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Steel Offers The Best Solution!

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

Last year, Superstorm Sandy’s record storm surge caused severe flooding that it crippled New York City’s subway system. To prevent this from happening again, city officials conceived the idea of building a wall to keep out rushing seawater. They turned to the only material, which will surely do the job – steel.

 

With winds at 90 miles per hour, the storm surge was approximately 14 feet above Mean Low Water flooding many subway tunnels and damaging electrical equipment and train tracks. As a result, thousands of people could not get to their jobs or to schools.

 

Costing $38 million and scheduled to be completed on May 1, the city’s Metropolitan Transit Authority project consisted of a two-mile long wall of steel to protect a stretch of New York City’s A subway. This section of the train system has not been used since Hurricane Sandy damaged it.

 

The steel used is not only thick; it has also been designed to withstand erosion from salt water. Measuring 37 feet, each section of the wall is buried 30 feet below the ground and the remaining 7 feet protrudes above the tracks, which experts say is 2 feet above the storm surge from Hurricane Sandy.

 

This goes to show the strength of steel and why it can be relied upon for protection. No wonder, pre-engineered steel buildings are popular nowadays. More consumers are now aware of the capabilities of steel and how prefabrication can help solve their construction needs.

 

Prefabricated steel buildings are cost-efficient and predictable, providing for speedy construction and low labor and materials costs, as well as early occupancy. They can be designed for whatever purpose whether it is for storage, residential, commercial and industrial.

 

Designed and engineered using computerized technology; steel buildings are durable, structurally sound with the entire structure remaining straight and true even through extreme weather disturbances. The components used in these metal structures are made of high quality steel coated with special material to make them more resistant to corrosion. Unlike wood, steel does not warp, break, crack and is resistant to termites. That is why steel buildings offer lesser maintenance requirements than traditional construction.

 

With benefits such as these, prefabricated steel buildings will continue to be the “go to” construction solutions for consumers who want more value for their money.

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Take The Steel Building Plunge!

Friday, April 26th, 2013

Are you still on the fence about buying steel buildings? Some people who are not familiar with prefabricated steel construction might still be afraid to venture into uncharted territory. However, the popularity of steel buildings cannot be ignored and these structures deserve a second look.

 

Steel building systems are now considered viable options for new construction. Their major benefits include economy, versatility, quick assembly and durability. Technology has allowed modern steel buildings to be unrecognizable and indistinguishable from traditionally constructed structures.

 

Basically, the building blocks of a prefabricated steel building are the rigid frame, wall girts, roof purlins, cladding and bracing. Nowadays, there is a myriad of choices as far as exterior and interior finishes are concerned, so there’s no need to worry that your building would look like a metal box.

 

Economy

 

When building with steel, you only pay for what you really need – no more, no less. Through the use of the latest modeling software, designers are able to pre-engineer steel buildings while optimizing the use of materials without sacrificing the integrity and durability of the structure. Suppliers of steel buildings often provide at least 25 years of structural warranty to their products.

 

Ease of Construction

 

Fast and efficient construction is the trademark of prefabrication. Since most of the job – cutting, punching, and welding – is done at the factory, all that is needed is to bolt the elements together through the use of stainless steel fasteners. What could be more efficient that that? Speedy construction also translates to savings from lower labor costs and firmer construction timetables.

 

Flexibility

 

Steel is a very flexible construction material that can be shaped and sized in unimaginable number of ways. Imagine doing that with concrete or wood. In other words, design flexibility is unmatched with steel buildings. No wonder, nowadays, you will see metal buildings taking all sorts of forms and sizes.

 

Compatibility with just about any construction material is another plus with steel buildings. Today, it is no surprise to find steel buildings with walls made of concrete, glass, stone, wood and brick. Almost any popular exterior finish is compatible with steel buildings, which allows them to assume traditional looks.

 

Insulation

 

Insulation is one of the major reasons for the popularity of steel buildings in markets that were formerly dominated by traditional construction. Whereas before, steel buildings were confined only to the industrial sector, they have now penetrated new construction of homes, businesses, schools and churches.

