While I was picking my daughter up at the gym the other night, it dawned on me that we have spent countless hours in metal buildings over the past 7 years. With approximately 400 hours of practice per year times nearly 7 years plus gym meets, we are talking nearly 3000 hours! Then I began to realize that these metal buildings are everywhere and truly woven into people’s everyday lives. From gymnasiums, churches and schools, to sports arenas, warehouses, airplane hangars, and retail infrastructures (cue: Amazon distribution centers) … so for Magnificent Metal Monday today, let’s explore what makes these metal structures so functional.

METAL BUILDINGS PROJECTS: 5 KEY BENEFITS OF BUILDING WITH METAL

According to a blog post by Whirlwind Steel, “Steel is the ideal construction medium for warehouses and other industrial buildings for a variety of reasons. In addition to being economical and durable, steel also provides the simplest solution for building designs requiring large expanses of open space as well as significant design flexibility.” They go on to outline five key advantages including cost efficiency, durability, clear span-ability, flexible design options, and eco-friendly.

From a cost-effective standpoint, there is a faster design and build process, lowered labor costs and reduced maintenance costs. The building is typically pre-engineered and fabricated with ready-to-erect building components that are shipped directly to a job site, thereby reducing construction timelines by as much as 30-50% and lowering overall labor costs. Once constructed, building owners save significantly on general maintenance, repairs and replacements over the course of the building’s lifetime. High-quality metal roofs and exterior panels can last upward of 50 years and threats of fire, pests and building rot are dramatically minimized when compared with wood and other organic building materials.

Ever wonder why communities turn to their steel-framed sports arenas, schools and other municipal buildings when they need disaster evacuation centers? Steel’s strong durability makes it resistant to many of the typical threats experienced by wood, such as rot, mold, mildew, pests and fire and is also more resistant to wind, heavy snow loads and seismic activity.

Green buildings are increasingly in demand by both building owners as well as the customers that purchase their products/services. Steel is an inherently sustainable and eco-friendly building product due to the fact that it utilizes recycled materials during the production phase and is 100% recyclable at the end of its lifetime. Other factors that make steel metal buildings “green,” include: cool metal roofing products, vapor barriers, insulation, and that metal roofs are primed and ready to house a solar array.

METAL BUILDING INSULATION CODE COMPLIANCE SESSION WILL BE OFFERED AT METALCON 2019

A critical step in constructing these metal structures is staying current on insulation code compliance, air barriers and thermal buildings. A special 3-hour session titled, “NIA’s Metal Building Insulation Code Compliance, Air Barriers & Thermal Buildings” will be offered at METALCON 2019 on Wednesday, October 16, 2019 from 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM. Bill Beals, District Manager with Therm-All, Inc. and Brad Heffelmire, MBI Technical Manager with Lamtec Corporation will present the session in three parts including: Air Barriers, Roof and Wall Envelopes, and Navigating Energy Code Compliance. REGISTER FOR METALCON 2019 TODAY and take advantage of this key learning opportunity.

Being completely up-to-date on this topic is as functional and practical as these metal metal buildings are to everyday life.