Benefits of Steel Buildings for Commercial Properties

Commercial properties by their very nature are designed (from the owner’s perspective) to generate income that exceeds expenses to as large a degree as possible. In addition there is a big drive to make businesses more environmentally friendly, reducing carbon footprints wherever possible. Then you have investors. Investors look to keep expenses under control and return on investment as high as possible. From the tenants point of view a commercial property should be hassle free, well heated in winter and cooled in summer and be adaptable to their needs. Let’s take a look at why steel framed buildings tick all of these boxes for all parties concerned.

Steel Buildings – the advantages

There are so many advantages to steel framed construction from environmental to convenience and cost-saving, so let’s have a closer look.

Steel is actually very light

In construction terms steel comes in considerably lighter than wood. This reduces labour costs, time and energy used in construction, shipping costs and makes for simpler building designs, ticking many cost-saving and environmental boxes that will delight owners of buildings to be used for commercial purposes.

Speed of construction

Time is money and money is time. Commercial property owners and investors will always keep an eye on how long new buildings are taking to construct and cutting corners to achieve targets is never a wise move. Here, however, the choice of steel as the frame material of the building is what cuts costs and time. Parts can be precision engineered off site according to the design of the architect meaning there are no messy, time-consuming adjustments on site and human error, waste (another environmental box ticked) and time spent are all cut down to a bare minimum.

Steel given the green light

We’ve already highlighted some of the environmental benefits of steel framed construction but another and possibly the most important benefit of steel in this respect is that it is immensely recyclable. You can remove the parts from a building that has exhausted its natural life cycle (which is inherently longer than with other materials) and reuse them for more construction. There are also many subsidised programs in the UK that allow for steel construction waste to be collected at zero cost.

Steel buildings are also very resistant to what nature throws at them, whether snow, wind, fire, pests or rain. This keeps insurance and maintenance costs low – which is sure to be appreciated by all parties. In addition, steel frames in commercial properties are just held together with bolts, meaning extension and adaptation is relatively painless.

With the vast emphasis on the construction of carbon-neutral buildings, energy efficiency and the long-term approach, steel buildings are a logical and wise choice for commercial property owners and investors and as for tenants, steel buildings are so easy to maintain and keep clean, divided into distinct uses and keep warm in winter and cool in summer that there is very little not to like. It really is a rare case of a win/win situation for all concerned.