THE ENVIROMENTAL IMPACT OF USING GALVANIZED STEEL INSTEAD OF CONCRETE

• 1.25 tones of embedded carbon per tone of cement.
• 1.8 tones of embedded carbon per tone of steel.
  

If we take a simple 4m x 5m plot and create foundations:

A conventional concrete base would use:

• Minimum of 1 tone of cement producing 1.25 tones of embedded carbon.

• Or 20 ground screws weighing 8.9kg producing only 320.4kg

• A ground screw with a surface area of 0,5 sqm has roughly 70 microns of zinc on the surface.
• This adds up to a total amount of 35 ml of zinc on each ground screw.
• To replace 1 tone of concrete you need roughly 20 ground screws which adds up to a total of 0,7 liter of pure zinc in the ground.
  
  

A yearly amount of 10.000 ground screws adds up to 7.000 liters of pure zinc that is unnaturally added to the soil and instantly eroding into the environment when installed.