Sustainable construction practices are needed more than ever at this time because of the environmental concerns we’re grappling with. Steel buildings are known for their sustainability and this has prompted many construction projects that try to reduce their environmental impact.
The main reason
That steel buildings are known for their sustainability is because of their recyclability. It can be complexly recycled without any effect to its quality or strength. Once the building’s life cycle is completed, the components of true lightweight steel framing can be repurposed so that you don’t need to look for new raw materials. This will have a big effect in decreasing the energy consumption. As you are not producing new material, the greenhouse gases emitted is significantly less when you choose the recycling option. Steel buildings can easily made to be energy efficient. You can go for larger window openings and have open floor plans so that the natural sunlight coming into the building can be maximised. This will reduce the need for artificial lighting during the daytime. You can use insulation materials to improve the thermal properties of steel so that energy used for heating and cooling can be reduced. When you construct an energy efficient building, the operations costs for the building will go down and this will contribute to a lower carbon footprint.
There is a high level of efficiency and precision in steel fabrication.
When it comes to traditional building materials such as timber and concrete, there is a lot of waste produced and at the end of construction, you will need to dispose of a certain volume of material. But there is very little waste created at the end of steel fabrication. You can actually manufacture the steel components offsite in a controlled environment so that the quality of the components can be maintained at a high level. And once these are fabricated, the steel members can be delivered to the site, ready to be assembled. This contributes to the reduction of construction waste and the building process will have a reduced environmental impact.
Steel is known for its longevity and durability.
They also have a high resistance to pests, decay and corrosion. All of this contributes to a material that requires little maintenance over time along with reduced repairs. As you don’t need to carry out frequent renovations or replacements, you will be able to conserve resources so that any waste can be reduced as a result. Steel allows for a high level of flexibility as well so that you can easily modify or add an expansion to an existing building. You will not need to carry out extensive reconstruction for this. This means you will have a building that stays functional for a longer time so that you don’t need to do major changes. There are also sustainable design practise that can be incorporated into steel construction such as the use of renewable energy sources, design of green roofs and installation of efficient HVAC systems. You can easily integrate these sustainable features to the steel building.
