5 Reasons why Steel Buildings Are Eco-Friendly
Steel is becoming an increasingly popular material to be used during construction of modern homes. In addition to being trendy, steel homes come with a plethora of benefits that would meet any and all needs of an eco-conscious home owner.
Looking to buy a steel home? Here are 5 reasons why Steel Buildings are eco-friendly and the right choice going forward.
1. Recycling and Waste Reduction during Construction
In a steel home, every piece of manufactured steel is engineered, created and delivered with a purposeful destination. It is custom designed to fit your home’s structure, meaning that there is no steel “waste” produced onsite. In contrast, wood, the traditional method used to frame homes, arrives in bundles on site and is cut as needed, leaving an excessive amount of scrap wood pieces in the dumpster.
Steel is one of the most recyclable and reusable materials in the construction industry. Steel’s strength does not wear down, creep or buckle and can easily be repurposed for other projects. It is also 98% recyclable, placing it at the epitome of environmentally-conscious building frame materials.
2. Reduction in Energy Costs for Your Home
Steel, being one of the strongest possible materials to use for your home, can support thicker layers of insulation without compromising structural integrity. With thicker insulation, homes don’t lose as much heat (or cool in the summer!) and this cuts costs on your home energy bill. You can set your home’s heat to a lower temperature than usual, as accounting for heat loss through your home isn’t a necessity. An insulated steel home can save you at least 30% off your energy bill.
3. Further Energy Saving with Solar
If saving energy due to your home’s superior insulation wasn’t enough, be mindful of the fact that steel frame homes are amazingly strong and can support solar panels without a problem. Solar panels add value to your home while reducing your energy bill, since you are creating your own! A typical return on investment for a solar panel is 15-20% and the investment continues to grow as energy is becoming more and more costly (SunPower, 2016), not to mention the sense of security knowing that your home will be able to support these panels indefinitely.
4. Environmental Resistance
Steel is amazing for many reasons – but where it showcases most of its benefits is in its complete inability to allow mold to grow. Steel frame homes do not require any type of special treatments to prevent mold, decay or insect infestation. Steel cannot absorb moisture and therefore cannot host any bacteria that would compromise the health of the home’s habitants.
Steel is also extremely resistant to natural occurrences such as snowstorms, earthquakes and floods. Steel homes have been known to resist earthquakes of a magnitude up to 7.9 on the Richter scale. As for floods, BONE Structure ensures that its shell components are made of flood damage-resistant materials. As water damage is the primary contaminant in a home after a flood, having components such as steel which do not promote mold growth lessens the proliferation of mold entering the home. By creating homes resistant to various environmental effects, they are able to thrive for centuries.
5. Meeting Green Building Codes and Standards
The knowledge that your future home will be durable is guaranteed with a steel-framed home. Its unparalleled structural strength, reduced maintenance costs, environmental resistance and recyclability indicate that your steel home has a guaranteed return on investment. The traditional wood-frame homes, that North America continues to build, are not in the environmental direction that this industry needs to be heading.
Cold-formed steel is positioned to meet the highest sustainability standards as it is recognized in all major green building and rating programs, including the National Green Building Standard for residential buildings and the US Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program. Steel has always been easily recycled into new studs, joists and other components used in construction of new buildings. Notably, steel is the only building material with an automatic default value for recycled content in the LEED program (Steel Framing Alliance, 2016), making it more sustainable than wood.
Steel-framed homes are incomparable and they are a leader in the environmentally conscious age in which the construction industry is starting to grow towards.
