Steel buildings no longer need to look like big, boring boxes, unless you want them to.
No other product matches its durability, flexibility and design options
Today, metal building systems are being designed to meet a variety of styles and uses. Metal can be shaped, texturized and colored in endless combinations to create whatever you and your customers can dream up. Time has shown that metal buildings meet the highest standards when it comes to durability, protection from the elements and even pest infestations.
The Best Choice
There are many reasons why metal buildings remain the best choice for commercial and municipal applications. Designers and architects looking for a cost-effective way to create a custom building that will stand the test of time are finding metal building systems can meet all of their exacting needs.
Building to meet specific needs is achieved by working with architects and engineers to ensure building code compliance while building components are fabricated in modern facilities following OSHA Safety Standards and IAS Accredited Quality Control Programs. Those of us in the industry know with superior design and construction the life span of a metal building can reach 50 years or more.
The best metal building systems are fabricated within a highly controlled environment, where all processes have been tested, retested and assessed for maximum effectiveness. From the primary framing to the panels for walls and roofs, its designed to be assembled quickly and smoothly on a foundation with anchor rods. Color, coatings and substrates are an important part of production that impact both the final visual appeal of a metal building as well as its durability. The variety of accessories, from doors and windows with custom trim to skylights, vents and louvres, even the insulation and sealants are designed to work seamlessly together. Your customers’ imagination is about the only limitation to what can be created using steel.
Imagine a building material so strong municipalities around the country are using it to build storm shelters to protect their citizens during tornado or hurricane warnings. Fire stations and public schools require the cost efficiencies of metal buildings on top of the reliable protection from the occasional wind or ice storm, hurricane or high winds for first responders and local children. We also know just how well protected a metal building’s interior is for saving contents from day-to-day challenges such as pest infestations, mold, mildew and rot.
Metal Building System Advantages
• Steel has highest strength to weight ratio of any construction material. Metal building systems add strength without additional weight.
• Steel is the most recycled material in the world. More than 80 million tons of steel are recycled annually. Steel can be recycled endlessly without sacrificing integrity or strength.
• Metal building systems can be designed to meet any local building code or energy code and have strength to resist snow loads, wind loads, and seismic loads in any location.
• If lightning strikes a steel building or roof the damage—including to electronics—is minimized because the lower electrical resistance of steel spreads the heat of strike out along roof and walls to be grounded in the earth.
• Steel has less required maintenance, saving time and money over the life cycle of a building.
Steel frames and panels are so strong that top aircraft industry professionals trust it to house their most valuable assets. Major manufacturers depend on steel buildings to store important equipment and supplies. Self storage solutions absolutely require steel to create the places people keep valuables, memories and heirlooms. Big box retailers rely on metal building systems to facilitate rapid growth across markets. No other product can match the durability, flexibility and design options of metal building systems.
David Robinson is vice president of sales at Whirlwind Steel Buildings and Components, Houston. To learn more, visit www.whirlwindsteel.com or call (800) 324-9992.
