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The new Orlando VA Medical Center needed glazing that would not only provide light and transparency, but fire and hurricane protection and improved energy performance. SuperLite® II-XL in GPX® Hurricane Framing from SAFTI FIRST® was installed in exterior fire-rated locations that were exposed to the elements. These assemblies were rigorously tested and certified for fire and radiant heat protection for up to two hours, large missile impact, air and water infiltration, and cyclic wind loading.

Central to the building's design are several simulation labs, practice labs, and mock operating rooms where students can observe instructors and each other as they perform their tasks. Because these labs are in areas where a 1-hour fire rating has to be maintained, the architects chose to combine vision, transparency, and fire safety with SuperLite® II-XL 60 in GPX® Architectural Series framing.

For BART's Doolittle Maintenance Facility at the new Oakland Airport connector, SAFTI FIRST® provided 60 minute, fire resistive wall openings in the exterior using SuperLite® II-XL 60 insulated with low-e glazing in GPX® Framing with a clear anodized finish. SAFTI FIRST® engineered a connection that allows the structural elements of the GPX® Architectural Series Framing System to support an integral sunshade system, instead of being hung in front of it. The Doolittle Bart Station is one of the first installations of the GPX® Architectural Series System with sunshade connections, which also include SLCC New Instruction and Administrative Building in Salt Lake City, UT.

The west-facing elevation of The Kensington in Boston, MA, was in close proximity to the property line, prompting the building official to require part of the curtain wall had to meet ASTM E-119/NFPA 251/UL263 for 60 minutes. SAFTI FIRST® supplied SuperLite® II-XL 60 insulated with Solarban 70XL in GPX® Curtain Wall Framing in a continuous span from the seventh to the tenth floors.

Designed by Pritzker prize winning architect Shigeru Ban, the brand new 33,000 sf Aspen Art Museum boasts large exterior glass walls designed to keep the visitors engaged with views of the beautiful Aspen landscape. SAFTI FIRST®’s engineering team provided design assistance and supplied a 2 hour fire resistive curtain wall with SuperLite® II-XL 120 with Starphire Ultra-Clear Glass insulated with Viracon VE13-85 in GPX® Curtain Wall Framing. A woven screen encloses the glass curtain wall to provide shading from direct sunlight.

The University of Wisconsin School of Business Grainger Hall’s east and west wings are now linked by a state-of-the-art Learning Commons that encourages collaboration through technology and design. To achieve maximum transparency while meeting code requirements, the architects specified 9 ft. tall, clear, fire resistive butt-glazed walls using SuperLite® II-XLM in GPX® Architectural Series perimeter framing.

Traditional parking garage designs used to have opaque fire rated building materials like concrete, masonry and drywall which made these spaces dark, cold and uninviting. That all changed, thanks to the emergence of new technology, clear, fire resistive glazing tested to ULC/CAN S101 up to 2 hours that are available in large sizes and low-iron glass make-ups with high visible light transmission for superior clarity and color neutrality.

The Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Chicago features an incredible, 4-story mural by local artist Eulojio Ortega. The mural, brilliant for conveying the story as visitors go from floor to floor, is interestingly located in an exit stairwell. Traditionally, stairwells are enclosed in opaque walls, leaving them dark, isolated, and rarely utilized unless in an emergency. To allow the mural to be visible through multiple floors, encourage stair usage and meet fire rated code requirements, the architects redesigned the 2- hour stairwell using transparent, floor-to-ceiling butt-glazed glass walls with the largest tested and listed fire resistive glass panels available.

Bringing the outside in was an important design element for the newly opened BART Milpitas Transit Center. ASTM E-119/UL 263/CAN ULC S101 rated, fire resistive SuperLite® II-XLB 60 butt-glazed walls were used for the 1 hour light wells to allow abundant natural light to flow vertically and horizontally through two levels – from the entrance/ticketing level and all the way down to the tracks where the train cars are.

