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METAL BUILDINGS AND THEIR ADVANTAGES
The use of metal for building constructions
Traditionally, wood was the most preferred raw material for building construction. This trend was followed for centuries by construction companies and architectural firms as the availability of wood and lumber was abundant. Over time, however, deforestation and its effects on the environment have changed the way the same construction companies and architectural firms look at raw material for construction. The focus, today, is on constructing sustainable buildings that are environment friendly; buildings that don’t contribute to global warming.
In addition to these environmental causes, there are several personal benefits when choosing metal over conventional raw materials. While brick and concrete also offer strength to the construction, steel offers ease of construction and erection in addition to structure strength. There are also various cost benefits while choosing steel for construction. Let’s look at a few of the prominent ones in detail.
Benefits of steel
Today, steel, with almost a 50% market share in the United States alone, is the most preferred raw material for construction. Its popularity among architectural firms and construction firms is because of the array of benefits that come with this metal.
Durability: Steel is known for its strength. Therefore, using the metal for construction gives durability to the building. With durability also comes their resistance to extreme heat and cold, as well as to other unpredictable changes in climatic conditions. Wood is not known to resist and withstand extreme changes in weather.
Price benefit: While metal buildings may not be extremely cheap compared to conventional buildings, the initial investment made during construction is almost all there is to metal buildings. Maintenance costs are extremely minimal and the initial investment, therefore, remains a one-time investment for a life-long benefit.
Cheap Labor: Most metal buildings use pre-fabricated steel structures that are easily assembled on-site by a maximum of 3 or 4 people. As a result, the labor costs are slashed by a great deal when compared to the labor costs involved in building constructions using traditional building raw materials. The costs for erecting the steel structure are also almost negligible.
Design: Pre-fabricated metal buildings come in standard shapes that can be chosen based on the building’s project plan. If these pre-fabricated structures do not suit the needs and fit within the project’s design, custom fabrication is done on the project site with full supervision by a qualified engineer. With this option, a customer can get the desired building design. There’s almost nothing that cannot be accomplished with metal in building constructions. Due to the metal’s flexibility, there are more advantages than disadvantages.
Wastage: With metal, there’s almost no wastage of material. Any unused material can be melted and remoulded for future use. This is unlike wood where there’s an exorbitant amount of material waste during building construction, and the wasted wood bits cannot be reused in any major constructive way. Because steel is also 100% recyclable, there is no residual waste as well.
While these are just a few, the benefits of steel in building construction are just endless.
