News

Industry News

• Steel Industry Responds To President Obama’s Call To Improve Energy Efficiency In Buildings

  Steel Provides Retrofit opportunities to Reach Ambitious Energy-Saving Goals

• Zero-energy skylines

  Photovoltaic facades help designers and architects lower buildings total energy consumption

• Cool Points

  Metal roofing can help earn a variety of LEED points

• Retrofit Revolution

  Weatherization and energy upgrade projects are ramped up by the first slice of stimulus pie, with more funding to come.

The Metal Initiative News

• Metal Construction Association Elects 2011 Board of Directors and Officers

• Metal Construction Association Recognizes Outstanding Building Projects with its 2010 President's Awards

• Metal Construction Association Honors ATAS International’s Dick Bus and Jim Bush with Prestigious Service Awards

• The Metal Industry: Solutions for President Obama’s Better Building Initiative

  Economical, Sustainable and Retrofit Advantages Support President’s Goal

• Metal’s Role in Retrofits and Sustainable Buildings - The Metal Initiative New White Papers

  The Metal Initiative has added two new white papers to its library to educate those involved in the design and construction of commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings. The most recent white papers focus on two of the hottest trends in building – retrofit and sustainability.

• White Paper on Green Benefits of Metal Roof and Wall Systems Available from The Metal Initiative

  The Metal Initiative has produced a white paper explaining how metal roofs and walls can improve the energy efficiency in new and existing commercial properties. Metal roofs and walls offer an unbeatable level of environmental performance and aesthetic appeal. This white paper illustrates the sustainable, environmental and energy efficient aspects of metal roof and walls systems. It also explains the versatility of metal and the variety of visible options and behind the scene operating benefits the material offers commercial building developers, contractors, architects and designers.

• Benefits of Building and Retrofitting with Metal Covered in The Metal Initiative’s Webinar Series

  Back by popular demand and in response to the increasing demand for information about the benefits of building with metal in commercial projects, The Metal Initiative is sponsoring three complimentary informational webinars during the months of September, October and November. The series was presented in the spring and continues to receive high marks for information and value of content.

• Change is Good: Flexible, Lightweight Metal Gets Top Grade

  "This is an excellent story of the architect, contractor and owner working together to make a positive change to a building design during construction, resulting in what will be a beautiful metal building," says Kevin M. Turner, architect with The Freelon Group Inc., Durham, NC.

• Copper + Client Cooperation = Kudos

  As one of Arizona’s top natural resources, copper is among the state’s celebrated “5 Cs,” along with citrus, climate, cattle, and cotton. Increasingly, however, copper metal is garnering special attention as the envelope-of-choice for several new buildings in Phoenix’s downtown area, including the stunning Arizona State University (ASU) College of Nursing and Health Innovation, the gateway to ASU’s new downtown Phoenix campus.

• Metal Meets the Need for New Goodwin College River Campus in East Hartford, CT

  Facing a rising wave of new students seeking admission each year, Goodwin College launched plans to develop a new central campus in East Hartford, CT, starting with its recently completed academic and administrative building

• Plans Call for Metal in Northwest Arkansas Community College’s Roof Retrofit

  Roof leakage seems to happen either by storm or in small increments. At Northwest Arkansas Community College (NWACC) in Bentonville, AR, it was a combination of both. Although less than 15 years old, the shingle roofs on its campus buildings were steadily giving way, shingle by shingle, to strong winds and storms common to the area.

• With Zinc Comes Gold

  When does zinc become gold? When a perforated and corrugated zinc envelope helps transform an industrial, turn-of-the-century building—once a bottle-storage facility for an adjacent brewery—into a prime example of innovative green design and construction. Today, 355 11th Street in San Francisco is one of the city’s first Gold LEED®-NC buildings and winner of multiple prestigious awards for both design and green building.

• White Paper Focuses on Benefits of Building with Metal in Retrofits Available from The Metal Initiative

  The Metal Initiative has produced a white paper focusing on using metal in retrofit applications. With retrofit being one of the hottest topics in the commercial building industry today, the white paper addresses the reasons why building owners, developers and architects are and should be choosing metal. Metal’s benefits are more than economical and environmentally friendly; they’re also visually appealing and long lasting.

• Copper-Colored Metal Links Old to New-Versatile Material Adds to Success of Long Island Retrofit Project

  When developers of a luxury condominium - - renovated from a century old power plant visible from Manhattan –realized that a smokestack issue was clearly stacked against them, they turned to metal -- in towering fashion.

• Something Old Something New: Metal Maintains Character in Pottstown Steel Mill Retrofit

  When renovating a building, particularly an old building, the challenge can be deciding how much of the original property should be maintained, and how much should be removed completely. In the case of the Pottstown project in Pottstown, PA, Craig Cigars, of Cigars Machine Shop, Inc. (CMI), not only had to make some of those challenging decisions as the owner and project lead, but he also wanted to incorporate energy-efficient technologies in the design.

