MAKE SURE YOUR STEEL BUILDING STANDS UP TO NATURAL DISASTERS

The year 2017 was hard on everyone. Recovery from hurricanes, wildfires and flooding light gauge steel framing machines are still in progress with more to come. One of the lessons we learn every time a natural disaster hits is that most buildings and homes were never built to withstand extreme events.

Of all the damaged buildings, those made of steel survived the best, but even steel construction can use a little help to remain intact and as undamaged as possible when Mother Nature unleashes her worst.

WHAT WE FACED IN 2017
Beginning with tornado outbreaks in the southern United States in mid-to-late January, extreme weather got off to a roaring start. Not much can withstand a direct hit from a tornado, but your steel building can survive the high winds and flying debris from a relatively near miss if it is built for the weather.

Tornadoes continued to plague the U.S., with outbreaks in the Central/Southeastern states in February and the Midwest in March.
California suffered flooding in February and then wildfires throughout the summer and fall. Other Western states also were hit by wildfires.
Missouri and Arkansas also saw flooding in the late spring while severe storms and hail racked Minnesota and the Upper Midwest, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
A trio of strong Hurricanes — Harvey, Irma and Maria — lashed the Gulf Coast of Texas, the southern tip of Florida and the island of Puerto Rico.
Many of these areas continue to try to recover but the going is slow, and the bill for 2017 has been estimated at more than $306 billion. In addition to past problems, earthquakes are predicted in Southern California this year, and Spring 2018 has dished out everything from blizzards to strong storms with hail, more wildfires and flooding.

Obviously, disasters come with a high cost in human lives, property and cash. Much of this can be mitigated by designing for safety and building with steel.

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MATERIALS AND DESIGN
Commercial grade steel has the highest strength to weight ratio of any traditional construction material. As building codes become more stringent, steel is one of the few materials able to meet the new requirements.


In addition to being the material of choice for building corrugated roll forming machine to withstand natural disasters, steel is also a “green” material that reduces the reliance on less sustainable products that lead to slower construction times.
Steel mills have cut emissions significantly in the past few decades. Producing steel uses less water and emits fewer gasses into the atmosphere than ever before.
Steel is 100% recyclable with no loss of strength. Most existing steel is made of a high percentage of recycled steel, and all steel scrap and waste are returned for recycling during production, construction and demolition.
Building with prefabricated steel structures reduces the construction timeline, reducing emissions from equipment and laborer time onsite.
A well-insulated steel building is energy efficient, using as little as half as much to heat and cool as buildings constructed of other materials.
Replacing lumber with steel means fewer trees are harvested. Since it can take up to 20 years to replace a tree, steel is eminently more sustainable. Leave the trees to soak up the carbon dioxide and furnish oxygen instead of holding up a house.
As a contractor or builder, you can use steel to build to building code-plus. Steel construction more than meets most building codes, providing a higher margin of safety and the potential for less damage.