Central to the new UC Davis Medical Center Surgery and Emergency Services Pavilion's design was a large skylight that allows natural light to vertically flow into the atrium area and other light wells throughout the building. However, they also wanted to let light flow horizontally into the adjacent hallways, rooms, etc. Because the walls in the atrium and light wells have to meet a 2-hour rating, Stantec Architects approached SAFTI FIRST® for a solution. Large portions of the 2 hour atrium and light well walls were made “transparent” with the use of SuperLite® II-XL 120 in GPX® Framing.

One of the highlights of the SUNY University Hospital’s vertical expansion is the addition of the Golisano Children’s Hospital on the top two floors of the six-story addition. Since the project added new floors, stairwell enclosures were also added. Traditionally, stairwells are relegated to the back of the building, and are usually closed-off, dimly lit and seldom used. Today, stairwells are becoming a prominent design feature and their use is encouraged more and more for the health benefits that stair climbing provides.

As far as extreme environments go, Wisconsin has some of the most dramatic in North America. During the winter months, temperatures regularly dip well below freezing, and in the summer months the temperatures can reach up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit with significant humidity levels for extended periods of time. Given these dramatic weather conditions, the materials chosen for the building envelope should not only protect building occupants from the elements, but ensure their comfort as well.

To preserve the building’s open design and to extend natural light further in the building, the architects incorporated fire resistive glazing in the areas that required a 2-hour fire rating, particularly in the stairwells and exit passageways at the new Kent State University College of Architecture and Environmental Design.

Plaquemines Parish Detention Center was one of the major structures devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In rebuilding, designers L. R. Kimball looked for an all-in-one clear, wire-free glazing solution that protects against fire, bullets and forced entry. SAFTI FIRST® supplied a complete single-source tested and listed assembly that was easy to install and maintenance-free.

SAFTI FIRST® developed, engineered and successfully tested the first-ever fire and hurricane rated assembly for the Las Olas Beach Club and Condominium, a luxurious multi-family residence in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The architect wanted to design the units with as much glazing as possible so residents can enjoy views of the surrounding area from their homes.

The architects at Morris Adjmi wanted large, 11-ft. tall glass walls to highlight the breathtaking views for the reimagined Warehouse in New York City’s growing architectural wonderland of Chelsea. However, the building was on a lot line, mandating 2 hour fire walls. SAFTI FIRST® made this dream a reality by supplying the largest tested and listed 2 hour fire resistive glazing available today. The inclusion of low-iron glass in the fire-resistive glazing units ensured superior clarity and aesthetic continuity with the adjacent non-rated windows. The fire resistive units incorporated high performance glazing and were filled with argon for energy efficiency and occupant comfort.

As America celebrated National Bourbon Day on June 14, downtown Louisville also celebrated the highly anticipated grand opening of the Old Forester Distillery. This event is also touted as a triumphant return of America’s first bottled bourbon in continuous production by the same family before, during, and after Prohibition to Whiskey Row. See how SAFTI FIRST®’s fire rated glass walls helped create an immersive visitor center with a fully operational distillery, cooperage and bottling line.

Perhaps no other residential high-rise has created more buzz than the highly-anticipated Porsche Design Tower in Sunny Isles, Florida. A collaboration between Dezer Development and the Porsche Design Group, the 60-story, 132-residence luxury tower designed by Sieger Suarez Architects promises to deliver a new standard of cool.

It’s a fact that buildings consume two thirds of all the electricity produced in North America and one third of all the energy produced in North America. While it is recognized that adding insulation under the roof surface can reduce cooling and heating costs, there is a diminishing return on the strategy of increasing insulation to conserve energy costs. This is where “cool roofing” can play a role in further reducing the energy consumed, and in minimizing the Heat Island effect created in the big urban cities. Cool roofing relies on sustainable, energy efficient, coated steel products, in a wide variety of finishes, colours, textures and roofing profiles. It conserves energy through its properties of reflectivity and emissivity

