Belize LifeStyle Homes

Recycled and Recyclable – Steel Closes The Loop on the way toward More Sustainable Construction: (View Document)

There is much to talk about in construction today, but no subject is more compelling and will instigate more widespread change in the next few years than "green building". Recently defined and thoroughly analyzed in Building Design and Construction’s (BDC) "White Paper on Sustainability", green building is "the practice of 1) increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use energy, water, and materials, and 2) reducing building impacts on human health and the environment, through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal – the complete building life cycle."

 

Let’s take a step back to see how steel qualifies as a recycled and recyclable building material. The Steel Recycling Institute reports over 70 million tons of steel were recycled or exported for recycling in 2002. Steel, the world’s most recycled material, has been recycled in North America for over 150 years, through 1,800 scrap processors and 12,000 auto dismantlers.

 

JUST THE FACTS:

• Each year, the North American steel industry recycles millions of tons of steel scrap from recycled cans, appliances, automobiles, and construction materials. This scrap is re-melted to produce new steel.

• 64% of all steel products are recycled – more than any other material in the U.S. including glass, paper, plastic and aluminum, combined.

• Steel recycling programs reduce the solid waste stream, resulting in saved landfill space, and help to conserve our natural resources.

• Steel recycling saves the energy equivalent of electrical power for about one-fifth of U.S. households (or about 18 million homes) for one year.

• Every ton of recycled steel saves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal, and 120 pounds of limestone.

• All light gauge steel framing contains a minimum of 25% recycled steel.

At a glance, the major environmental benefits of steel framing include: a 25% minimum recycled content and 100% recyclability; minimal job site waste due to standard quality (2% for steel vs. 20% for wood); life cycle energy savings due to the air tightness of the structure; and a long structure life reducing the need for future building resources (zero depletion of iron resources). If we examine the total life cycle assessment, regarding energy consumption, steel does not rely on "recycled content" purchasing to incorporate or drive scrap use. It already happens because economically, it is cheaper to use recycled steel than to mine virgin ore and move it through the process of making new steel.

Visit the Steel Recycling Institute Website

 

Structural Steel Homes: Corrosion Protection for Life (View Reference Document)

Residential homes are one of the few necessities that consumers expect to last a lifetime or more. It is critical therefore, that a home's framing material perform its function for as long as other critical components such as the roof structure, exterior and interior wall coverings, and flooring. To last a lifetime, cold-formed steel framing needs proper corrosion protection. Galvanizing has proven to be the most economical and effective way to protect steel. All steel framing materials used in residential construction can be effectively protected by a galvanized coating.

 

Building Mold-Resistant Structures with Steel (View Reference Document)

Danger lurks in buildings, where moisture can penetrate and accumulate on mold-susceptible materials. In this environment, mold spores can readily feed on nutrient sources and grow to adversely affect the air we breathe - inside the building. While exposure to mold and resulting health effects are not well documented, the understanding that mold and mycotoxins can help trigger illnesses ranging from allergies to lung cancer among inhabitants is clear. Consequently, this highly controversial subject continues to instigate increasing litigation, insurance rates, health care costs, not to mention huge remediation costs and loss of income. What we are left with is not only a massive clean-up, but a massive public outcry for better constructed buildings. Bottom line: If we build mold-resistant structures, we will live and work in healthier environments. Doing that must be practical and economically feasible, using the knowledge and technology we have today. Structures must be built so that there is adequate ventilation, while allowing for controlled environments inside the building to be safe and energy efficient. Buildings must also be constructed to prevent the infiltration of water, by resisting sagging and other structural changes that may produce cracks and crevices in the building envelope. And, the construction industry should use materials that limit the sources of food for mold.

 

Steel framing is one important way to build homes and non-residential buildings that can help resist the onset and growth of mold. Steel framing members are dimensionally straight and connected mechanically (screwed vs. nailed) offering a tight envelope with no nail pops or drywall cracks (e.g. where the roof meets the walls). Thus, the building structure is a stronger and more resilient. Ventilation is efficiently built into the design, and energy efficiency is maintained or increased due to steel’s inorganic properties. Moisture does not get into steel studs, substantially eliminating the expansion and contraction of construction materials around windows and doors, where leaks can occur. And steel does not provide a food source for mold to grow. With steel framing technology, building components are often built off-site, in a controlled environment, and then erected on the job site. Processes of building with steel framing have become so efficient and economically feasible that builders are choosing to use steel alone or with other building components such as wood, cement, insulated concrete forms, among others. Because steel is non-combustible, not to mention mold-resistant structures, it enjoys a majority of the market share in interior walls in non-residential construction, and recent significant increases in floors and walls in residential construction. As we get smarter in building design and construction, uses of light gauge steel framing will continue to grow. And mold, and the adverse effects it creates in our indoor environments, should not.

