Over the last few years, we have seen significant signs of improvement of the economy. And as the economy continues to improve and companies are starting to build again, we are starting to see more complex buildings being built. Pre-engineered metal buildings are pushing the boundaries of design and becoming more prevalent in schools, churches, offices and even car dealerships.
New technologies are driving increasingly sophisticated designs for pre-engineered metal buildings
“Clients are looking for a more sophisticated building,” says Craig Jewett, president of Jewett Construction Co. Inc., Raymond, N.H. “We’re seeing, even in manufacturing and storage facilities, more architecturally pleasing buildings than we have in the past. We are putting a lot of natural light into facilities that we haven’t in the past. Not only are our customers having to put a better looking building together so their team members and employees want to come to work, but municipalities are requiring it of us now, more and more for approvals.”
Wes Brooker, manager of marketing, American Buildings Co. (ABC), Eufaula, Ala., a Nucor company, agrees, saying the capabilities of metal building design and construction has improved significantly. “Large projects previously assumed to be the domain of conventional construction are being produced efficiently and erected faster than conventional,” he says.
When the economy crashed, Brooker says the industry had to find something to sell, engineer, detail and manufacture just to stay in business. “For example,” he says, “although schools were never considered a good application for metal building construction, when that was all that was really available, the industry figured out how to do it and do it well. Transportation facilities such as aircraft hangars are another example.”
Photos, from top: Courtesy of Varco Pruden Buildings, Varco Pruden Buildings, Butler Manufacturing, American Buildings Co.
Photo courtesy of Varco Pruden Buildings
Recent Changes
One of the changes in recent years is the use of longer spans. With buildings getting larger, Harry Yeatman, vice president, Butler Manufacturing, Kansas City, Mo., says customers are demanding more usable space. “We’ve seen a focus on a larger base, so you can reduce columns and create usable space inside the building,” he explains. “The industry is focused on creating more space with less columns, using the spanning characteristics of our products.”
The ability to produce longer spans means metal buildings can be used in projects such as football practice facilities, multi-rink hockey arenas, tennis facilities, trash-to-cash recycling and large churches.
Arthur E. Hance, president of Hance Construction Inc., Washington, N.J., says his company is combining different building technologies with traditional metal building components, as well as introducing new energy and sustainability features. Recent projects have included structural insulated panels, daylighting components, continuous insulation (CI) wall assemblies and conventionally detailed steel within metal building projects. Additionally, Jewett says almost all of their metal building projects are clad with insulated metal panels.
Energy Codes
Building owners today are more concerned with energy efficiency and total building operation costs than ever before. Jim Peckham, marketing manager at Varco Pruden Buildings, Memphis, Tenn., says the growth of green and sustainable expectations are requiring buildings to be smarter, while Yeatman adds that customers are focused on how to reduce the cost to own and operate the building over its lifetime.
The biggest code changes have been in the energy sector, which Yeatman says is driving the industry to be more innovative on how it approaches energy efficiency. “It’s important to provide an energy-efficient building, but it’s also important to be able to prove that it’s energy efficient,” he explains.
Photo courtesy of Butler Manufacturing
According to Brooker, energy codes have become more and more challenging with unprecedented R values and U factors being required to meet codes. “In many cases, these demands have forced wall and roof design assemblies to meet more stringent requirements,” he says.
“Energy codes are forcing our industry to be more proactive in developing alternatives to meet the market demand for higher energy efficiency,” says Peckham. “This is leading to improved insulation options for roof and wall systems.”
Daylighting
Daylighting is another factor being addressed by state energy codes to reduce energy consumption due to lighting energy consumption in nonresidential buildings. “Properly daylit buildings can repay installation cost quickly-often in less than two years,” says Brooker. “Daylighting can be installed in buildings to replace electric lighting for 1/20 of the cost of enough solar photovoltaic (PV) panels to generate an equivalent amount of electricity using the same sun at the same high energy demand times of the day.”
The technology of putting daylighting into standing seam roofs has gotten significantly better over the years. “Those options allow the customer to maintain the weathertight integrity of the roof, but also allows them to generate a higher quality diffused light, and you get more light earlier in the day and later in the day,” Yeatman explains.
By putting more daylighting into a building, Yeatman says you’re generally able to operate that building much of the day without any electric light on, and that significantly reduces the energy cost for the building over the course of the year and the life span of the building.
Photo courtesy of American Buildings Co.
BIM Software
Building information modeling (BIM) is being used more often as metal building designs become more complex. Brooker notes that BIM is easier to achieve with metal building construction because the manufacturers control the entire shell of the building, requiring only one model for the structure, roof and walls. “In conventional construction, an architect or engineer needs to coordinate four to six or more trades and their related, often incompatible, software to achieve the same result,” he says. “A single erector using BIM models can erect a building faster and more efficiently than multiple trades doing the same thing.”
“Many of our design teams now employ BIM modeling and the manufacturer we work with now has the tools to seamlessly design traditional metal building systems combined with conventional steel fabrication,” says Hance.
According to Peckham, market demand is the main reason, along with technology, that has helped the metal building industry to grow and be able to provide competitive solutions for more complex projects. “Buildings are able to include more architectural features and provide competitive, architecturally appealing solutions to a wider selection of end-use applications,” he says.
The Future of Design
As the economy continues to evolve, so will the metal building industry. And as the metal building industry continues to address increasingly complex projects, Hance says he believes there will be more of a blurring between the distinction of metal buildings and conventional buildings. “I expect our pricing and design systems/process will become more robust and interactive with the manufacturers design teams in the quest to move from budgets to building orders more quickly,” he adds.
Yeatman believes buildings will be smarter and more optimized, both from a structural and energy efficiency point of view, as the architectural and engineering community owners become more sophisticated. “Owners and facility managers will have the ability and the power to compare and identify the options that best suit their needs, based on a variety of factors, whether it be base spacing or mod spacing or the energy efficiency they want to achieve for their building so they can lower their energy costs,” he explains. “This will empower them to demand even more from their buildings, which I believe will help our industry innovate for the future.”
While technology continues to make materials better and building smarter, Peckham says this will allow the metal building industry to compete for a larger share of the general construction market, regardless of the building’s end-use.