Executive Summary The aim of this fact sheet is to advocate an alternative solution for the Steel Industry in regards to restrictive code provisions for explosion venting that are now mandated by the Ontario Fire Code (OFC). Due to a September 2000 amendment of code provisions dealing with explosion venting in the OFC, explosion vent designs were required to be in conformance with NFPA 68, the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Guide for Venting of Deflagrations. NFPA 68 gives a prescriptive solution that has upper bound limits on size and mass of an explosion vent panel, which the Steel Industry finds are too small to be practical. The Canadian Steel Construction Council (CSCC) investigated this problem and identified an alternate design guideline from the Factory Mutual Insurance Company’s (FM) Property Loss Prevention Data Sheets, numbered 1-44 and entitled “Damage Limiting Construction”. FM’s 1-44 Data Sheets can be used to develop an alternate solution for explosion venting that exceed the size and mass limits of the NFPA 68 prescriptive solution, and can be submitted for approval under the Compliance Equivalency provisions in the OFC. With the introduction of an objective based National Building Code Canada (NBCC) in 2005 followed by Provincial code adoptions in 2006 it would be worthwhile to establish a precedent through the Compliance Equivalency provision in the OFC. Once a precedent setting case occurs, the “acceptable solution” or “compliance alternative” would go on record and aid in resolving subsequent proposals for Compliance Equivalency, and also support a future technical change in the OFC. The CSCC by way of this fact sheet would advocate this alternative solution for the Steel Industry when designing explosion vent panels in steel framed buildings.

Global warming and climate change are two terms found increasingly in headlines around the world. Initiatives such as the Kyoto Protocol have brought these issues to the forefront and provide a framework and objectives for reducing greenhouse gases (GHG). GHG are heat trapping gases, such as water vapour, carbon dioxide, or methane that absorb the earth’s heat and hinder it from being released into space. As levels of GHG build up in the atmosphere, a greenhouse effect takes place that warms the earth’s atmosphere and makes global climate change inevitable. A?itudes on environmental issues are changing worldwide. Developed nations are commi?ing to reducing GHG emissions to 5.2% below the 1990 baseline by 2012. Notably, Canada has commi?ed to reducing its GHG emissions to 6% below 1990 levels, which corresponds to a gap of 29.1% of where the nation is and where it wants to be. An ambitious undertaking, considering that Canada’s GHG emissions have been steadily on the rise over the years and in 2004 was actually 26.6% higher than 1990 levels. On a positive note, in the last two years emissions have started to decline, but there remains a long way still to go. =e quest for a greener Canada continues and helping to lead the way to a greener Canada is the nation’s steel industry, which is making great strides in reducing GHG emissions, conserving energy, and lessening impacts on our air, water, and land.

1. SCOPE 1.1 The following specifications shall apply to hot-dipped metallic-coated sheet steel prefinished with colours of proven durability and suitable for exterior exposure as delivered from the coil coater. Proven paint systems for building products have been designed for vertical applications whose surfaces are no more than 30° to the vertical and non-vertical applications whose surfaces ranging from 5° up to 60° to the horizontal. It is not recommended for aggressive atmospheric exposure. 1.2 The prefinish system shall consist of a primer and topcoat continuously applied and cured within the paint manufacturer’s specifications on cleaned, pretreated, metallic-coated substrate. The pretreatment specified shall be zinc phosphate for galvanized steel and metal oxide pretreatment for aluminum-zinc alloy-coated steel, applied in accordance with the pretreatment manufacturer’s specifications.

The construction industry is a vital part of the growth and success of a country. It is responsible for building the physical infrastructure that provides transportation and facilities for citizens, businesses, industries and institutions. Construction has a major influence on the economic wealth, societal well¬being and sustainability of the built environment. The Canadian construction industry employs more than 1.2 million people. In 2010 it accounted for 6% of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP), with a total value of 73.8 billion dollars. From 2000 to 2010, the GDP from construction increased 42.7% whereas GDP for all industries increased 20.2%.(1) Construction also has a profound impact on our natural environment. In North America, the built environment accounts for approximately one third of all the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as energy, water and materials consumption. Given the increased awareness of “green” construction, there is growing interest in using steel because of the major recycled content and recyclability attributes it provides to architects, engineers and specifiers in the construction industry. The steel industry, through the Canadian Sheet Steel Building Institute is committed to providing steel solutions that promote the use of sustainable materials in construction applications. This fact sheet provides an overview of the two main methods used to produce steel, and describes the recycled content of the steels used to manufacture building products such as roofing, cladding, decking, structural and non-structural framing and the many other construction products used in the industry. Once iron ore is extracted and refined into steel, its life never ends. This makes steel an ideal material to deploy in sustainable strategies for the construction industry. Today’s steel is produced using two technologies both of which require “old” (recycled scrap) steel to make “new” steel. The combination of these technologies enables Canadian steel mills the flexibility to produce a variety of steel grades for a wide range of product applications

