Bookmark and Share

Archive for the ‘Steel Building benefits’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Port Steel Buildings

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

Ports are critical to the growth of any economy. In the U.S, the top four ports based on volume of trade are located in Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York City, and Houston. Ports have one or more harbors where ships dock and transfer people and cargo to or from land.

To be able to handle every kind of traffic, a wide variety of support and storage facilities are vital to its effectiveness. Typically, ports should be well suited to handle heavy cargoes and access to intermodal transportation, such as trains and trucks, so that passengers and cargo can move beyond the port area.

Steel buildings offer affordable solutions to support the unique requirements of port facilities such as crane buildings, warehouses, canneries, cold storage services, marinas, hangars, multi-purpose buildings and more. Since a port plays a vital role in the success of any country’s trade and tourism, port buildings must be designed with the following in mind – flexibility and efficiency.

Benefits of steel port buildings

Currently, steel buildings are designed and manufactured using high tech engineering and advanced computer systems. As a result, steel buildings provide for simpler assembly and reduced construction time. This means, savings in labor and materials costs, as well as earlier occupancy of the buildings.

In addition, steel buildings are custom-designed and fabricated to meet the specific needs and functional requirements of the various port businesses. These metal structures can be made more attractive by covering them with a wide variety of architectural finishes such as glass, brick, stones, or blocks as well as numerous paint options.

An important aspect of steel buildings is their being environment friendly. The construction industry came up with the concept of “green building design”, which refers to the construction and operation of buildings in an environmentally friendly way. Steel buildings are leading the way in this movement because they are energy efficient, consume lesser materials, and have lesser waste materials.

Tags: ,
Posted in Steel Building benefits, Steel Buildings | 1 Comment »

Steel School and Educational Buildings

Monday, September 20th, 2010

Any school should have buildings that are not only functional but also attractive to enhance or maintain its reputation as a fine institution of learning. Today’s educational institutions are faced with the need to build more affordable and flexible facilities that can accommodate an ever-growing school populace.

On the other hand, this rising need for space is not complemented by an increasing budget. Which is why, school administrators are now turning their attention to steel buildings for more economical solutions to their building needs.

Some people are under the impression that pre-engineered steel buildings are costly because they are made of high-grade steel. Choosing to build with steel is actually more affordable when compared to other traditional methods of construction. Steel buildings are also more adaptable to the ever-changing needs of most educational institutions.

You can just imagine how school buildings are being subjected to constant wear and tear on a daily basis. This is precisely why they should be made of sturdy materials. Steel is the most durable construction material on the planet. Steel buildings are not only more reliable to withstand unfavorable weather conditions, they also provide a lot of savings on maintenance costs.

Steel buildings offer more flexibility in the looks department. It doesn’t matter whether you’re building a complete school complex, expanding a gymnasium, or building new classrooms, steel buildings can satisfy your needs with style.

Today’s steel buildings are made more aesthetically appealing by combining them with a wide variety of architectural finishes and paint options to match existing structures or create new and eye-catching attractions.

Aside from the above-mentioned benefits, there are a lot more advantages of steel school and educational buildings, such as:

· More available options for eave heights
· Clear-span frame to provide open column-free spaces up to 300 ft.
· Require minimal maintenance
· Easily and economically expandable
· Reduced construction time
· Fire resistant
· Low insurance premiums
· Environment-friendly because steel is recyclable
· Longer lifespan

Tags: , ,
Posted in Steel Building benefits, Steel Buildings | No Comments »

Advantages of Steel Strip Mall Buildings

Friday, September 17th, 2010

Choosing to build with traditional materials other than steel can be a more costly and time-consuming project. Investors of strip malls find pre-engineered steel buildings as ideal solutions to their building needs because steel buildings are more economical, customizable, and easier to construct.

