Steel office building - Essay Example

Comparison of steel and reinforced concrete as building materials There has been an extensive assortment of building materials used in electing structures. These materials include wood, steel and stones. For the most part, steel frames build martial and business among other industrial buildings, homes and apartments. The chief rationale following the use of steel is its functionality and strength which Freed (2011, p.134) highlights that guarantees structural efficiency and durability. As a metal, steel is tough and when used in building, the strength transforms to the whole structure.

For large buildings like sky scrapers or flats, steel has been used to sustain beams effectively. As a result, world’s tallest buildings have extensively applied steel to prop up their colossal mass which had been an engineering test. Today, steel is regarded as useful in gargantuan structures in the future like the Tokyo megacity. Steel also has a high strength to weight ratio (Madsen 2005). Compared to other building materials, steel has an ideal strength to weight ratio and its light weight makes it effortlessly moved and directed which translates to reliable constructability.

In addition, Reinforced concrete has a shorter floor-to-floor height by about 2 feet per floor compared to steel (Freed 2011).Steel as a building material resists rust and atmospheric corrosion making it reasonably less vulnerable (Freed 2011). When buildings are made using corrosive metals, they weaken gradually and collapse catastrophically. For this reason, steel, a non-corrosive metal, offers permanent structure (Madsen 2005). The construction of permanent structures using steel is due to being non-reactive to oxygen or other components in the atmosphere.

In addition, steel does not drench in water even when bare and this means that steel does not rot (Freed 2011). While some building materials like wood have trouble cutting into precise shapes and sizes during manufacturing Madsen (2005) reveals that steel can easily be manufactured into the right shapes and sizes under the guidance of structure specifications. Madsen (2005) points out that reinforced concrete also has numerous design possibilities given that concrete takes form and provides unique aesthetics.

As a result, no extra work is needed to shape steel building materials at the construction site . When used in construction, steel is recyclable and reusable which makes it sustainable especially in constructions where building wastes landfill and waste management are problematic. Through the reduction of building waste, steel building materials protect the environment from pollution and preserve it for future generations (Coskun 2002, p.2). Steel as a building material presents a cost effective option in terms of designing and making the entire steel frame while its maintenance costs are very low given that steel has high stability (Corus 2007).

Conversely, Coskun (2002) argues that concrete buildings have higher negative impacts on the environment in terms of energy consumption, use of raw materials and generated waste material. As a result, concrete is less sustainable compared to steel. In addition, reinforced concrete buildings are not resistant to earthquake, and not light in weight or flexible. Consequently, reinforced concrete is not preferred for conservative designs and construction systems in countries or regions prone to earthquake like turkey since its highly vulnerable (Madsen 2005).

For reinforced concrete buildings, there is difficulty in manipulating and demolishing smashed up buildings and eliminating the wastes which are a major threat to the environment (Coskun 2002). Unlike steel, reinforced concrete demands high costs of maintenance while steel also offers outstanding resistance to explosion since it endures high temperatures for long without losing strong structural integrity (Corus 2007). Conversely, steel softens and liquefies upon contact with very high temperatures and calls for inert fire safeguard such as spray-on fireproofing which is effective in increasing the melting point.

BibliographyCorus 2007, The comparative cost of steel and concrete building frames, viewed 10 April 2013, Coskun, H 2002, The advantages of steel in building construction regarding the environmental impacts of building materials, viewed 10 April 2013, Freed, EC 2011, Green Building and remodeling for dummies, Wiley Publishing Inc., New Jersey.Madsen, JJ 2005, “Concrete vs. steel: which is better building material?” Buildings magazine, viewed 10 April 2013,