Driving into downtown Cleveland on a cold December evening takes me past an iconic landmark from the city’s industrial past. Just west of I-77 and east of the Cuyahoga River sits the massive 870-acre Cleveland Steel Works. The twin blast furnaces have been making steel for more than 150 years and the site has changed hands many times over those years.
Though the ownership has changed, one holiday tradition that has not, for at least the last 50 years, is hanging the glowing star between the twin smokestacks that tower over the site. The star is a beloved Cleveland tradition and a reminder the U.S. steel industry is strong and healthy.
That is not to say the industry is free from challenges. In fact, basic oxygen furnaces like the two at Cleveland Steel Works represent older, less energy-efficient technology. These older U.S. mills have made great strides introducing new technology to produce cleaner steel, but the cleanest steel is produced with new electric arc furnaces, which have made the U.S. steel industry among the cleanest in the world. As a result, steel building products, up to and including complete metal building systems, can meet the sustainability requirements that are focusing more on reducing embodied carbon in our building materials.
Standards issues
In October 2023, the metal construction industry faced a new challenge. The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) announced it would discontinue its standards development activities at the end of 2023. AISI publishes 31 standards, including S100, North American Specification for the Design of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members, which is used widely in the metal construction industry.
However, the industry has met this challenge head on with associations like the Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA), Metal Construction Association (MCA), Steel Deck Institute (SDI), American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), and others stepping up to ensure the continuation of these important documents. Since the SDI is already an American National Standards Institute- (ANSI-) accredited standards organization, they are taking the lead to temporarily host the AISI standards, which are ANSI certified, until a permanent home and solution is determined.
Metal shining bright
As I traveled around the country and the world in 2023, representing the members of MBMA and the metal building systems industry, I encountered much to be optimistic about. I saw record attendance at numerous industry events such as METALCON, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) national conference, the North American Steel Construction Conference (NASCC), and just about every MBMA committee and general meeting. The MBMA/MBCEA (Metal Building Contractors & Erectors Association) spring meeting in Nashville, Tenn., was a huge success, eclipsed only by the three Taylor Swift concerts in the city that same week.
Along with the MBMA board, I visited the U.S. Steel Research and Technology Center where they are developing the next generation of American-made steel products. While attending the FIFA World Cup in New Zealand and Australia last summer, I visited New Zealand’s largest metal building company and saw firsthand the robust metal construction industry in Oceania.
Also in 2023, MBMA launched its new video series, Travels with Tony, which gave me the opportunity to visit cool metal buildings around the country and show the design community the flexibility and creativity possible with metal building systems. In fact, our first video in that series, featuring the Houston event venue Starshine Texas, has now been viewed on YouTube more than 36,000 times.
In 2023, MBMA members opened six new manufacturing plants and launched dozens of innovative new products. Metal construction benefited greatly from the Inflation Reduction Act, which provided generous incentives for clean energy manufacturing and construction. The onshoring trend continued as U.S. manufacturers saw the value of keeping their supply chains closer to home.
My travel schedule remains busy in 2024, with presentations at several MBMA-member builder meetings in February and March. These collaborations ensure the entire industry is working toward a common goal.
MBMA’s initiatives
In April, MBMA will host its fifth annual Architectural Faculty Workshop. We have found these workshops to be an excellent grassroots conduit for educating educators on the benefits of metal building systems. In June, MBMA will be exhibiting for the first time ever at the annual AIA national conference. The conference is the country’s largest gathering of practicing architects and is a great opportunity for us to continue to preach the gospel of metal construction to the design community.
In the second half of the year, MBMA will be hosting our annual Design Seminar, Energy and Sustainability Committee Meeting, and Safety Workshop. Our annual association meeting takes place this December in beautiful Savannah, Ga. A robust and active association is a sign of a robust and active industry.
The state of the metal construction industry is good.
Tony Bouquot is the general manager of the Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA). He leads MBMA in its mission to provide research, leadership, and education that increases the prominence and use of metal building systems.
