Photo: The Metreau Apartments, Wisconsin, featured 11,508 lineal feet of prefabricated CFS wall panels from Wall-tech.
Thanks to the evolution of steel framing technology, it’s now possible to build structures using innovative construction techniques to work smarter, faster and safer, while minimizing construction costs and reducing the environmental impact of a building over its life.
Smart Building
Smart buildings are constructed with environmental responsibility and sustainability in mind. They link core systems — water meters, pumps, fire alarms, power and lighting — through sensors so they can share data and controls with one another, says Tom Bell of Irisys.
But smart buildings also feature “environmentally friendly credentials” of construction, Bell says. “The main motivation behind the smart building is to avoid … [the] wasteful use of energy and resources,” he notes.
The Poly Canyon Village featured 11,000 load-bearing wall panels .
The Poly Canyon Village, San Luis Obispo, provides a quintessential example of a smart building framed with cold-formed steel (CFS) framing.
- Poly Canyon Village is the largest CFS load-bearing framing project in California, featuring 11,000 wall panels
- Originally planned for a 20-month schedule, the project was successfully completed in 14-months, shaving off six months from the original schedule
- The project achieved a LEED® Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council
Tegan Sullivan, Clark Design/Build, confirms that the LEED® certification requirement was a main reason steel framing was selected for Poly Canyon Village.
“When they were deciding how they would build, CFS and the panelization process was attractive because of the off-site plant,” Sullivan says.
In addition to qualifying for a LEED® credit because of steel’s recycled content, the project earned LEED points because the steel stud manufacturing plant was located within 500 miles of the job site.
Factory in a Can
Vega Construction Group launched a “factory in a can” to manufacture steel frames on site. The Essex based specialist installed a FRAMECAD CFS roll forming machine into a shipping container, allowing the system to be transported from site to site, according to Construction Enquirer.
Vega Construction Group launched a “factory in a can” to manufacture steel frames on site.
“With our factory in a can we can bring the production line to your construction site,”
Jorge Vega says. “We use top of the range technology to make the construction process easier than traditional methods with less waste and quicker build times.”
It was used to create an apartment complex in Croydon, England, and in 2021 will be used on its biggest job to date, an 118-bed student residence in Gloucester.
The Future of Construction
Traditional methods of construction are struggling to keep up with the demand for better, more efficient and affordable buildings. As a result, many in the construction industry are turning to alternative methods and materials, such as cold-formed steel, to solve their problems, writes FRAMECAD in their eBook The Future of Construction.
BIM: Part of the Modern Toolkit
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is gaining popularity and for good reason. Using BIM can foster communication among stakeholders, resolve issues early in a project and save time and money during the construction process.
- CFS lends itself well to component assembly, making designing and engineering CFS systems compatible with BIM.
BIM enabled the Wall-tech to collaborate effectively with the MEP trades, for this project in Wisconsin, by spotting potential conflicts between the wall and flooring panels and the mechanical systems.
Wall-tech used BIM on an 8-story, 107-unit complex located in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Metreau Apartments featured 11,508 lineal feet of prefabricated CFS wall panels and 97,236 square-feet of floor systems.
BIM enabled the Wall-tech to collaborate effectively with the MEP trades by spotting potential conflicts between the wall and flooring panels and the mechanical systems.
“We caught all conflicts before we got too far along,” says Pete Braun, President of Wall-tech Companies. BIM helped Wall-panel to be “lean on the materials,” Braun says, since nothing had to be rebuilt in the field.
By panelizing the entire job, the owner received the building earlier and saved $250,000 in construction and carrying costs.
Recommended Resources:
- Student Housing Counts on Cold-Formed Steel for Safety and Sustainability
- Panels to Pods: Prefabricated Steel Building Components Expected to Grow
- BIM for Cold-Formed Steel Framed Projects: Benefits, Drawbacks, and How to Succeed