Let the light shine in

Summit Steel Buildings' engineering mean window walls created by high-strength steel framing use natural light to brighten welcoming and healthy work environments.

Modern workplaces are continually adapting to employee needs. Not every employee can work at home so employers must build welcoming workplace to help attract and retain productive teams.

Regardless of the type of work, people no longer want to work in dark and gloomy claustrophobic spaces that harken back to industrial-age factories. The current workplace demands spaces be bright, filled with natural light. More and more, businesses are responding by incorporating walls of windows into their environments that allow healthy and motivating sunlight and beautiful, inspiring vistas.

When it comes to building or expanding your facilities, only the strength of steel-framing allows for more glass and more natural light into your building. Your business can enjoy the health benefits of more light for employees and improved business results (higher production, utility savings, fire prevention). Working with Summit Steel Buildings and their team of design experts allows you to create these welcoming settings and more sophisticated architectural designs that entice visitors and make the workplace more productive.

The benefits of more natural light in the workplace
Access to natural light and outdoors views are the number one demanded feature of the workplace environment, outranking onsite cafeterias, fitness centers and even premium perks such as on-site childcare, according to research cited in Harvard Business Review.

It's no wonder natural light in the workplace is in so much demand with a greater number of steel buildings being built with larger expanses of glass. The benefits to both employees and employers are significant and proven to enhance personal and financial results:

Higher productivity: Employees exposed to natural light enjoy longer and deeper sleep and are more satisfied overall. Happy employees report less eye strain and fewer headaches (a Cornell study concludes an 84% drop), more alertness and more attention to detail - leading to fewer mistakes. Even a 2% increase in productivity translates into millions of payroll savings and increases to revenue. If employees spend over five hours per day at their desk, access to natural lights can have a big impact to business bottom line through employees' work performance, well-being (fewer sick days!) and higher engagement.

Greater sales: In a Walmart experiment, Pacific Gas & Electric tested how natural lighting affected sales. The study concluded that sales in stores with skylights were 40% higher than those using fluorescent lighting.

Lower ongoing costs: Walls of glass help moderate internal temperatures and reduce the need (and cost) of environmental control. Utility costs drop. Contemporary treated glass surfaces prevent heat loss in winter and can be used to help regulate internal temperatures during warmer summer months. They can also be energy controlled to vary the amount of sunlight that comes through. Large panes of glass create bright, well-lit spaces with lower costs. Artificial lighting can account for about a third of electrical use in commercial buildings.
Higher property values: Natural lighting makes spaces seem more open and inviting; as such, potential tenants are willing to pay at least two to four dollars per square foot more than for office space with little or no natural lighting. Naturally lit spaces also rent faster, earning more overall revenue than spaces sitting on market empty longer.

Fire prevention: Exterior glass walls are designed with fire-resistant glazing to comply with emergency regulations and enhance workplace safety. Walls of glass aren't used just on exterior surfaces; they can be used inside buildings for beautiful architectural aesthetics that also serve as fire barriers and thermal breaks. Of course, glass is only one part of a fire-resistant safety system. However, steel framing systems (which allow for wide-open spaces) are more tolerant to higher temperatures and prevent the spread of any fire, especially to adjacent buildings. All these fire-rated systems can be seamlessly built into attractive designs.

How steel framing allows for the weight of so much glass
Glass is very heavy. Large walls of seamless, weather-sealed, glazed glass systems, which provide all that natural daylight and energy efficiency, are incredibly more so. Your building's solid concrete foundation, steel beam framing and steel panels create the strength to support it all. Steel's high strength-to-weight ratio makes it all possible - while also allowing the structure to be built faster and more affordably than by using traditional methods.

And traditional building materials, such as brick and mortar, timber or engineered wood products cannot be constructed with the same level of precision and stability, especially within a manner that permits modern, complex designs. Architects can integrate expansive glass façades into other eye-catching features such as cantilevers, decks, walkways and exposed steelwork to make your commercial building really stand out.

Beautiful design is important; strength is essential. Structural steel and pre-engineered panel systems are connected with an accuracy that actually reinforces exteriors to protection against high winds, all levels of precipitation and extreme temperatures. Steel engineering's strength is a barrier against outside threats while still allowing for the beautiful views and natural light that afford so many benefits.

Steel engineering's strength is a barrier against outside threats while still allowing for the beautiful views and natural light that afford so many benefits.

Pleasing walls of glass are only possible using steel
Not only is the volume of glass being used in modern commercial buildings increasing, but individual size of glass (or "vision area") has increased 20%, bringing more healthy sunlight to bathe productive working areas. These positive increases are only possible due to steel's strength and precision engineering to support heavy walls of glass.

As you plan the needs of your next building project, consider how these high-performing, energy-efficient and fire-resistance materials can improve both the look and the function of your environment. Your design vision won't be limited by engineering - steel is the only material to turn it into reality! Contact Summit Steel Buildings for a quote and to receive preliminary drawings of your dream facility.

Summit Steel Buildings
970 Burrard Street, Unit 244, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6Z 2R4
Office: 877-417-8335
info@summitsteelbuildings.com
www.summitsteelbuildings.com

Summit Steel Buildings is a premier manufacturing and construction supplier in the pre-engineered building industry. Their engineering team provides full stamped engineered drawings for permit and construction across North America. They fabricate their commercial and industrial steel buildings throughout multiple factories strategically located around the continent to ensure they are able to deliver inland and to any port on the east and west coasts. Please visit www.summitsteelbuildings.com.

This release was published on openPR.