Steel Buildings for Cheap Sustainable Alternative Housing

Are you looking for an energy-efficient and sustainable building material for your home? Today, many homeowners who want an alternative to expensive traditional residential construction are turning to prefabricated steel buildings as a base for their new homes. If steel isn’t the first material that comes to mind when you think of comfortable, sustainable building, perhaps you should take a closer look. Steel buildings offer many advantages as an alternative housing solution.

Recycled and Recyclable

No other material in the world is recycled as often as steel. Most steel buildings are made from 100 percent recycled steel, putting no more stress on the environment. When you choose a home made of steel, you’re not consuming precious wood, which can take decades to renew. Instead, you’re diverting tons of steel from the waste stream and reusing a resource.

In addition, your steel home is fully recyclable, not just as a material but as a whole. Unlike traditional brick or wood homes, steel buildings can be disassembled and reassembled on another site. Recycling is a much greener alternative than demolition.

Energy Efficient

Metal buildings are weather-tight and easy to insulate. Many steel buildings are made of Energy Star rated Galvaulume steel, which meets or exceeds EPA standards for reflectivity in roofing steel. Better heat reflectivity means lower energy consumption and lower costs for both heating and cooling. Because they’re weather-tight, they’re less affected by temperature changes in the outside atmosphere, making it easier to maintain a consistent, comfortable temperature inside.

Safe, Strong Construction

Steel buildings are also safer and more durable than traditional wood frame construction. Most are rated to withstand hurricane force winds of up to 160 miles per hour, making them ideal for homes in areas prone to hurricanes. Many designs are also less prone to damage in earthquakes, and of course, steel is fire resistant. In addition to being a safer home for your family, buildings made of steel are cheaper to insure because they are less prone to the disasters that destroy traditionally constructed homes.

Versatile Designs

If you’re imagining yourself living in a great hollow shell of steel, you haven’t seen the potentials inherent in prefabricated steel building design. Because steel buildings don’t need interior posts and load-bearing walls, you’re free to configure the interior of your home in an almost unlimited number of ways. Steel buildings are easily expandable, and come in many different basic designs which can be finished in attractive colors and trims so that your home fits into the surrounding neighborhood—or stands out.

For more information about using steel buildings as alternative, sustainable housing, contact a manufacturer of metal buildings to discuss the possibilities.