Steel Tube Institute Committee on Hollow Structural Sections (HSS) announces priorities for 2024

The Hollow Structural Sections (HSS) Committee for Steel Tube Institute (STI), an organization that brings together key producers in the steel industry to advance the use of steel tubing announced it is expanding its 2024 priorities to include solar structures. Solar fields, ground-mounted solar structures and other solar applications are increasing in popularity and often use HSS to support the solar arrays, according to the committee.

Following the uptick in demand for steel in the solar construction market, the HSS committee is launching a solar subcommittee to promote and establish guidelines for using HSS on solar farms and where ground-mounted and rooftop solar structures are in use.

"The strength and durability of HSS make it an ideal material for supporting solar, particularly ground-mounted solar structures," said Holly Schaubert, Director of Hollow Structural Sections (HSS) for Steel Tube Institute. "This is yet another way that HSS can support the United States' efforts toward decarbonization and I'm proud to be part of this important initiative."

For 2023, STI's HSS Committee's primary focus was educating on sustainability as it relates to steel and HSS, raising awareness of steel's endless recyclability, educating the industry about using electric arc furnaces (EAFs) for steel production and helping to define 'green steel.' While steel's sustainability remains a focus for 2024, priorities will also include fabrication, engineering and using HSS in solar structures.

The HSS committee's move came during Steel Tube Institute's Annual Meeting, held August 8-10 in Chicago. During the Annual Meeting, the HSS Committee also reaffirmed its commitment to promoting educational opportunities for budding engineers in the steel industry and responding to the needs of HSS distributors.

130 countries, including the US, signed the United Nations COP28 Climate Change Deal on Dec. 13th, committing to take action to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency improvements by 2030. With more than $1 billion a day being spent on solar deployment worldwide already, the increased demand for renewable energy will drive a prolonged upswing in steel demand. In addition, several key federal policies driving steel demand are the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and the Creating Helpful Incentives for the Production of Semiconductors (CHIPS) Act.