Other advantages of steel strip mall buildings are:

Durability. Since steel buildings are made from high quality steel, they are not only fire-resistant, but they are also able to withstand water, mold, mildew, and termites. Because they are pre-engineered or prefabricated, local weather conditions and other applicable loads can be incorporated in their design. This ensures that steel strip mall buildings are durable and they offer more structural longevity and low maintenance, meaning the safety of tenants and merchandise are guaranteed. As a result of all these, insurance costs are much lower for steel buildings than for structures made of other conventional construction materials.

Appearance. In terms of appearance and style, steel strip mall buildings are surprisingly flexible. Steel buildings can be enhanced with a variety of custom options such as bricks, rocks, stones, or stucco panelling. More often than not, steel buildings are impossible to tell apart from other structures made of traditional construction materials. They can be eye-catching by themselves or they can be made to match the look of existing structures.

Speed. With their short construction time, steel strip mall buildings allow for early occupancy for tenants and early rental earnings for owners.

Quality. Steel buildings made from quality high-grade steel provide straight walls, tight connections and increased durability. They are strong and sturdy and coated to resist corrosion.

Tags: ,
Posted in Steel Building benefits, Steel Buildings | No Comments »

Impact-resistant Glass for Windows and Doors of Steel Building

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

Impact-resistant glass is the last type of protection for windows and doors of steel buildings. This practically eliminates the need for hurricane shutters. Installing impact-resistant glass is actually more expensive especially for old steel buildings.

The idea of using shatter-resistant glass for windows and doors of buildings and residences was inspired by the use of laminated glass by the automotive industry. Impact-resistant glass doors and windows offer permanent protection from storms. However, they must be installed by professionals.

There are two common types of impact-resistant glass for windows and doors. The first kind is laminated glass consisting of a shatter-proof membrane sandwiched between two sheets of glass. Upon impact, the glass may shatter but not scatter. The inner membrane will hold the two sheets of glass firmly together. Thus, the barrier is not broken.

Laminated glass windows and doors are designed to handle wind-borne debris and repeated impact from unwanted intruders. The thickness of the interior lamination ranges from .015 inch to .090 inch. The inner film even comes in a variety of color tints to choose from.

The second type of impact-resistant glass for steel buildings uses shatter-resistant film placed over the glass to keep the shards in place if broken. Since these films are just applied to the glazing, they may not function as a complete system and may not offer the protection required.

Impact-resistant glass installed in steel buildings, not only provide safety and protection from damages caused by storms but also security from intruders. In addition, it also offers increased sound and sunlight control. The strength and quality of the glass actually reduces the amount of exterior noise and ultraviolet rays of the sun, which can make their way into the building. The color tint also helps to reduce or eliminate sun fade and ultraviolet damage for interiors of steel buildings.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Steel Building benefits | 15 Comments »

A Steel Building for Your New Home

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Your home holds many sentimental values – memories of many “firsts” as a newlywed couple and the children’s growing-up years. However, these precious memories may now be overshadowed by the need for more space for a growing family.

A good way to envision your new home is to gather inspiration from magazines, trade fairs, or straight from the suppliers. For a more realistic vision of your next dwelling, consider your current financial capabilities and priorities.

Write down your ideas on paper and translate these into a solid plan. Define the specifications of your dream home. How many floors will it have? How many bedrooms does your family need?

Consider prefabricated steel buildings as a better alternative to more traditional construction methods because they offer a lot of benefits.

First, a prefabricated steel building is manufactured offsite and delivered to the construction site where it is erected. This quality increases the speed, accuracy, and quality of construction, to enable your family to enjoy your new home at the least amount of time.

Second, the installation of insulation and the availability of a lot of finishing options make steel buildings a better choice. Your steel building can be finished with any type of exterior of your choice – brick, stucco, siding, and a lot more – to achieve the look of traditional wood-framed house.

Third, steel buildings are environment friendly. Steel can be recycled over and over again without losing its strength and properties. Insulating your steel building makes it energy efficient, reducing energy consumption and costs.

