While inflation may or may not have already peaked, many analysts expect prices to stay high for several more months or even years. How can you minimize the cost of erecting and operating a commercial building in this economy? Here are some ideas on how to buffer your commercial building against inflation.
Make It Metal
Steel offers big advantages for stores, restaurants, warehouses, office spaces, and other commercial buildings. With steel,
- Your initial investment could be half what you’d spend building with wood or concrete.
- Construction is much quicker than with wood and concrete: it can take as little as eight weeks from order to completion. This doesn’t leave much time for inflation to drive up the price. Quick construction also saves money on labor and on construction-loan interest.
- Steel construction is cheaper than other building materials. Most of the fabrication and shaping occur in a factory. Steel is light, so transporting the components from the factory to the site costs less. So does the concrete foundation, which won’t need to bear as much weight. And steel construction uses fewer supplies to connect the parts.
- The steel itself provides savings. A big percentage of it is actually recycled. Recycled steel costs less than new steel but has just as much strength and durability.
Choose Metal for Your Future
Over time, your metal building will continue to give you good value.
- Steel is durable. It’s noncombustible and unaffected by fire. Steel doesn’t attract mold, termites, or other wood-boring pests. Unlike concrete, it doesn’t crack or crumble.
- Unprotected steel rusts, so specify red-iron steel for the beams in the frame. (The red oxide sprayed onto them protects against water.) Enclose the frame with steel panels pre-painted to prevent erosion.
- Steel is flexible, so it stands up to wind and earthquakes.
- Insurance companies tend to assign lower premiums to steel buildings.
- Steel I-beams form the building’s frame. The frame is so strong the roof can span a large space without needing support columns. This big, uninterrupted interior adapts to any layout; when your needs change, the interior reconfigures easily.
- Expanding the building upward or outward is easy and straightforward. To add a new wing, just detach a wall and fit new walls outward from the opening.
Steel’s physical and economic strengths mean your building will endure for decades. If you decide to sell it at some point, the new owners can adapt it to their own needs—a point that increases its resale value.
Fit Out an Interior That Keeps Saving You Money
The government and industry are moving away from carbon-based energy. Power plants are switching to renewables. Yet aging electrical grids struggle to stay online. Do what you can within your budget to invest in energy-saving approaches. They’ll save you money every month and make your business more resilient.
- Metal roofs and walls can be insulated. This might not be necessary in some parts of the country or for some warehouses. However, increasingly unpredictable weather makes insulation a smart investment for many owners. Steel also conducts heat and cold well, which makes it subject to condensation. Insulation prevents that, so it protects steel from that water.
- There are many good options for saving energy, from LED light fixtures to heat pumps to solar roof panels.
- The federal Energy Star program certifies energy-saving products. For commercial use, Energy Star includes HVAC fixtures, food service equipment, commercial clothes washers, and office equipment. A label on each item tells you how many dollars the product could save you per year. Some Energy Star-certified products also qualify for rebates.
- Some utility companies offer rebates on products in categories that Energy Star doesn’t cover. For example, Georgia Power Co. offers commercial customers rebates on nearly two dozen types of energy-saving products.
- The federal government and some state governments also allow tax credits for energy-saving investments. Check with your accountant.
You might want to free up more funds to get more of these ongoing savings. One way is to buy used items. Some vendors sell used warehouse equipment, steel storage racks, or office furnishings.
Our Design-Build Team Can Help
Email Peak Steel at info@peaksteelbuildings.com or call us toll-free at 844-333-7325 to learn more about how to buffer your commercial building against inflation. We’ll design a commercial building that’s right for your business and carry the project through to completion.