Increasingly, developers are concerned about environmental sustainability when building new commercial and industrial facilities, and their concern is two-fold: they seek efficiency of construction as well as superior building performance.
That is why a growing number of projects rely on Honco Steel Buildings to meet a wide array of environmental criteria. Honco has always been committed to sustainable development, starting with the material used to create its warehouses, offices, production plants, and other facilities: 95 percent recycled steel.
It’s worth noting that the nature of Honco buildings – the fact that they’re made of structural panels assembled on site – leads to another environmental benefit. The structural panels and other building components are pre-cut and pre-drilled at the factory, ready for their assembly on site, thus reducing on site waste.
Transportation is another advantage: all the material necessary for an Honco building 480 square metres in size can be transported in a 12 meter long container.
But the unique design of the Honco buildings themselves is where environmental benefits truly come into play. For example, roof panels are made of a type of steel that reflects heat through a Galvalume finish, thus reducing the building’s operation costs. The panels also guarantee protection against wind and weather, resulting in a long service life with virtually no maintenance.
Similarly, Honco’s structural ceiling reduces the volume of air to cool or heat – as well as enhance the interior visual appeal; and the company’s wall and attic insulation is yet another contributor to high efficiency building performance, providing a minimum thermal resistance of R-20 for walls and R-40 for attic. The insulation material integrates a reinforced aluminum vapour barrier that reflects heat.
Honco products contribute directly to developers earning Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credits, such as MR 4 (for the use of recycled content); SS 7.2 (mitigating the roof heat island effect), EAp2 (minimum energy performance); and EA1 (optimal energy performance), due to Honco building design helping to achieve good energy efficiency. All told, Honco Steel Buildings can enable developers to earn up to 34 LEED points; plus, during the construction of a LEED project, Honco can provide performance data specific to the client’s requirements.
Ever since joining the steel building market in the early 1970s, Honco has carved out a reputation for having the lowest impact on both cost maintenance value and operations cost in the industry. And as environmental initiatives become ever more inextricably linked to efficiency and cost savings, Honco will continue to improve its products to meet specific client needs.