It’s a fact that buildings consume two thirds of all the electricity produced in North America and one third of all the energy produced in North America. While it is recognized that cooling and heating costs can be reduced by adding insulation under the roof surface, there is a diminishing return on the strategy of increasing insulation to conserve energy costs. This is where “cool roofing” can play a role in further reducing the energy consumed, and in minimizing the Heat Island effect created in the big urban cities. Cool roofing relies on the properties of reflectivity and emissivity of the roofing material. Reflectivity Reflectivity is the ability of the roof to reflect solar radiation back into the atmosphere. Its primary measure is solar reflectance - the proportion of the total solar radiation that is reflected back to the atmosphere. Any solar radiation that is not reflected is absorbed into the building envelope, requiring further energy to cool the building; or partially convected into the atmosphere increasing the ambient air temperature in the surrounding environment (Heat Island effect). The measure of reflectivity is the Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) which takes into account the properties of the material as well as the cooling effect of wind passing over the roof. The SRI for a low slope roof will be 0 for standard black (reflectance 0.05, emittance 0.90) and 100 for standard white (reflectance 0.80, emittance 0.90).

Introduction Sheet steel roofing and siding (cladding) is available in a wide variety of profiles, colours and paint systems. The modern prepainted systems used on Canadian-made products will provide decades of beautiful performance before there are any visible signs of deterioration of the paint surface. However, an important component of the cladding system is the fastener used to attach it to the structure. This fastener is not simply a screw; it is part of the roof or wall assembly and should be expected to provide the same long-term performance. This performance is not simply the capacity to safely hold the cladding in place, but also to match the colour and durability of the paint system. The selection of the correct screw for the job is the first step in the creation of a cladding system that will provide long-term performance. The next step is the installation. Installing screws in sheet steel cladding is commonplace and can be done very efficiently. The tool manufacturers have developed a wide range of options for installing fasteners into any type of substrate. Selecting the most appropriate tool will help the installation process.

Steel has been used in North American construction projects for more than 150 years and still remains one of the strongest, most durable and economical building materials available today. Although steel has been traditionally associated with high-rise buildings, bridge structures and commercial and industrial projects, it is rapidly emerging as the logical material of choice for residential construction. Cold formed sheet steel panels are lightweight, economical, easy to handle and represent a high quality alternative to traditional roofing materials. Environmental and economic considerations have prompted many residential homeowners to investigate alternative building materials and methods, and steel roofing panels have proven technical benefits as well as excellent recycling capabilities which make them an increasingly popular choice. This follows the long-time use of steel roofing in commercial construction where steel has built undisputable quality and performance records. 

Introduction Most cold formed steel building products, whether painted or unpainted, are manufactured from a sheet steel material that has some form of metallic coating applied. This metallic coating can be zinc (galvanized), zinc-iron alloy (galvanneal) or a 55% aluminum-zinc alloy (GalvalumeTM). The metallic coating is available in a range of thicknesses to provide the degree of corrosion protection and service life required. One of the concerns expressed by installers relates to the presence of wet storage staining on the products, how this staining impacts the long term performance, and what can be done to remove it. The purpose of this fact sheet is to address some of these issues, allay some fears, and give guidance on proper storage techniques.