 

Proper insulation allows for comfortable interiors and even soundproofing, if desired. Best of all, it makes steel buildings energy efficient with lesser need for heating and cooling.

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Blast and Collapse Resistant Steel Buildings

Wednesday, April 24th, 2013

The recent events – the Boston Marathon bombings and Waco, Texas fertilizer explosion – are a reminder for us to always be vigilant and prepared for the unlikeliest catastrophes. These events are very rare and probably unforeseeable but any measures to minimize the effects of such can save hundreds of lives.

Explosions exert blast or impact loads to buildings that are different from the typical loads, such as seismic loads, accounted for in building designs. Blast or impact loads are loads that occur much less frequently in a much shorter duration than the typical building loads but with extreme force and effects. Blast loads usually last only one-tenth of a second, but this period can be enough to cause extreme damage to the building and its occupants.

Considering blast loads in building designs may now be required because of the frequency of terrorist attacks. Fortunately, research into blast or impact resistance has also been improving in the past four decades. Usually, resistance to blast loads in designing buildings only take into consideration the preservation of life and not serviceability of the building except in facilities that are at more risk of exposure to blast loads such as nuclear reactors and explosive test facilities. The building design should minimize the effects of casualty mechanisms caused by blast and impact loads.

Casualties can be minimized by preventing collapse of the building and minimizing debris caused by the local failure of building elements. This is called collapse mitigation and blast mitigation, respectively. Collapse mitigation deals with the prevention of total failure through redundancy of the structure such that bridging can occur in the structure wherever a column may be lost. In simpler terms, the structure isn’t dependent on a single column – any one column can fail and the building will not collapse.

On the other hand, blast mitigation aims to reduce or eliminate debris or to prevent failure of a key structural element by providing specific local resistance to blast loads. In other words, blast mitigation is designing local resistance of specific structural elements to failure.

In steel buildings, ductile moment resisting frame systems with a maximized redundancy frame layout are recommended. Ductility is the ability of a material to deform under tensile stress without breaking. The key to improving blast resistance in steel buildings is improving ductility of the connecting elements by proper detailing and design. Similarly, collapse resistance in steel buildings can only be achieved through proper design and construction of the connections to create substantial ductility and redundancy.

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High Wind Load Rated Steel Buildings

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013

When you live in a coastal area that is prone to hurricanes, always hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Part of being prepared is to arm yourself with a lot of information to help ease your worries.

As a service to the public, the National Hurricane Center’s website talks about risks and how you should react to hazardous situations when a hurricane strikes.

Tropical storms and hurricanes are both cyclones. What differentiates one from the other is their wind speed. A tropical storm has sustained winds of 74mph or less while a hurricane has sustained winds of 74mph or more.

The NHC identified the major hazards associated with hurricanes and these are: storm surge and storm tide, heavy rainfall and inland flooding, high winds, rip currents and tornadoes.

The greatest threat to lives and property is brought by a storm surge and storm tide. The extremely high winds generated by the hurricane causes an abnormal rise in the ocean’s water level, which can rise up to 20 ft. and can travel hundreds of miles along the coast and inwards.  The large waves can produce deadly rip currents that can pose a threat to residents living along the coastline and even to those away from the storm.

In addition to the entry of ocean water, heavy rainfall may result to deadly and destructive widespread flooding during hurricanes.  What’s more, a hurricane and a tropical storm can both produce tornadoes, which can pose a significant threat to lives and property.

Residents in cities along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are bracing themselves for hurricane season again, which is coming soon. For owners of high wind load rated steel buildings, however, there is no cause for alarm.

Armstrong Steel buildings can be designed for just about any purpose you have in mind. For the best protection, their design must meet state and local building codes. “High wind load” steel buildings can even exceed standards. They are constructed to ensure structural integrity allowing them to resist all types of wind conditions.