Prefabricated steel buildings are strong, durable and virtually maintenance free. In addition, the many environmental and economical benefits of steel construction provide a lot of savings in time and money, as well as, protection and conservation of the earth’s natural resources.

Tags: ,
Posted in Prefabricated Steel Buildings, Steel Building benefits | 2 Comments »

Environmentally Friendly Steel Buildings (continuation)

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

Last post talked about steel as the most recyclable material in the world, making steel buildings environment-friendly. The steel industry has found that it is more economical to recycle steel than to produce new ones since recycling saves about 75% of its annual energy consumption. This amount is equivalent to the annual energy consumption of about eighteen million homes.

An added advantage of building with steel is that in the construction phase of steel buildings, there is very little waste produced because the steel components were fabricated to precise specifications based on the design. If there are any waste materials produced during construction and even in the demolition of the whole structure, they will not end up in a landfill because they can be recycled.

The online encyclopedia gives a detailed example of how environmentally friendly steel buildings are, with this statement: For a typical 2,000-square-foot two-story house using a steel frame is equivalent to about six recycled cars, while a comparable wooden frame house may require as many as 40-50 trees.

Another characteristic of steel buildings that make them environment-friendly is that they pose no danger of contaminating nature. Unlike wooden structures, steel frame members are not treated with toxic chemicals to protect the metal structures from termites, vermin, and rot.

These are more than enough reasons why steel buildings are popular these days. Choosing to build with steel rather than wood or any other construction material is equivalent to doing your share in saving the environment.

Tags: ,
Posted in Steel Building benefits, Steel Buildings | No Comments »

The Sustainability Benefits of Steel

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Steel has demonstrated its ability to be a sustainable construction material. The dictionary defines something sustainable as one which endures or keeps going continuously. Steel does not lose its properties even after recycling. You will be amazed to know that the sustainable benefits of steel are realized in every aspect of a steel building’s lifetime.

The inherent characteristics of steel that make it sustainable include:
1. Low waste material
2. Flexible
3. Offsite manufacture
4. Speed in construction
5. Resource efficiency
6. Adaptable
7. Long lasting appeal
8. Safe
9. Reusable
10. Recyclable

The use of steel in construction is fast and safe. The reduced construction time translates to lower costs, quicker return on investments, and less disruption to the lives of the local folks. Steel offers no unpleasant surprises because of its predictability. The components of the metal structure are manufactured in a safe, factory environment and delivered to the construction site on an agreed time.

What’s more, the limited waste material during construction can be easily returned to the steel supply chain to be recycled. Steel is also lighter when compared to wood and has a high strength to weight ratio.

After construction, a steel building offers an environment that is light, open, airy, and adaptable. Your steel building will not deteriorate and decay. Instead, it will mature gracefully with age. The long clear spans of a steel building’ allow for easy modifications. Expanding an old steel building is also not a problem because steel frames can be easily adapted and reconfigured, breathing new life into it.

Now you may ask, what happens to steel at the end of life? Does it still retain its sustainable benefits? Yes, of course. Metal buildings are reusable as a whole or in parts. A whole steel building can be dismantled and re-erected somewhere else. Individual parts can be reused, as well. If these two options are not realized, the steel can be recycled and used in another construction elsewhere.

Steel is not the only construction material that is recycled. What makes it different from all the rest is that it can be recycled over and over again without losing its performance and inherent properties. This is referred to as indefinite recycling or multicycling. Steel will always have a value and none of it will ever be disposed of intentionally to a landfill.

Indeed, the sustainability benefits of steel make your steel building a very valuable investment, from its construction to its demolition.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Steel Building benefits | 8 Comments »

Hybrid Steel Buildings for Design Flexibility

Sunday, May 30th, 2010

Steel buildings are not only strong and sturdy structures but they can actually be customized to provide hundreds of thousands of different possible designs. Steel buildings can be highly flexible in the aspect of design and sky is the limit for the creativity involving steel buildings and the design aspects. You can get some really amazing and aesthetic designs with steel buildings, depending on the purpose of your building. If you are interested in some great designs for your building, then you should consider hybrid steel buildings.