 

Advantages of Light Gauge Steel in an Earthquake (View Reference Document)

Earthquakes are unpredictable in terms of magnitude, frequency, duration, and location. Consequently, the ideal structure to withstand earthquake forces will behave in a consistent and predictable manner. Unlike wood, light gauge steel is capable of meeting this standard due to the strict process used to manufacture steel studs, the inherent properties of steel and typical construction methods used in steel framing.

Specific advantages offered by the use of steel framing in a seismic event include the following considerations:

1. Steel is a stable material with consistent chemical attributes. Once the steel stud has been formed, it will remain straight with virtually no change to the thickness, width or other dimensional properties. Once a tree is harvested, on the other hand, the wood immediately begins to dry and shrink. This continues to a lesser degree after the stud is processed, but can be seen as the lumber warps, twists, or bows. Inconsistency in the quality of wood in an individual stud also can result in cracks or weak spots in a stud.

2. Because the material and geometric properties of a steel framing member are stable, the overall strength of the structure will depend upon the quality of connections between the studs. Steel framing typically uses screws that provide a mechanical locking connection. Wood framing connections are made with nails that rely on friction and bending. As the wood dries and shrink over time, the amount of friction holding the nail into the wood declines.

3. Steel has a significantly higher strength-to-weight ratio than wood. A steel frame is typically one-third the weight of a wood frame. Consequently, damage through "inertia" will be significantly reduced since there is less weight to move during an earthquake, and less weight that must stop.

4. The building codes used in the design of steel framed walls are based on more rigorous testing procedures put into place after the recent California earthquakes of the last decade.

5. Steel framing is more likely than wood to maintain its structural integrity over the long-term because it is impervious to rot, termites and other pests that can slowly degrade the structural integrity of framing members, lessening the ability of a house to withstand seismic forces.

6. Steel is non-combustible and does not contribute fuel to the spread of a fire. This can be an important factor should an earthquake’s devastation produce fires, similar to that experienced in both the 1906 San Andreas and 1989 Loma Prieta events in California.

 

STEEL HOMES ARE TERMITE RESISTANT: TERMINATE THE TERMITES (View Reference Document)

While fire is a more recognizable harm to North American homes today, termites actually account for more property damage annually. One particularly hearty strain of termite, the Formosan subterranean termite (FST), is ripping through homes and trees in southern Louisiana, neighboring parts of Texas and the surrounding Gulf states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida thoroughly devastating old and new homes alike. The FST has also been detected in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and has had a presence in Hawaii for over 50 years.

 

Termites, including the FST, however, will not eat steel framing products. This is good news for the structural integrity of the home. While termites including FSTs will eat through other building products commonly used in the construction of steel framed homes, the frame of the home will not be destroyed, saving the inhabitants a lot of money in repairs. The Steel Framing Alliance recommends the use of termite-resistant construction products when building termite-resistant homes. Many insurance companies do not cover repairs necessary due to termite damage. This coupled with exorbitant repair costs and a severe devaluation of the home infested with termites, causes homebuilders and homebuyers to rethink the way their homes are constructed. Are the materials long lasting, and termite-resistant? Will these materials and construction methods hold up in other natural disasters such as hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, and tornadoes, especially after termites or other pests (e.g., poria incrasata fungus discovered in California) have done their damage?

 

The use of steel framing provides an answer to these questions, and helps build termite-resistant homes. With straight walls, square corners, no nail pops or drywall cracks, steel framing offers strong solutions to problems builders are facing all over the US and Canada. Because steel has the highest strength to weight ratio of any building material, it is by nature a superior construction material. It doesn’t rot, warp, split, crack or creep. It doesn’t expand or contract with moisture content. It doesn’t burn or fuel a fire. It is impervious to termites and other wood-eating pests. And a historical graph of steel prices is a flat line; with stable material prices, the framer can hold his quote for the framing package, and be assured the quality of the materials used is consistently high. Homes built with steel look better, perform better, provide a safer environment for inhabitants and contribute to saving trees. Steel framed homes have a much lower probability of sustaining foundation problems, earthquake and high wind damage, and produce far less job site waste (2% for steel vs. 20% for lumber).