The popularity of Houston metal buildings continues to grow. Just one reason is that steel is so versatile and can be used for many different types of structures, including shopping malls, commercial office buildings and even sports stadiums.
Another reason for the increasing interest in steel is that it is flexible. This means that contractors can create a space that can be upgraded or modernized whenever the need arises without destroying the building and starting over. Along with practicality, steel buildings offer people many other benefits as well.
Steel Is 100 Percent Recyclable
One great thing about steel is that every ounce of it can be recycled, and this can be done repeatedly without any detrimental effects on its properties. Unlike with other substances, steel remains just as strong and durable as it was before the recycling process. Therefore, people can demolish a steel building, recycle it and create another product that is entirely different.
Recycled steel saves forests because builders use less wood when constructing commercial steel buildings. Also, since steel is 100 percent recycled, it is never thrown into a landfill, so this space can be reserved for the things that really need it.
Steel Buildings Remain Standing during Extreme Circumstances
Steel buildings are so strong that they can resist extreme earthquakes and weather. When other buildings are turning to rubble around them, commercial steel buildings survive most of the time. Therefore, clean up crews do not have anything to throw into the landfills like they do with other buildings.
Cool Coating Can Be Used on Steel Buildings
Contractors also make use of industrial painting, and it is another way that steel benefits the environment. Painters add what is known as “cool coating” to the outside of steel buildings that increases the building’s ability to reflect the sun’s rays. Because of this, people inside steel buildings do not need to use their air conditioners as often during the summer.
When cool coating is also added to the roof, steel buildings do not experience what is known as “urban heat island.” Other buildings store heat from the sun on the surface of the roof. When the sun goes down, the heat must rise, and this prevents the location’s night air from cooling down as much as it ordinarily would. Therefore, urban heat island is a contributor to global warming, but steel buildings reduce this phenomenon because cool coating causes the heat to rise during the day.
Sustainability
Steel is not just environmentally friendly; it is also sustainable. For example, contractors can construct a steel edifice in much less time than they can build other types of structures. The pieces of steel come ready to be put into place as if they were a jigsaw puzzle. This reduces the amount of resources required to create a steel building as well as time.
Steel is also adaptable. This means that if you need to extend the building’s length, you can easily do this by taking off the ends and replacing them with extra panels.
Steel Buildings Require Smaller Foundations
A foundation contractor knows that the foundation of a building is a large part of the overall cost of construction. Therefore, the contractor is aware that lighter foundations will lower these costs. By using steel, contractors can build smaller foundations and spend a lot less money doing so. This is because the load that is imposed by a steel frame is about 50 percent less than the load imposed by concrete alternatives.
Steel is no longer known as the cold unnatural substance people believed it to be in the past. The fact is that only 1 percent of the world’s steel is ever placed in a landfill, so its ability to protect the environment only improves its reputation.