Steel vs. other materials

Building with Steel vs. Wood

The advantages of steel over wood is in its strength, longevity, quick assembly, fire resistance, bug proofing and it is far more environmentally friendly.  Steel has been used for many years in building office towers and high-rise apartment buildings, large bridges, planes and other major structures because of the obvious advantages over wood.  Wood is not safe or effective for these applications.  Wood was used for many years in residential construction because it was plentiful and reasonably priced.  With the pressures on wood prices and efforts of preserving forests, steel replacing wood for residential and commercial construction makes a lot of sense, especially now that companies like World Wide Homes have excellent systems to exploit the many inherent advantages of steel as a building material.  With the many advantages of steel over wood and very few disadvantages, why would anyone want to build with wood instead of steel, especially when the finished product would look the same.

Steel vs. Concrete Block and Cement

Brick masonry buildings have been used in China and other areas for thousands of years.  This construction practice possesses the advantage of easy manufacture and low cost, however the brittleness of brick masonry material with the weak seismic resistance induces severe damage or collapse of buildings and causes deaths of thousands of people who live in these houses during earthquakes.  ¹Engineers have for the last several years experimented with reinforcing this type of construction with different forms of steel.  This has been more successful in resisting earthquakes.

Cement construction including concrete block should be reinforced with steel to make it stronger for natural disasters.  If you look at the picture below, you will see a common image after an earthquake involving a structure made of various forms of concrete.  Note that the steel part of the building is still standing while much of the concrete crumbled.  This is the dangerous part of being in or around one of these buildings in an earthquake - the falling concrete debris does most of the damage to humans.

RAPID™ Steel Kits vs. Steel-stud Framing

Steel framed housing in Canada and the US has increasing steadily for the past ten years.  The houses are framed with light-gauge steel studs instead of lumber, which is the most common construction material used in North America.  The method supports heavier loads and provides longer-lasting frame construction.  Steel framing is dimensionally stable and eliminates most drywall cracking.  Houses framed with steel can be finished with any exterior material.  Although the steel stud walls are stronger than wood, the R.A.P.I.D. Building System™ is even better as the wall is continuous steel without the gaps of steel stud framing.  This offers two major advantages over steel studs:

1. A stronger wall because there are no gaps in the steel as with steel studs and
2. The R.A.P.I.D. Building System™ goes up much faster than the traditional stud system, saving money  on labour costs. 

One of the major advantages of the R.A.P.I.D. Building System™ kit to steel stud framing is that builders have trouble handling steel studs and try to treat them like wood studs.  The construction materials are vastly different, and builders need to be trained to use them correctly.  R.A.P.I.D. Building System™ kits go up quickly in large sections and do not need cutting and measuring.  It is like putting together a large Mechano or Lego set.

Other Alternative Building Materials

There are several other alternatives to wood used in the housing market in addition to steel.  The following is a brief description of each, including some of their advantages and disadvantages:²

Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs)

What they are:  Fibreglass panels are made from insulating foam sandwiched between two layers of plywood, oriented strand board (OSB), or wafer-board sheathing.

Advantages:  Walls can be erected quickly, usually within hours, compared with about two weeks for traditional stick (lumber) framing.  The panels are lightweight and are already filled with insulation when they arrive on the site.  Since the insulation is installed in a controlled environment and is measured to fit precisely, the house is likely to be more airtight than a conventionally built home - an energy-efficiency plus.

Disadvantages:  This method is about 10 percent more expensive than stick building.  And a builder needs to be well versed in the process to make sure the panels fit together precisely.

When the panels burn, a number of gasses are given off.  Some of these are dangerous, including carbon monoxide and certain hydrocarbons.

Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Blocks (AAC)

What they are:  These insulating and lightweight blocks are made from concrete mixed with chemicals that cause it to rise like dough in an oven.  The mixture is pressure-cooked until its mass is about 80 percent air.

Advantages:  It is virtually as strong as concrete, but lightweight and easy to handle during building.  It's time-tested in Europe, where it has been a popular construction method for decades.

Disadvantages:  It's expensive - about 20 percent more than traditional building methods.

Insulated Concrete Forms

What they are:  These hollow foam forms are interlocked to form walls, then filled with concrete.  The foam acts as insulation, and the panels are usually reinforced with rebar.

Advantages:  The method builds durable houses, and the forms are easier to handle than concrete blocks.  The rebar offers extra stability.  ICF is also energy-efficient and sound dampening.

Disadvantages:  Again, it's more expensive than traditional stick building--about 15 percent more, and many builders are unfamiliar with it.

Engineered Wood

What it is:  Thin layers of wood are glued together, and micro cured to form large solid planks and beams.  The process often involves saturating lumber with chemical preservatives under pressure.

Advantages:  The method offers more dimensional stability than conventional lumber while having the usual positive aesthetics of wood.  Engineered wood often performs better than untreated lumber in areas of termite and fungi resistance.

Disadvantages:  It costs 5 - 10 percent more than stick building, while manufactured wood products often perform as well or better than lumber, glues used in the manufacturing process can cause substantial indoor-air-pollution problems.  Industry analysts often caution the use of pressure-treated wood for indoor purposes.³

Even though the engineered wood can perform better than untreated wood in some areas, it will still burn and (depending on the manufacturer and process used or installation or improper maintenance) it can still have some problems with termites, fungi, warping and moisture-related failures.

¹Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
²National Association of House Builders (NAHB) and Better Homes and Gardens and PCA Market Research
³California Energy Commission