• The Metal Initiative Enhances Case Study Gallery on Web Site

  The Metal Initiative recently redesigned the Case Study Gallery on its Web site (www.themetalinitiative.com) to make navigating through the section quick and easy. The new Case Study section allows building owners, architects, designers, facility managers, and others involved in the construction building process to easily search through the wide array of metal construction building case studies posted in recent years by The Metal Initiative

• The 20th annual METALCON International Conference and Exhibition

  The 20th annual METALCON International Conference and Exhibition – the one event for metal construction products, technologies and solutions. Themed “Focus Forward” the show marks 20 years of achievement and how that sets the pace for the future of building structures with metal.

• The Metal Initiative Presents 2010 Building with Metal Webinar Series

  February 2 ,2010 (Glenview, IL) – In response to the increasing demand for information about the benefits of building with metal for commercial projects, The Metal Initiative (TMI) is sponsoring three complimentary informational webinars during the months of March, April and May. The series was presented last fall and received high marks for information and value of content.

• ATAS President Dick Bus Lunches with President Obama

  The day after holding a Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth, President Barack Obama embarked on a White House to Main Street Tour to learn what residents of Allentown, Pa., are experiencing. Dick Bus, president of ATAS International, Inc., was selected as a small-business representative to have lunch with President Obama during the tour, which took place on Dec. 4.

• What Tops the List at METALCON? Retrofit and Solar

  The past year’s dramatic market shifts have brought two industry sectors into the spotlight -- retrofit and solar. You will find plenty of information about them at the 19th annual METALCON International Conference and Exhibition.

• The Metal Initiative to Host Three Webinars focusing on Benefits of Building with Metal

  August 20 ,2009 (Glenview, IL) – In response to the increasing demand for information about the benefits of building with metal for commercial projects, The Metal Initiative (TMI) is sponsoring three complimentary informational webinars during the months of September, October and November.

• MCA Carries On 25-Year Tradition with Announcement of 2008 President's Awards

  January 29, 2009, Glenview, IL -- When the Metal Construction Association topped off its 25th year with a gala celebration, it also marked 25 years of honoring innovation and creativity through its President’s Awards.

• RSMeans Survey Results

  The average cost of metal siding panels remains far lower than the average installed cost of stucco, tilt-up concrete, EIFS (synthetic stucco), and brick, according to new survey data released by RSMeans, a leading construction cost publishing firm that has been compiling such data since 1942

• Building Owner Survey Finds Metal Walls Offer The Best "Value For Price"

  In a recent nationwide survey of building owners, metal wall cladding received the highest possible “value for price” score from respondents, who rated metal a perfect 5.0 on a 5-point scale, with 5 being “extremely satisfied” and 1 being “not at all satisfied”.

• RSMeans Survey Results

  The average cost of metal siding panels remains far lower than the average installed cost of stucco, tilt-up concrete, EIFS (synthetic stucco), and brick, according to new survey data released by RSMeans, a leading construction cost publishing firm that has been compiling such data since 1942.

• Rated Higher Than BUR, Modified Bitumen, Single-ply

  Metal Roofing Outperforms Other Materials on Sustainability Issues, According to Owner Study

• Building Owners Expect Metal Roofs To Last

  A recent survey of building owners shows that those who installed metal roofing expect to get 41.6 years of service from their roofs, while owners who installed single-ply systems and BUR/modified bitumen expect their roofs to last 20.5 years and 23.0 years, respectively

• Announcement of New TMI Chairperson, Vice Chairperson

  Miller Peterson is elected to head The Metal Initiative

• Metal: Beyond the Myths

  Building owners are beginning to understand metal’s benefits, including low life-cycle costs and appealing designs.

• More Curves, Material Options Top List of Trends in Metal Roofing

  Rob Haddock, Director of the Metal Roof Advisory Group of Colorado Springs, Colorado, speaks with The Metal Initiative about the increasing popularity in curved metal panels.

• Metal Roofs Score Best in Comparative Analysis of Roof Life Expectancy, Life Cycle Costs, Maintenance Outlays

  Metal roofs have a significantly longer expected service life than either built-up roofing or single-ply roofs, according to a 2004 study of low slope roofing conducted by Ducker International, a Detroit-based research organization that specializes in construction materials.

• New Initiative to Put More Metal in Commercial Market

  An industry-wide program designed to increase the use of metal in the commercial construction market is now in progress. Known as The Metal Initiative and themed “It must be metal,” the national educational and promotional plan was introduced at the Metal Construction Association’s (MCA) 2005 Annual Meeting held January 29-31, 2005 in La Jolla, Calif.

Industry Releases News

• Cool Metal Roofing Elevated by EPA ENERGY STAR Amendment

  A procedural amendment to the US EPA ENERGY STAR program for roof products has elevated Cool Metal Roofing’s ongoing contribution to energy efficiency.

• Cool Metal Roofing Now on Whole Building Design Guide Web Site

  The Cool Metal Roofing Coalition announces the posting of the Cool Metal Roofing Resource Page to the Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG) web site.

• Painted Cool Metal Roofing Stays “Young” in Aged Reflectance Study

  A comprehensive study on the aged reflectance values for painted metal roofing and other roofing materials completed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the Cool Metal Roofing Coalition conclusively shows that the solar reflectance and thermal emittance values of painted metal roofing degrade minimally over time.