For those living in hurricane and typhoon prone areas, steel buildings can be designed for extremely high wind loads as high as 180 mph. Make sure that all doors and accessories are also certified to meet wind load conditions for maximum performance. But since you generally deal with one supplier when you choose steel buildings; that will not be a problem.

Before you make your purchase, it is wise to contact you local building code authorities to confirm the code requirements for your area.

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It’s Alive!

Wednesday, April 17th, 2013

The race to save planet Earth is on. No doubt about it, we have been experiencing climate change and global warming – the ill effects of years and years of neglecting our environment. Although we may not be able to reverse the damage that has been done, we can still our share by choosing a lifestyle that promotes sustainability. Start by choosing armstrong steel buildings over traditional construction.

The global “green movement” goes hand-in-hand with sustainability. Among its various definitions, sustainability means caring for the future, something that does not deplete a current resource, or the capacity to endure. Environmental sustainability is adopting practices that have positive long-term effects.

In construction, prefabricated steel buildings are considered “green” mainly because of the use of steel, which a highly recyclable material. Unlike concrete that ends up in a landfill when buildings are demolished, steel goes to recycling plants to be converted to useful components.

These days, the momentum is on the side of steel buildings when it comes to new construction. Their popularity is mainly due to the many benefits they offer, which are unmatched by any other construction method. Imagine durability, affordability, cost-effectiveness, speedy construction, early occupancy, energy-efficiency and most of all sustainability.

Modern steel buildings have stylish facades that make them indistinguishable from structures made from traditional materials. In fact, they can fit seamlessly with their surroundings especially when incorporated with interior and exterior finishes that are popular with conventional buildings.

Popular facades for steel buildings are stucco, simulated brick or stone, insulated panels, brick or natural stone veneers, masonry among many others. But one other façade that will most likely be compatible with steel buildings is the bio-adaptive algae façade, which was recently developed and tested in Germany.

Called the BIQ House, it is the first algae-powered building with a bio-reactor façade made up of glass louvers, which contain micro-algae. The louvers not only allow the algae to grow faster since they are exposed to bright sunlight, they also provide shade for the building.

More importantly, the bio-reactors trap the heat energy produced by the algae and harvest it to provide a clean source of renewable energy to power the building.

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Seismic-proof Design of Steel Buildings

Tuesday, April 16th, 2013

We’ve heard of many buildings collapsing due to earthquakes. But first, what are earthquakes and why do they cause so much damage? Earthquakes are movements of the earth’s crust. These may be tiny or huge, and each earthquake releases a large amount of energy in the form of shock waves. These movements cause structures to move up and down or side to side. It is these stresses that cause a building to fail during an earthquake.


All buildings can carry their own weight plus some added load. Without the addition of earthquake-proof measures, they are generally more resistant to vertical loads or the up and down movements. Side to side movements are another story however. Side to side movements are the weakness of buildings. It is usually the side to side load caused by earthquakes that causes a building to fail and collapse. Side to side loads, or sway loads, are often only resisted by the walls and partitions of a building. Any damages to these can increase the vulnerability of a building to sway loads. This is why measures have to be taken to make buildings resistant to sideways movements.


First and foremost, the weight of the building must be as light as possible. Steel is a reliable material for earthquake resistant design even though it is heavier than concrete. Why? This is because steel is much stronger than concrete, therefore much less steel is utilized to create a building as strong as a concrete one.   In simpler terms, a concrete building will weigh less if it were made of steel instead. In this factor alone,armstrong steel buildings are already more earthquake resistant than concrete ones.


Next, steel ground beams are needed to join the feet of the building together. It is better for the installed ground beams to go outside the line of the building to reduce height-to-width ratio of the building resulting to a reduced tendency to overturn.


Next, columns with strong moment connections are fitted to these ground beams. The objective of these moment connections is to be able to let the ground beams form plastic hinges with the columns. Plastic hinging will absorb energy and reduce shock to the frame. Similarly, the main beams are connected to outer columns with full capacity joints where the beams should also be able to form plastic hinges.  These plastic hinges will absorb energy from the frame and reduce damage to the overall structure.

