5 Reasons Steel Buildings Are Environmentally-Friendly Structures

Steel-framed buildings are gaining popularity in residential homes as well as industrial building projects.

This material comes with a lot of benefits and is incredibly environmentally friendly.

If you are tossing around the idea of designing and erecting a steel structured building, you should do your homework on why this material is the right choice for your next project.

In this blog, we discuss five ways steel buildings are some of the most eco-friendly structures.

1. Steeling Buildings Produce Lower Construction Waste 

Steel structures are pre-engineered and created with the purpose of shorter construction timeframes and less waste.

Using pre-fabricated steel material streamlines the erection process, cuts down on construction time and reduces energy consumption due to less machinery being required on the job site.

Since steel buildings are custom-designed, there is little to no leftover materials after construction is completed.

This is a great breath of fresh air since wood material is cut on-site and as needed, which leaves behind a large amount of waste.

In comparison, wood can have up to 20% waste on a job site, while steel has roughly 2%. 

Steel is one of the most recyclable building materials (at 98%), and it can be recycled over and over again, which is an excellent showcase of its lifecycle efficiency it has. 

The recyclable capabilities of the material make steel one of the most environmentally-friendly building materials used today.

2. Metal Buildings Reduce Overall Energy Costs

Steel is one of the most durable building materials in the world, as long as you aren't counting exotic metals like titanium. 

As a strong material, steel is able to support thicker layers of insulation without the structural integrity of the building being compromised. Thicker insulation ensures that your building does not let out air conditioning in the summer or heat in the winter.

Since you are not losing temperature (whether cold or hot), that means you will spend less money on your energy bill.

Read How Steel Prices Affect Your Metal Building Price.

3. Solar Power Options Are Easy to Add-on

With your steel building supporting thick layers of insulation, you can also add on more weight with solar panels.

Solar panels help to reduce your energy bill because you are creating your own energy. 

If you have a granular-coated or pre-painted metal roof on top of your steel structure, the solar energy that is created will be reflected and re-emit solar heat, which helps with further energy savings on heating and cooling costs.

Your metal roof makes it easy to implement solar energy, geothermal heat pumps, wind turbines, and other energy-efficient elements that are eco-friendly.

4. Steel Buildings Last For A Long Time

Steel buildings are eco-friendly structures that require the least amount of renovations or lifetime maintenance. 

Pre-engineered steel buildings are designed to withstand a wide variety of natural elements such as high winds, earthquakes, heavy snow, rainfall, and more.

Steel building, vs wood buildings, are resistant to termites and other destructive insects.

Steel is a noncombustible material, which means that it is not susceptible to catching on fire when subjected to extreme heat.

All of these resistant characteristics show that steel-structured buildings have a lot of strength and durability to enable them to last for a long time.

5. Steel Buildings Meet "Green Building" Standards and Codes

It is no secret that a steel framed building is durable and able to withstand many destructive elements.

The structural strength paired with low maintenance efforts and energy efficient capabilities prove that you will have a high return on the monetary investment you put into your metal building.

Steel buildings have grown in popularity because of their ability to meet the green building codes and sustainability standards.

As more and more cities start requiring sustainable green standards for new construction projects, steel continues to grow in popularity.

This material meets the requirements for the country's leading green construction agencies: LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program by the US Green Building Council and the National Green Building Program.

These programs are used for commercial and residential projects alike.

These five reasons seem to make choosing steel as the structural component in your next building project the obvious choice. 

Start Your Metal Building Project Today!

With all of these environmentally-friendly reasons that confirm how steel is a great material to build with, what is holding you back from starting your next steel structured building project?

The professional engineers and contractors at CDMG are here to help from conception to design and development to erection of your custom-made steel building.

If you are ready to jumpstart your next project and build an eco-friendly steel building, give CDMG a call or click the button below to speak with one of our sales representatives today! 

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Original blog post was published here.