Remember those Erector sets from back in the day? Well, a Pre-Engineered Metal Building (PEMB) is a lot like those, except a little bigger. Okay, a lot bigger.
Ultimately, the concept is the same: pre-measured materials are fabricated at one location, then bundled together and shipped to the job site where expert erectors assemble the pieces.
You might think that if you choose the PEMB method, you’ll get a cookie-cutter carbon copy of a building, but that’s not the case! PEMBs are just as customizable as any other building method. At Nuway, we partner with Nucor Building Systems for our PEMB fabrication, whose “metal buildings are fully customized to fit our customer’s unique needs to provide sophisticated, energy efficient, and environmentally friendly building solutions.”
So, what are the primary benefits of a Pre-Engineered Metal Building?
Because PEMBs require less time to construct than traditional buildings, they are more affordable. Along with that, since everything is pre-measured and pre-cut, the entire process requires less material and fewer hours of labor.
PEMBs are prefabricated off-site, meaning when the components arrive, they’re ready for assembly. This requires far less time than traditional building methods, in which the materials arrive onsite before they’re measured and cut. For example, we constructed the Way building —an 800,000 square foot building — in just over 11 months, thanks to the efficiency of this method.
Steel — the primary material in any PEMB — is one of the most recyclable materials on the planet. Nucor’s steel systems contain over 70% recycled steel and are 100% recyclable. Furthermore, features like their insulated metal wall panels and low profile rooflines can reduce your building’s energy consumption.
For more information on how steel buildings are more sustainable than other construction material alternatives, check out this article from Green Building Insider.
In addition to being recyclable, steel is also incredibly durable. Unlike wood and other traditional building materials, steel is highly resistant to moisture, mold, and other threats like insects.
On top of that, steel has a higher strength-to-weight ratio than wood or concrete, so you need less of it to support the same amount of weight.
To reiterate an earlier point: pre-engineered metal buildings are not all lookalike tin cans. When designing a building at Nuway, we take pride in our commitment to process analysis. We want to know the ins and outs of your operation so that we can design exactly what your business needs to thrive. Take a look at some of our favorite projects, all of which are PEMBs!
“Nuway Construction effectively leveraged technology and face to face meetings to keep all parties abreast of progress during the construction of our newest banking center in South Bend, Indiana. There was never any question as to who was doing what or where we were in terms of budget or progress. The final result was a beautiful building that was built on budget in the midst of uncertain economic times.”
