Energy Efficient: How Your Steel Building Can Help You Reduce Your Energy Costs
Going green doesn’t have to have an expensive price tag, after all!
Sure, steel may be a 100% recyclable material (making it the most recycled material in the world), but beyond taking advantage of it to be cleaner and greener, how can a steel building benefit you and your pocketbook?
Cheaper to Manufacture
While it might not seem readily apparent, the cheaper cost of manufacturing recycled steel is a saving passed on to you as a consumer, resulting in affordable steel building prices. Even though steel production does require energy (what doesn’t?), the innovation within the steel industry has resulted in the energy output to produce steel decreasing by as much as 60% since the 1960s – and it continues to fall as new technologies are created.
Savings in Construction
Prefabricated steel buildings offer additional savings during the construction phase. Since prefab buildings are assembled on-site, only the exact materials needed to erect a building are brought on-site. This reduces waste from sizing materials on-site and reduces construction time, which saves energy consumption.
Additionally, pre-engineered buildings mean that you already know how efficient your building will be when complete. The straight framing frequently used in steel buildings prevents the sagging and warping of the material, increasing the building’s energy efficiency. On top of that, steel is a resistant material, so it is more impervious to weather changes (like fires and floods) and other external forces (like pests). Even regular wear and tear won’t affect steel as much as a wood building since steel is a durable material, resulting in reduced future costs on repair, maintenance, and replacements.
Savings to Your Energy Bill
Most importantly, the resulting economical steel building will give you long-term savings on your energy bill. Steel is an excellent insulator for heat and cold since it has a high R-value (a measure of a material’s resistance to heat flow), allowing the property to retain heat in the winter and reduce heat in the summer. Working with steel also offers numerous options for additional insulation, such as glass wool, mineral wool, spray foam, and polyisocyanurate rigid board insulation.
You can also improve your energy savings by including solar panels or a cool metal roof on your building. Cool metal roofs, which slow the transfer of heat, can even result in a 30% reduction in heat gain through the roof. Even without this, steel buildings are the obvious choice for reducing energy costs since minimal energy is lost through holes or gaps in the building material (like wood), and there are more options for regulating indoor temperature.
Want to know what else goes into a budget for a steel building? Check out this interview with Metal Structure Concepts owner Steve Ivanitz: Cost Factors for Pre-Engineered Steel Buildings.
Metal Structure Concepts has been designing and constructing steel buildings across Canada for over 20 years. From retail spaces to warehouses to wineries (and more), we are the experts for your next project. Contact us today to get a free quote.