Introduction Prefinished sheet steel is used on many building products from wall cladding, to architectural roofing to interior panels. Prefinished sheet steel has been used in Canada for over 30 years and there may be sites were the paint surface is in need of repainting. This bulletin is intended to give some guidance on repainting prefinished panels. Due to the diversity of factory applied prefinished systems, and the diversity of potential field applied repaint systems, it is impossible to offer one comprehensive repaint procedure for all possible situations. However, it is possible to offer a set of guidelines to be considered in every potential situation.

Sustainability, durability, fire resistance, structural performance and cost-effectiveness are some of the strongest reasons for using structural steel or cold-formed steel framing in mid-rise building construction. As a dependable, noncombustible material, steel-framed structures provide a wise investment for builders and the occupants who live and work in them. Steel structures provide long-term, consistent performance. • Steel framing will not rot, warp, split, crack or creep. • Steel framing is not vulnerable to termites. • Steel framing does not expand or contract with moisture content. • Steel framing is produced in strict accordance with national standards, with no regional variations. Steel is a noncombustible material and will not contribute to the spread of a fire. • Because steel is noncombustible, it reduces the fire risk to occupants, firefighters and property/business owners. Steel framing improves design efficiency, saves time, and reduces costs. • Steel framing provides a significantly greater strength-to-weight ratio than wood. • Steel framing allows for larger bays and wider frame spacing than wood construction. • Increased flexibility in bay spacing and framing layout maximizes usable floor space for owners and tenants. • Steel is typically fabricated off-site, reducing on-site labor, cycle time and construction waste. • Shorter construction time results in earlier occupancies and lower financing costs. Steel structures perform well during earthquakes and other extreme events. • Steel is a resilient material, with reserve strength and ductility that result in significant advantages in natural disasters such as hurricanes and earth- quakes, and in other extreme events like fire and blast. • Steel construction is engineered to provide a reliable, consistent load path. • Steel construction employs quality control and quality assurance procedures to ensure that the project requirements are met. Steel framing provides environmental benefits and complies with sustainable building standards. • Steel framing results in less scrap and job site waste than lumber. • Structural steel is continually recycled with a current recycling rate of 98 percent, meaning that these steels will still be in use hundreds of years from now, lessening impacts on future generations. • Steel, when recycled, loses none of its inherent properties and can be recycled into different products such as cars, bridges, cans, etc. • Steel can be used to comply with the requirements of sustainable design standards such as the International Green Construction Code (IgCC), ASHRAE Standard 189.1 (Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings), and the National Green Building Standard (ICC-700). Steel can also provide credit points for green building rating systems like the USGBC’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and the Green Building Initiative’s ANSI/GBI-01 (Green Building Assessment Protocol for Commercial Buildings).  

PREFACE One of the objectives of the Canadian Sheet Steel Building Institute is the development of product standards to promote safety and sound construction practices. This Standard is intended to assist specifiers, designers, buyers, manufacturers, and erectors of sheet steel cladding by providing information which can be adopted by reference where desired. The requirements contained herein are in accordance with sound engineering principles, augmented by experience. They include recommended minimum requirements for such factors as grade of steel, thickness, metallic coating designation, loading and deflections, as well as design, fabrication and erection in general. While the material is believed to be technically correct and in accordance with recognized practice at the time of publication it does not obviate the need to determine its suitability for a given situation. Neither the Canadian Sheet Steel Building Institute nor its members warrant or assume liability for the suitability of the material for any general or particular application. 

Buildings have a profound impact on our natural environment, economy, health and productivity. In North America, the built environment accounts for approximately one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions, energy, water and material consumption and generates similiar proportions of pollution. Indoor air quality is regarded as one of the top environmental health risks today, affecting the well-being, productivity and performance of many people. As concerns increase about sustainability in building design and operation, there is a need to develop a framework for assessing and quantifying buildings so that questions such as, “What is sustainable design?” and “How green is this project?” can be addressed. In response to this, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system was developed to provide such a framework for North America. This document explores how the use of steel structures and components can contribute to achieving a LEED certificate for a building.

