Environmental Benefits of Steel Buildings

As steel construction is rapidly gaining traction as the way to go for businesses looking to expand or build extensions. There are so many varied benefits of steel construction from speed of assembly to low disturbance of ongoing operations to protection against the elements and cost. But here we are going to take a look at how steel buildings can help raise your environmentally friendly profile and represent the greenest viable option.

Steel construction is great in the way that it yields very minimal amounts of waste. This is because before construction begins materials can be ordered and manufactured to incredibly precise specifications. This is in stark contrast to wooden and stone buildings. If you look further down the line it is also well worth noting that steel frames are usually 100% recyclable. In fact, in the UK 96% of steel construction components are recycled. And it’s not a onetime opportunity either. The vast majority of steel construction components offer endless recycling opportunities into the future, without suffering degradation.

The fact that steel framed structures are a great deal lighter than their concrete counterparts means that less extensive foundations are required, dramatically reducing the environmental impact of building them. Assuming that steel pile foundations are chosen it is even possible to extract these and recycle them if and when the building’s life comes to an end. Also, because steel structures are significantly lighter than concrete equivalents, they require less extensive foundations, which reduces the environmental impact of the build. If steel pile foundations are used, these can be extracted and recycled or reused at the end of a building’s life, leaving no waste material on site.

Once your steel building is complete you will benefit from great improvements in the sealing around your windows and doors, thus boosting thermal regulation. In real terms this will reduce the amount of heat lost and improve cooling in the summer. This reduces the need for electric or gas heating and air conditioning not to mention creating a quieter and happier workplace. The use of cool coatings on steel buildings, which are added to the exterior, also yield substantial environmental and cost-saving benefits. The reflective quality of the building is enhanced, which reduces the need for air conditioning in summer and also reduces the common phenomenon known as the ‘urban heat island.’ This happens with traditionally built constructions as heat is stored in the roof surface and at night radiates back up into the atmosphere, affecting global warming. With steel buildings the heat is reflected back up during the day allowing night time temperatures to reduce.

Because of many of these factors, steel framed construction has gained a lot of industry and governmental support. Owing to this a great number of parts in the supply chain for steel framed buildings including raw materials, steel manufacturers, contractors and surface coating manufacturers have earned ISO 14001[3] environmental management systems accreditation. In addition, steelwork contractors are increasingly earning accreditation to BES 6001[4], which is the BRE’s framework standard for the responsible sourcing of all materials and products related to construction.