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It's hard to imagine a building without copper. Surely, the modern
home, office, or manufacturing plant would not be as comfortable,
as functional, or as electrically or thermally efficient without it!
Copper is used extensively in building wire, water piping, gas tubing,
roofing, architectural building design, heating and air conditioning
systems, interior and exterior artwork, doorknobs, lightning rods,
faucets, and even fire sprinkler systems. In fact, the building products
sector demands more copper every year than any other market sector.
Copper is an important structural component in many buildings. Aluminum
bronzes are used to take the entire weight of reinforced concrete
roof structures, such as at the Physics and Mathematics Building at
the University of Aberdeen. And phosphor bronze securing bolts and
anchor plates are the standard for masonry fixings for heavy wall
cladding. Other applications for phosphor bronze include bearings
for bridges and similar structures that must allow for expansion.
Another important benefit of copper building products is that after
their useful lifetimes, they are recycled. Due to the high demand
for copper scrap material, the copper in building products is recovered,
recycled, and used again - somewhere, somehow - for any of thousands
of useful purposes. |
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