Hybrid buildings combine both steel and wood to gain from both these widely used construction materials and get the best of both worlds. Hybrid buildings can look just like any traditional building but at a fraction of the cost and they can include many more desirable features. By combining both metal and wood, one can get a strong sturdy structure with finer details made of wood in the traditional form. Hybrid steel buildings can also save a lot on the construction costs.

Hybrid steel buildings also provide a lot of flexibility in the building requirements. Every building has its own unique purpose and requirements and if you talk with your steel contractor about hybrid buildings, he should be able to help you out to design the right hybrid structure. Hybrid structures combine harmoniously the design and engineering aspects of construction, thus never having to compromise on the structure for the design aspect of the building. This helps hybrid buildings provide a great way for buildings that are both internally strong and externally beautiful.

Hybrid buildings have been adopted by some very good developers and many big companies that require precisely these qualities of strength and aesthetics combined. The great flexibility is only the icing on the cake so you can design the perfect building you have always wanted.

Tags: ,
Posted in Steel Building benefits | 8 Comments »

How Steel Buildings Help Save Money

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

Steel buildings are not only great structures from a functional and aesthetic point of view but also go easy on your pocket. The cost of a steel building can be quite significantly less than a conventional building of similar dimensions and utility. From afar, it is almost impossible tell them apart. In addition, steel buildings are environmentally friendly, take minimum time and labor to erect and can be highly pleasing to look at with a great degree of aesthetic beauty incorporated in them.

When you go in for prefabricated steel buildings, the cost decreases even further owing to machine automated manufacturing processes. In addition, these buildings have a very low cost of maintenance. Steel buildings are also good on the energy front, and you can save money for your heating and cooling costs. Simple insulations with your steel building can prove to be very effective against temperature fluctuation outside. They also allow for a number of architectural elements to be incorporated, like skylights that can help save a lot of money in the long run. Thus steel buildings not only are good during the construction process but also for long term building maintenance.

In addition, steel is very easily recycled, so if you no longer need your building, you can always recycle it. Paints for steel buildings are quite cheap and help give a great artistic and aesthetic look to your building while also preventing rust and other wear and tear over the years.

Steel buildings, especially the prefabricated ones, require very little labor to put them all together. This means you will only end up spending for the transport to your site – the bolting together of the whole structure can simply be done by you. Even if you do require some labor, it is usually cheap and you will require very little number of people.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Steel Building benefits | No Comments »

Why Choose Steel?

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

There are many construction materials out there that you can use to build a building – your home, office, commercial complex or anything. Why then, should you consider steel? Is it just another construction material that is a passing fad or is it here to stay? The answer is, steel is a very fundamental ingredient of all future construction activities, and this is not because it is in vogue today, but because its fundamentals as a construction material are so strong that it is hard, in fact impossible to replace steel. With a plethora of advantages that steel offers, you should definitely consider steel seriously if you are serious about a high quality structure that will stand the test of time.

To see why and how steel forms the basis of strong and sturdy structures is not difficult. It is highly durable and strong, with a high strength to weight ratio. What this means is that to provide a given stability to your structure or building you will need far less quantities of steel than other building material. In addition, you can use a steel to provide for extra strength if you live in an area prone to say cyclones or typhoons. This is not always possible with other construction materials because there is a limit to how much material you can use. However, since a small quantity of steel also provides high strength, a little more can be added to provide the perfect structure that is stable and ready to meet any challenges.

Steel buildings end up being cheaper than almost all other conventional building types. They are easy to maintain and seldom require maintenance. Steel is also very amenable to prefabrication or pre-engineering, which is a way to build faster and efficient structures in the shortest of time frames. Affordability and strength combine to give steel the advantage that other materials can never compete with.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Steel Building benefits | 1 Comment »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »