SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPEMENT is a development, which aim is to fulfill  all needs of current generation and simultaneously to ensure the possibility of fulfilling the same need by future generations. This means not only environmental protection, but also carefulness of economic growth and equal chances of all society now and in the future.

Building industry, as one of the most import ant and significant branches of the market, has to take nowadays large responsibility. Taking sustainability into consideration, buildings should be designed and built with huge care of environment and sparingly management of natural resources usage, during the whole building cycle, beginning with the project, through building site, exploitation, ending with demolition. We should also remember about huge impact, that the building industry has on the marked development and current social situation of local society.

One of the most important elements of sustainable building is to choose proper building materials, sustainability of which should be assessed on every life cycle phase:

1. RESOURCES AQUISITION – in this phase producer should try to reduce his impact on reducing of natural resources deposits and ensure as wide usage of materials from recycling as possible.
2. PRODUCTION PHASE – on a production phase the most important duties of a producer are: monitoring and reducing emissions, reducing the usage of energy and water, as well as: carefulness of health and safety of employees, carefulness of local communities needs, respect for equality of rights among employees, sustainable economical growth, etc.
3. CONSTRUCION AND EXPLOITATION PHASES – it is highly important, that during building and exploitation phases used building materials are safe for environment and human beings.
4. DEMOLITION OF THE BUILDING – it is very important phase, which determines at high pitch the impact, that human has on the environment. Perfect sustainable products are characterized by full biodegradation or possibility of further recycling, which naturally has impact on reducing the amount of effluents.

Among the most general construction materials steel is the most popular and widest used. The huge impact of steel industry on the environment and world market situation is undeniable. Therefore steel producers definitely should take care of sustainability of their products. The fact is, that environmental protection regulations, which are generally observed very carefully in steel mills, are not guarantee of success. Very important aspects, that also have to be taken into consideration, are naturals resources usage during the production, negative impact on the environment during transport of resources and ready to use products, taking new initiatives for perfecting and reducing negative impact on the environment, and also protection of employees and local communities rights. Generally speaking steel producers should manage with respect to the sustainability politics, which takes into consideration environmental, social and economic aspects, which refers to the whole life cycle of products.

CPJS, together with the group of experts, has began works on creating a system for valuation of degree and effects of implementing the sustainability politics in steel mills. As the most important we take two indicators:

• TRACEABILITY, which enable insight of all interested parties – customers, contractors, employees, suppliers, administration bodies – into all organization operations,
• EQUAL EVALUATING SYSTEM, which is necessary for fair comparison of effects that each organization has achieved in this subject.

Results of this work we will publish regularly on www.cpjs.pl/sustainability.