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The Metal Building Trends blog covers the latest trends, technologies, and techniques in the metal building industry. Founded in 1927, Star Building Systems has more than eighty-five years of experience in the design, construction, and sale of custom metal building solutions for all types of applications, from schools and warehouses to retail stores and airport hangars.

Bryan Arlington | Mar 19, 2014

Frames: the biggest value engineering tip

In every aspect of a metal building, you can tweak the cost by adjusting the finish, panel thickness, and panel profile. These changes might make a few percentage points difference in the cost. Change the framing and you have the opportunity to affect 10-20 percent savings to the metal building portion of the project.

Kim Mulder | Mar 11, 2014

Why you should start with a builder, part three

We had worked together for 30 years. As a long-standing client of mine, he and I had gone through many projects together. And we were approaching another project, one that would forever change how he viewed our working relationship. As my customer and I sat down to talk about the project details, he told me something that would stay with me for weeks. “Kim, I’m going to have to get other bids on this just so I have peace of mind.”

John Negich | Feb 19, 2014

Why you should start with a builder, part two

When it’s time to build or expand, the first step is finding a builder that fits your needs. Once you have found a builder, checked their references, visited with their previous clients and are ready to move forward, the next step is answering an initial set of questions that will direct your project.

David Alexander | Feb 13, 2014

Why you should start with a builder

They say the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Expanding your building or constructing a new structure for your business, church, or school isn’t all that different. Attacking it is best done in small, deliberate pieces. 

John Negich | Feb 6, 2014

New Hampshire metal building awes visitors

Visitors to the Keene Family YMCA in New Hampshire are often surprised by what they encounter. Liz Coppola calls it the “wow factor.” “Literally, there’s jaw dropping,” says Coppola, director of financial and program development for the Keene Family YMCA.
Gabe Savely | Jan 30, 2014

What to expect in the metal building industry in 2014

Every year brings changes. This one won’t be any different. We’ll see growth in some areas, declines in others. Here’s a little preview of what we’ll be writing about 2014 when 2015 comes rolling in.

Allen Hurtz | Jan 23, 2014

Think you can recognize a metal building from the outside?

What looks like brick, stucco or wood on the outside could actually be a metal building. Metal is no longer easily detectable. It’s gotten sneakier visually. And a great example of that is the Madison Square retail center in Norman, Okla.

Bob Zabcik | Jan 12, 2014

The ‘fuzz factor’ in engineering: when continuous improvement is neither

The biggest threat to human life in a building isn’t the potential of natural disasters, but the threat of human error. I believe it’s a reality that increases in probability every time a code or standard change is proposed. 

Bryan Arlington | Jan 6, 2014

What is value engineering?

If you had to define value engineering in a single word, you might boil it down to "efficiency." That would be one word, but it wouldn’t be accurate.

Gabe Savely | Dec 16, 2013

Is the metal building industry in a technology shift?

Automation is the future you can’t avoid, though you may try. Even within the metal building industry—which is made up of skilled tradesmen—automation has revolutionized, and will continue revolutionizing, how we work.

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