Introduction Within the construction industry there is often confusion over gauges, gauge numbers and the related thickness. The industry has been trying to move away from gauge numbers, without complete success. The following information will show why sheet steel products should be specified to the decimal thickness.

According to certain “studies,” wood claims a smaller environmental footprint than any other major building material. However, a closer look at the facts reveals some significant inconsistencies with that claim. MYTH: Studies demonstrate that wood is a more sustainable material than steel. REALITY: The most-cited study contained numerous incorrect assumptions about steel, and it omitted wood impacts. • A study cited often by the wood industry was published by the Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials (CORRIM) and is based on outdated information. For example, it made incorrect assumptions about the quantity of steel needed for its comparisons. • Wood is typically a single-use material. At the end of its life, a building’s wood frame is typically landfilled or incinerated. This returns any stored carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere as either carbon dioxide or methane, shifting greenhouse gas burdens to future generations. • In comparison, steel is the world’s most recycled material. Steel construction products have a recycling rate of more than 90 percent, meaning that at the end of a steel building’s life, more than 90 percent of its steel is recycled into another steel product, using significantly less energy than was necessary to create the original product. A material that can be recycled continually over centuries with no loss in quality and that lowers the burden on future generations is the very definition of sustainability! MYTH: Wood is more sustainable than steel because it is a renewable building resource. REALITY: Being renewable is not the same as being sustainable. • The wood industry claims that for every tree cut down, one or more new trees are planted. However, the claim does not take into account that it will take decades before those saplings mature. In the meantime, the forest is depleted of the oxygen, water storage and filtration, wildlife habitat, global cooling, and other benefits provided by the mature tree. 1 • Trees are often harvested by clear-cutting, leaving large gaps in the forestland that also impact the plants and animal species left behind. MYTH: Wood is more sustainable than steel because wood construction products store carbon. REALITY: Carbon storage for construction products is temporary, only shifting impacts to future generations. • Carbon is sequestered in the fiber of trees, but that does not mean that wood buildings become large reservoirs of carbon that is stored indefinitely. Upon harvesting, the unused root and leaf systems immediately return their CO to the atmosphere by decay. For wood products, the reality is that carbon storage is also temporary and it is released back into the atmosphere at the end of the wood building’s life either by the demolition and subsequent decay of the wood or by incineration. • Ann Ingerson of The Wilderness Society states: “As a result of wood waste and decomposition, the carbon stored long-term in harvested wood products may be a small proportion of that originally stored in the standing trees―across the United States, approximately 1 percent may remain in products in use and 13 percent in landfills at 100 years post-harvest.” 2 2 Photo courtesy of the American Institute of Steel Construction Photo courtesy of SCS Global Services MYTH: All wood construction products are certified as being sustainably harvested. REALITY: The majority of forests in the U.S. do not meet the wood industry’s own sustainable harvesting standards. • Eighty-one percent of forests in the United States are not certified, 11 percent are Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI®)-certified, and seven percent are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC®)-certified.3 The sustainable harvest certification provided by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative has often been challenged as to whether it reaches the required threshold of sustainable forestry. SFI was created in 1994 by the paper and timber industry. A report on SFI by ForestEthics concludes in part: - “SFI is funded, promoted and staffed by the very paper and timber industry interests it claims to evaluate.”4 - “Of SFI’s 543 audits, up to the time of the report’s issuance, there were no major noncompliance issues related to soil erosion, clear-cut procedures, watershed issues, or chemical usage.”5 - “SFI-certified logging practices are having a disastrous impact on North American forests.”6 • In actuality, only seven percent of the forestland in the United States reaches the threshold of being considered sustainably managed. References 1 “Understanding Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for Wood (Current Problems and Future Possibilities),” The Sierra Club Forest Certification and Green Building Team, September 24, 2013. 2 Ingerson, Ann, “Carbon Storage Potential of Harvested Wood: Summary and Policy Implications,” The Wilderness Society, October 23, 2010, p. 1. 3 “Forest Certification Around the World: Georgia-Pacific, Sustainable Forestry and Certification,” Georgia-Pacific, 2014. 4 “SFI: Certified Greenwash – Inside the Sustainable Forestry Initiative’s Deceptive Eco-Label,” a report by ForestEthics, November 2010, p. 2. 5 “SFI: Certified Greenwash – Inside the Sustainable Forestry Initiative’s Deceptive Eco-Label,” a report by ForestEthics, November 2010, p. 9. 6 “SFI: Certified Greenwash – Inside the Sustainable Forestry Initiative’s Deceptive Eco-Label,” a report by ForestEthics, November 2010, p. 11.