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Severe Weather Conditions? No Worries With Steel Buildings

Monday, April 15th, 2013

Storms are getting more powerful and violent. What’s more, they now occur during times when you least expect them to. For better protection, people should start turning to construction solutions that can stand up to these extreme weather disturbances whose behavior patterns seem to surprise even the experts.

Take the case of what happened last week. On Wednesday night, the Midwest was hit hard by storms packing ice and snow and 100mph high winds that damaged homes and closed roads and schools. Thousands of residents and businesses were left without power.

Some parts were drenched with heavy rains and strong winds that toppled trees and power lines, in addition to raising flood alarms. There were even reports of tornados touching down and blowing trucks off the ground. Although are not very common in spring, meteorologists said they could happen as a result of clashing hot and cold air, which are typically present during springtime.

It’s true there are some cases where steel buildings did not perform well during extreme weather. But most of the time, those who failed were either not built up to code or were not properly built.

The beauty of pre-engineering and pre-fabrication is that the technologies and methods are constantly being improved and fine-tuned by engineers and software developers to meet ever-changing needs of consumers.

To ensure that steel buildings will not fail, consumers are advised to transact only with reputable suppliers, who have demonstrated their craftsmanship and expertise through previous successful projects. They are so confident in their products that they offer structural warranties of 25 years or more.

Steel buildings that incorporate codes and standards in their design are extremely durable and can withstand harsh weather conditions. They are well-known to last for decades of unmatched performance. Add to these benefits their cost-effectiveness, energy efficiency and affordability.

So, it doesn’t matter if you don’t have power during a storm. What’s more important is that your family and you are safe and dry because you chose steel buildings over traditional construction.

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Steel Helps You Reach Financial Stability

Thursday, April 11th, 2013

Another one bites the dust.  Caterpillar Inc. gave an official statement last week declaring it was laying off more than 400 of its workers in their Decatur, Illinois factory.  The said unit was producing mining equipment.

Demand from the global mining industy is pinpointed as the main cause of the layoff, cutting about 11% of the plant’s workforce.  The global mining industry has been observed to be cutting back on capital investment as a result of recoiling market prices.

To be fair, Caterpillar previously implemented temporary layoffs and line shutdowns, even shortened workweeks to balance production costs with demand.  Obviously the effort was to no avail.  Hence, last Friday, Caterpillar abandoned the struggle by making the layoffs permanent.  The termination will take effect after 60 days.

This news is particularly distressing considering the fact that Caterpillar Inc. is renowned as the world’s largest producer of mining equipment.  Among other things, of course, Cat also makes construction equipment, diesel engines, locomotives, and turbines.  At least Caterpillar Inc still has a fallback even if – hopefully not – the mining industry crashes.

Just like Caterpillar Inc., you might want to think about how you can guarantee your financial stability under this current global economic climate.  Financial experts actually advise taking that jump – or leap of faith – toward starting your own business venture instead of looking for employment that’s real hard to come by these days. And well, take it from those who’ve already done it – steel buildings are the best business partners, especially for people like you, who are just about to make it big.

Sometimes the most important question to ask is not how fast the returns will take, but how high they can over time.  Steel buildings have helped numerous amateur entrepreneurs achieve their now profitable and stable businesses.  And what’s great about steel buildings is – you see what you get, and you get what you hear.  The well-promoted advantages of steel structures, namely: cost-effectiveness, durability, low-maintenance, and aesthetic value all add up to your potential business’ success.

Steel buildings, in short, require little capital compared to any other building system.  Being made of steel, you are assured of the structural integrity of the building even with virtually no maintenance. And of course, since you can customize your building to look practically any way you want – you can really hit your niche by creating the right look and feel to keep them coming.  All these factors together translate to low initial investment, low operational costs, and continuous sales – the perfect formula for huge profits.

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Steel for Steel Buildings

Tuesday, April 9th, 2013

Steel buildings are naturally durable and secure structures – two characteristics that make them ideal for residential applications.  However, sometimes a steel home isn’t enough to protect your property and your family from the unpredictable.

