recycling production method makes us one of the cleanest steelmakers in the world. LEED certification extends our sustainability efforts to the materials and operating system choices we make in constructing this new steel mill,” said Leon Topalian, Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer.
The specific LEED features of Nucor Steel Brandenburg include preservation of a large portion of forested area on the property, lighting reduction strategies, reduced parking footprint, support for green vehicles, and water and energy efficiency measures. In addition, over 75% of the construction waste generated building the steel mill has been diverted from landfills. Sustainable building materials, many directly produced by Nucor divisions, have also been used in the construction of the mill.
Expected to begin production at the end of 2022, the new $1.7 billion Nucor Steel Brandenburg facility will produce 1.2 million tons of steel plate annually. It will be able to produce 97% of plate products consumed domestically and will be one of only a few mills in the world capable of supplying the critical steel components required to build offshore wind farms.
Courtesy of Nucor.