A Small World, With Unlimited Potential, For Metal Construction Products
By Shawn Zuver, editorial/content director
A few weeks ago, we posted a column on DesignandBuildwithMetal.com that addressed the roles that gauge and width of metal roof panels play in the performance of the metal roof system. This column by Dale Nelson, president of Roof Hugger and a veteran of more than three decades in the metal roofing and building industry, was based on his response to a question that we received here.
I’m not calling attention to this question because it’s all that unusual—and, as expected, Dale did an excellent job of examining the situation (click here to check out Dale’s column). Instead, the most striking thing to me about this question is its origin. The author was a general contractor (again, not surprising), who is located in Roatan, situated off the north coast of Honduras.
To borrow from that annoying—yet unforgettable--Disney theme-park ride melody, it’s becoming a Small World for metal construction products and technology. Please accept my apologies if I’ve put that tune into your head.
When we launched DesignandBuildwithMetal.com in the summer of 2007, we expected the site would have a worldwide appeal. During our 20-plus years in the metal construction industry, my partners—John Garvey and Bob Fittro—and I had seen many U.S. manufacturers and suppliers take their products and ideas abroad via licensing and distribution agreements and full-scale manufacturing ventures. Meanwhile, the influx of foreign products to the U.S. goes back decades for everything from raw and finished steel to fasteners, roofing, wall systems and building technology.
It was clear to us that there was a need to share information about metal construction products…not only in the U.S., but throughout North America and abroad.
Despite our expectations, which are shared by many of our advertisers who are keeping a sharp eye on future growth potential in a worldwide market, I have to admit that we’ve been awed by reality. This was shockingly clear to me last fall, shortly after I had posted a column about cold-formed steel framing and some contractor guidelines that had just been published by the Steel Framing Alliance (SFA). I was doing a quick check of my email one Friday evening, when I found a message from a building designer in Australia who had a follow-up question. He added that he was excited to find resources like those offered by SFA, and was looking forward to exploring cold-formed steel for future projects.
And that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Since launching, we’ve received regular visitors from more than 140 countries! I’m a bit ashamed to admit that I couldn’t begin to point out many of them on a map, nor can I pronounce some of the names correctly. I also marvel at the ability of these visitors to translate some of the industry jargon into their own language…or it could be that they’re primarily gaining information by studying the thousands of photos on our site or on the sites that are hyperlinked from ours.
There’s undoubtedly a great deal of information that can be gathered from looking at photos of the thousands of products that make up our industry. Those of us who attend the annual METALCON International trade show (click here for info on the next show) are accustomed to seeing people from dozens of countries file past the exhibits with cameras in hand. Countless conversations over the years have brought out similar stories of designers, contractors and developers who are researching the world’s metal construction offerings as they envision their future projects.
In many ways, I suppose something similar is happening when those visitors from 140-plus countries come to DesignandBuildwithMetal.com on a daily basis.
So, why does any of this matter? It depends on how you’re involved in the metal construction industry.
As an architect or designer, a better awareness of global design can improve your projects aesthetically, structurally and environmentally. The same is true for building owners, homeowners and developers. As a contractor, the increased knowledge may also lead to more efficient construction techniques and safer practices. As a product supplier, the benefits of global awareness are mind-boggling: the ability to open your products to broader markets or adding new offerings to your line-up are two of the more obvious ones.
As for DesignandBuildwithMetal.com, a small world means that we need to be aware of shaping news items, educational content and projects to our worldwide audience. It’s clearly an exciting time to be involved in construction and design—especially when working with front-running metal construction products.
You’ll have to excuse me now. I’m going need some time to get that Small World tune out of my head.
Shawn Zuver is editorial/content director for DesignandBuildwithMetal.com. He has been covering the metal construction industry, including residential and non-residential construction, since 1985. To contact Shawn, call (419) 581-2051 or email shawnz@designandbuildwithmetal.com.
To view other columns by Shawn or other columnists, click here.