Designers and builders have long recognized steel for its strength, durability and functionality. An important aspect of steel’s story is its high recycled content and end-of-life recovery rate. Both attributes are recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) green building rating system, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), but steel construction products can contribute to many other LEED credits as well, either directly or indirectly. USGBC’s latest version, LEEDv4, includes a completely revised and expanded Materials and Resources section, with new credits in the areas of life-cycle assessment (LCA), environmental product declarations (EPDs), and overall product transparency

Buildings consume one-third of all energy and two-thirds of all electricity generated. Cool metal roofs can help reduce energy consumption by lowering cooling loads with their wide array of finishes, designs and colors.Cool metal roofs are energy-efficient. • The roof can have the greatest impact on the energy use of a building. On a typical summer afternoon, a light-colored, more reflective roof that reflects 80 percent of sunlight will stay about 310C (550F) cooler than a darker roof that reflects only 20 percent of sunlight, as reported by the Heat Island Group of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. • Cool metal roofs are an excellent option for commercial retrofit applications because they can be efficiently installed with above-sheathing ventilation, allowing heat to dissipate through the ridge vent in hot weather while acting as an insulating layer when it is cold. Metal roofs can result in as much as a 30 percent reduction in heat gain through the vented roof. • Metal roofs provide the optimal foundation for photovoltaic installations since the roof can be expected to last longer than the PV system it supports. • Wall and roof solar heat recovery systems can be integrated with steel cladding and used to provide air, water or process heating needs. • Cool metal roofing is available unpainted, with thermosetting coil-applied paint finishes, or with granular-coated surfaces. This family of roofing can achieve solar reflectance of over 70 percent, meeting the EPA Energy Star Roof Products Program performance criteria. • Emittance as high as 90 percent can be achieved for painted and granular-coated metal roofing. • Painted metal roofs retain 95 percent of their initial reflectance and emittance over time. They resist the growth of organic matter and shed dirt more readily than other materials. • Cool metal roofing can help to mitigate the Urban Heat Island Effect because of its high reflectance, which can reduce ambient air temperatures. Cool metal roofs are cost-effective. • Metal roofing has low life-cycle costs, making it the choice of many school, government, commercial, industrial and institutional building owners. • Due to its light weight per unit area, structural savings can be realized in a building when compared with heavier non-metal roofing alternatives. • For re-roofing projects, metal roofing can often be applied over the original roof, saving removal and disposal costs. • Metal roofing is fully recyclable when ultimately removed as part of building renovation or demolition, allowing it to credibly claim both recycled content and 100 percent recyclability by recognized definitions. The product’s recyclability also provides significant savings on construction removal and disposal costs.

Steel’s versatility and durability have made it an ideal building material for various construction projects for the past 150 years. Over that time, steel has earned a welldeserved reputation for economy and proven performances with long life cycles. Combine these benefits with steel’s ability to be recycled and engineered for retrofits, and steel cladding undoubtedly will become the number one choice of building materials across all industries. Recently, the Canadian Sheet Steel Building Institute commissioned a non-biased third party, Strategic Research Associates, to examine the state of the Canadian farm. Specifically, the study examined farmers’ steel cladding purchasing habits and steel cladding usage over the past 10 years. The study queried 471 farms across Canada with 43 farms in British Columbia; 96 in Alberta; 96 in Saskatchewan/Manitoba (combined); 97 in Ontario; 96 in Quebec; and 43 in the Atlantic Provinces. The results are within ± 4.5 percentage points for complete representation of all Canadian farms and are as follows: