Should Steel Buildings Be Insulated?

One of the things to consider when you’re shopping for steel buildings, whether for commercial, agricultural or personal use, is whether or not to include insulation in your steel building package. Choosing insulation will obviously add to the cost of your steel building, but it will offset other expenses – provide other benefits that may make it economically advantageous as well as making your building more comfortable.

The Role of Insulation

Insulation serves a number of purposes, especially in metal buildings. Because metal is such a good conductor of heat and cold, steel buildings are notorious for thermal transfer – that is, cold air from inside will move outside if it’s warmer outside and cold air from outside will move inside if it’s warmer inside. The end result is much higher energy bills for both heating and cooling. Depending on the temperature extremes in your area, insulation could save you hundreds – even thousands – of dollars a year in energy costs to heat and cool your space.

However, in steel buildings insulation also serves other purposes, some of which can reduce your cost of ownership and others simply make your building more pleasant to use. These purposes include:

Radiant Heat Barrier

Fiberglass insulation – the most commonly installed type of insulation for steel buildings – is “mass insulation”. It keeps your buildings cooler in warm weather and warmer in cool weather by slowing down the transfer of heat. That’s only one type of insulation, though. Reflective insulation, also known as radiant barrier insulation, prevents the transfer of heat by reflecting radiant heat back. That means that it will keep the heat inside in the cold weather and keep it from coming in during warm weather.

Moisture Control

One of the most common problems with steel buildings is moisture. Because they’re built to be weather-tight, steel buildings tend to hold moisture inside as well as keep it out. The right insulation can help prevent condensation and the accompanying damage due to moisture, including mold and mildew.

Sound Damping

Anyone who has ever weathered a rainstorm under a tin roof knows that metal conducts – indeed, amplifies – sound quite readily. An uninsulated steel building can be rather loud – echoes bouncing off the walls and outside sounds amplified to make them even louder. Insulation damps a lot of that sound by absorbing it, even if you don’t use sound-proofing. While that may not save you any money, it will certainly make your use of the building much more comfortable.

Steel buildings offer many advantages for just about any use, but if you’re planning and designing a steel building, it definitely pays off to add insulation into your budget.