Back in the day, home owners would only worry about theft – it’s that simple.  But nowadays, people live in a time where vandalism and squatting are rampant, even steel buildings need additional protection.

Just last weekend, a “battle” sparked between homeowners and U.S. charities.  Property owners complained of charity collection boxes being dropped onto their land time and again, and without permission.  This phenomenon has provided an invitation for all sorts of graffiti and for “transients” to take shelter in the said spaces – private properties to be exact.

Regulation has been the political answer to this problem.  In fact, a California state senator has passed a bill addressing the matter, making it easier for land owners to have unauthorized charity boxes towed away from their property.  The same movement has been observed in Florida, Massachusetts, Arizona, North Carolina, and Michigan.

Now, the real issue here is just the boxes being illicitly planted on private property.  Americans are, after all, naturally charitable.  Used clothing amounting to tens of millions of dollars are donated each year – meaning charities and for-profit organizations alike are, what one would say, in a lucrative business.

The “fight” for regulation has been going on for five years now, still to no avail.  The charity “industry” is highly competitive so one might say that the true interest of the regulation is quite obscure – hence, the sluggish progress.

All the same, you really don’t have to wait for this whole issue to be settled before you act.  After all, your property is your investment and it’s something you must protect.  While steel buildings can withstand natural forces, man-made attacks are a completely another issue.

The simple answer to this problem is – put that steel fence up, no need to wait for that bill to pass.  This is the best and most practical way to keep those unauthorized boxes and sometimes people out of your property – steel fences for steel buildings.

There is a wide variety of steel fence systems for you to choose from.  It all depends on your purpose and sometimes, ultimately, your style.  All these fence systems are made of high-grade galvanized steel so you can be confident of quality.  Popular fence systems for steel buildings include galvanized steel security fences, louver fences, picket fences, welded wire fences, among others.

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Why You Need A Quake Resistant Steel Buildings

Saturday, March 30th, 2013

The U.S. Geological Survey registered an earthquake of at least 6.1 magnitude, which shook Taiwan on Wednesday, March 26.  The good news is no casualties nor severe damages related to the quake were reported.  This, of course, is comforting – just recall the 7.6 earthquake in September 1999 that killed more than 2000 people and caused damages to more than 50,000 buildings.  However, this is not the same as saying that the residents of the area are not affected.

Incidentally, the week before that, Japan has just celebrated the second anniversary of the earthquake left nearly 19,000 of their people killed.  As you may recall, the tsunami precipitated by the quake leveled nearly all the coastal villages of Japan.  To date, while all the rubble has almost been tidied, reconstruction efforts are still on-going.  And even after two years, a significant number of locals are still showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Considering the seismically active location of both regions, some people can easily grow complacent, thinking that quakes of such magnitudes are less likely to occur in the United States.  But nonetheless, the recent events are good reminders for Americans to be more vigilant and aware of the possibilities.  In fact, probably not known to many, the top regions of the United States that experience the most number of earthquakes include Washington, Nevada, and California – all of which are highly populated and visited areas.

Now, it’s common belief that steel buildings are built to be naturally earthquake-resistant.  Steel, as a matter of fact, is both a sturdy and flexible building material.  However, not all steel buildings are able to withstand seismic activities to the same degree.  The differences in performance can be attributed to the variation in engineering design and specifications.  So to ensure that you steel building will be able to stand through your quake-resistant expectations, you only need to be keen on several factors.

Earthquake-proof steel buildings are classically designed to withstand sideways loads.  Buildings are subject to all sorts of movements during an earthquake.  So, in order to work around such stress, steel buildings must be made: (1) as light as possible; (2) with expertly distributed weight; and (3) with frames strategically reinforcing weak areas.

These three would be the general principles to go by, although there is a wide collection of strategies to employ them.  But for now, the important thing is to know that there it is entirely possible to create strong, reliable, earthquake-resistant steel buildings.

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