The rise of cold-formed steel

By Emma Peterson. 

Learn why this building material is popular with manufacturers, contractors and building owners alike. 

While it’s been around for decades, cold-formed steel, which refers to metal that is manufactured at room temperature, wasn’t an incredibly popular building material until the last decade. Today, it is used in a variety of construction sites for joists, columns, decking and more. But why is it gaining popularity now? To learn the answer to this question, Karen Edwards spoke with Corey Lincoln, business development manager at Metal Sales, for an episode of MetalCast™.  

From a manufacturer's perspective  

There are many manufacturing benefits to cold-formed steel as opposed to traditional hot-rolled options. For one, cold-formed steel has a higher strength-to-weight ratio, which means it can be manufactured using less materials without sacrificing durability.  

Additionally, it has a relatively short product life cycle, which means it gets into the hands of contractors faster. Corey elaborated, “From the time you hit an order button, confirm the shipping, I, as a manufacturer, am delivering to the job site in three to four weeks. And that's all your structural components, metal roofing wall panels and trim. That's a pretty quick manufacturing timeframe.” 

Benefits for the building owner 

As for building owners, there are distinct benefits to having cold-formed steel installed. Primarily, cold-formed steel offers incredible durability in the face of a variety of weather conditions. Corey explained:  

“First, it’s metal and we don't really have a fire exposure problem with our steel buildings. Not only is this safer, but it makes it easier to get a building insured...There's areas in the country that are really fire prone that you essentially can't get insured to build a new home, even if you previously had a home that burnt down, unless you make it out of steel...Cold-formed steel is also more energy efficient. We're doing R50 roofs and stuff by installing cold-formed and putting spray foam on it...Last but not least they’re strong...We have cold-formed building with 150-pound snow loads.” 

Why this works for contractors 

In addition to being a good choice for manufacturers and building owners, cold-formed steel comes with benefits to the contractors as well. Corey gave an example, sharing, “We have contractors who are building the cold-formed steel structures that can then build two of these for every one wood frame that they used to build.” 

This efficiency is due to a few different factors. First, there is quite a bit less field fabrication in the erection of a cold-formed building than there is a typical stick frame, making job sites move quicker. Additionally, the contractors Corey is referring to are using Metal Sales’ IMPACT software. This software is specially designed to help contractors install cold-formed steel more efficiently. Corey shared how it works, “Essentially, it's a CAD-based program. But it’s much easier to use than CAD... You essentially take your basic length, width, heights, input them into the software, you can add lean-tos, mezzanines, partition walls and design a building from a 3D standpoint...From there, you can use that 3D design to make the erection of the building easier on the job site.”  

Listen to the podcast or Watch the recording to learn more about cold-formed steel and its benefits.