Average material quantities
Average material quantities in typical structures
You can refer to the table below for average material quantities in typical structures.
These estimations are recommended to use if:
- Your BIM model includes composite elements which consist of more than one material, but you have no additional info of specific material quantities in the element,
- You know the area of your construction element, but not a specific quantity of the materials.
Material
| Constituents of the entire structure
| Share of material of total structure %
| Kg of material per m2
| m3/m2
| liters/m2
| m2/l
| Reference
|
Mortar in 130 mm thick brick wall
| Brick, mortar
| 40
| X
|
|
|
|
|
Brick and mortar in brick wall
| Brick, mortar
| 89.35% / 10.65%
| 90.44 / 10.78
|
|
|
|
|
Steel studs in light wall, 100 mm
| studs
|
| 1,73
|
|
|
|
Unitech
|
Steel studs in light wall, 80 mm
| studs
|
| 1,44
|
|
|
|
Unitech
|
Wood studs in light wall, 100 mm
|
|
| 6,37
|
|
|
| Weight of walls and partitons
|
Wood studs in external wall
|
|
| 10,25
|
|
|
| Weight of walls and partitons
|
Steel studs in external wall
| studs
|
| 8,3
|
|
|
|
Unitech
|
Roof trusses of wood
| per m2 area of truss (2.2psf)
|
| 10,74
|
|
|
| Weight of walls and partitons
|
Roof trusses of steel
| per m2 area of truss (1.3 psf)
|
| 6,3
|
|
|
| Weight of walls and partitons
|
External plastering & plaster net
| glassfiber mesh/plasters
| 1.25% / 98.75
| 0.14 / 11.71
|
|
|
| ITB Poland
|
Paint per m2 of wall
| paint
| 100%
|
|
| 0,1015
| 9,85
| EPD Norge
|
Wooden windows
| wood/glass
| 27% / 61%
| 9.5 / 21
|
|
|
| EPD Norge
|
Metal windows
| metal / glass
| 26% / 53%
| 12.3 / 27.5
|
|
|
| IBU
|
PVC windows
| PVC / glass
| 26% / 58%
| 8.7 / 18.7
|
|
|
| IBU
|
Typical steel kg per m3 in concrete in Finland and UK
UK
Concrete building element
| Weight of reinforcement in kg/m3
| Weight of reinforcement in lb/ft3
| Volume of reinforcement in m3/m3 (dependent on the exact steel)
| Share of steel of total structure %
|
|---|
Bases
| 90–130
| 5.6–8.1
| 0.012-0.017
| 1.2 - 1.7 %
|
Beams
| 250–350
| 15.6–21.8
| 0.032-0.045
| 3.2 - 4.5 %
|
Capping beams
| 135
| 8.4
| 0.017
| 1.7 %
|
Columns
| 200-450
| 12.4-28
| 0.025-0.057
| 2.5 - 5-7 %
|
Ground beams
| 230-330
| 14.3-20.6
| 0.029-0.042
| 2.9 - 4.2 %
|
Footings
| 70-100
| 4.3-6.2
| 0.009-0.042
| 0.9 - 4.2 %
|
Pile Caps
| 110-150
| 6.8–9.3
| 0.014-0.019
| 1.4 - 1.9 %
|
Plate slabs
| 95–135
| 5.9–8.4
| 0.012-0.017
| 1.2 - 1.7 %
|
Rafts
| 115
| 7.1
| 0.015
| 1.5 %
|
Retaining walls
| 110–150
| 6.8–9-3
| 0.014-0.019
| 1.4 - 1.9 %
|
Ribbed floor slabs
| 80–120
| 5–7.4
| 0.010-0.015
| 1 - 1.5 %
|
Slabs – one way
| 75–125
| 4.6–7.8
| 0.010-0.016
| 1 - 1.6 %
|
Slabs – two way
| 67–135
| 4.1–8.4
| 0.009-0.017
| 0.9 - 1.7 %
|
Stairs
| 130–170
| 8.1–10.6
| 0.017-0.022
| 1.7 - 2.2 %
|
Tie beams
| 130–170
| 8.1–10.6
| 0.017-0.022
| 1.7 - 2.2 %
|
Transfer slabs
| 150
| 9.3
| 0.019
| 1.9 %
|
Walls – normal
| 70–100
| 4.3–6.2
| 0.009-0.013
| 0.9 - 1.3 %
|
Walls – wind
| 90–150
| 5.6-9.3
| 0.011-0.019
| 1.1 - 1.9 %
|
Finland
List of typical steel amounts used in different kind of structures and elements (please note that these are average values, in reality there is variance). All the quantities are shown per m3 of concrete. Typical density of concrete is approximately 2400 kg /m3. Tendon* = high strength low alloy steel, typically used for instance in pre-stressed concrete elements, this steel grade is likely to contain more virgin steel Rebar steel* = basic steel used for concrete reinforcement.
- Pre-stressed concrete beam: 30 kg of tendon and 30 kg of normal rebar steel
- Reinforced concrete beam: 100 kg of normal rebar steel
- Column: 100 kg of normal rebar steel
- Hollow core concrete slab**: 10 kg tendon
- Wall, internal element (for instance 180 mm): 35 kg of normal rebar steel
- Wall, external layer (for instance 70 mm): 80 kg of normal rebar steel or stainless steel
- Balcony (for instance 260 mm): 125 kg of normal rebar steel
* In Finnish: Tendon = jänneteräs, Basic rebar steel = harjateräs ** If you’ll need to estimate this please make sure you’ll have the right amount of concrete taking into account the wholes. Usually, for hollow core concrete slab it is better to use an EPD that includes reinforcement as they usually do.
Watch our webinar on carbon impact reduction here.
Find our guides for embodied material impacts here.
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