BUILDING ENVELOPE

Using Stainless Steel as a

Building Envelope

James Halliday

President, Contrarian Metal Resources

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tainless steel is emerging as a material of choice in building construction. Its longevity is without question. Recycling statistics are impressive. It has the lowest embodied
energy of any metal used in construction. Finishing methods
offer substantial variety. If this list of benefits isnt impressive
enough, stainless steels unparalleled solar reflectance saves
energy and reduces global warming.
While the majority of architectural applications of stainless
steel have been for interior elements like elevators, the shift toward sustainable materials has propelled the use of stainless
steel as a building envelope in recent years. As architects, specifiers, fabricators and contractors become more familiar with
the application of stainless steel in architecture, building owners
will realize lower maintenance and operating costs through increased use of this sustainable material.
A building envelope is what separates the inside from the
outside and its components include the foundation, the roof, the
walls, the door and the windows. The materials used for these
parts help determine the effectiveness, structural integrity and

durability of the building, which stated briefly means the way

that the pieces interact with one another, their connections, their
fasteners and fabrications. All these pieces and their details work
in conjunction to provide physical protection from the weather,
the indoor climate, the air quality, the durability and the energy
efficiency.
Stainless steels use in building envelope applications dates
as far back as the 1920s. Perhaps the most prominent building
from that era is the Chrysler Building. Completed in 1930, the
stainless work has withstood the test of time, with maintenance
limited to two cleanings (one in 1961 and another in 1995) and
the replacement in 1995 of a few panels near the heating exhausts that showed evidence of pitting corrosion. Clearly, the
use of such a durable material has saved the owners of this
building considerable expense over the years.
Another example of stainless steels durability is the Socony
Mobil building, also in New York City. The accompanying photo
shows a recent cleaning that was undertaken. Completed in the
mid 1950s, the building accumulated dirt until cleaning was
undertaken in 1995. This cleaning was accomplished with soap,
water and cotton cloths. Ammonia was used to address some
spots that did not respond to soap and water. The finish, being
somewhat coarse, facilitated the buildup of dirt on the exterior
surfaces but this condition did not prevent the appearance from
being 100 percent restored with traditional cleaning methods.
These fine examples of stainless steel envelopes on histor-

BUILDING ENVELOPE

varying degrees of reflectivity, these finishes support a number

of design aesthetics while delivering ease of maintenance. We
suggest that the cleaning crew on the Sacony Mobil building
would have had a better looking building start with an a much
easier job on their hands in order to clean it if these products were
available in the 1950s when it was built.
Contrarian Metal Resources signature product, InvariMatte
Stainless Steel was specified for the new Hamid International
Airport, Doha, Qatar. Its gulf location is a corrosive environment
with elevated temperatures and sand-bearing winds that contribute to the severity of its environment. Contrarian worked in
conjunction with ATI Flat Rolled, its melting mill supplier and
Bemo USA, a leading international roofing concern, in order to
meet the challenge by developing an ATI 2003 lean duplex alloy
version of the InvariMatte finish that could be fabricated into a
structural standing seam roofing system. The result is a handsome roof that is low gloss, dirt resistant, uniformly textured
and stands up nicely to the harsh environment in Doha. The
oldest panels have been installed for more than 8 years with no
signs of corrosion.
Beyond coastal Middle East environments, there are many
other locations around the world where mild grades of stainless steel do not have adequate corrosion resistance. Coastal
India, other Asian locations and even parts of North America,
such as the Hawaiian islands present environmental conditions
where Type 316 stainless steel, the normal marine grade, can
rust. The development of ATI 2003 InvariMatte stainless steel
allows sustainable corrosion free performance of metal building
envelopes in these locations at lower cost. Prior to its development, coatings and their resulting maintenance and replacement were the only metal building options, unless titanium could
find its way into the budget.

The Masterbuilder | June 2015 | www.masterbuilder.co.in

ic buildings underscore what true sustainability is as stainless

steel offers greater residual and resale value with lower maintenance costs as it does not require repainting or resurfacing.
While the use of stainless steel building envelopes was a bit of
a novelty when these two New York properties were built, there
has been increased interest in this impressive material in recent
years.
With respect to the maintenance of stainless steel, when
properly specified and installed it does not require replacement
and therefore avoids service disruption which should not be undervalued. Stainless steel lasts indefinitely without coatings that
emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as in the case of many
painted surfaces. Stainless requires minimal maintenance and
has no leaching or runoff as with less stable materials. Worldwide, stainless steel is 60% recycled. In the United States the
figure is 80%, it is a truly green, sustainable product that when
used appropriately will garner LEED certification points. In addition, when the building is no longer in service it is highly likely
that the material will be recycled. The result is a sustainable design with low maintenance costs and low environmental impact
that generates long-term value to the building owner. Unlike
aluminum, for example, stainless steel can be fully recycled into new
stainless steel applications without needing to be downgraded.
Further, the extraordinarily high recycled content of stainless
steel is part of the reason why it has the lowest embodied energy of metals used in construction.
Contrarian Metal Resources has developed a number of
finishes that are specifically designed for architectural applications. Its line of micro-embossed finishes in particular, provide
reduced maintenance costs since they are hydrophobic, or
self-cleaning. Available in stainless steel as well as titanium with

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BUILDING ENVELOPE

While the duplex alloy version of InvariMatte was designed

for Doha with corrosion resistance and glare reduction in mind,
much more was learned from this extraordinary project. Atop
the Hamid airport roof on a 48 degree Celsius day in full sun,
I was unable to detect radiant heat emanating from the roofs
surface. I placed my hand on the metal and discovered to my
surprise that the roof was comfortable to the touch. Clearly,
something important was going on. When we returned to the
United States, we initiated a study to try to understand why that
roof was cool to the touch, and what it meant for the building
owner. With the help of an independent metallurgical consultant,
we obtained a number of important findings.
In short, we were able to understand the important solar
reflectance property of stainless steel and what it means to energy efficiency as well as global warming. We also became more
aware of the potential human health risk of urban surfaces that
generate heat from solar radiation. Beyond heat island mitigation
for global warmings sake, stainless steel building envelopes

(better than even white painted surfaces) promise to reduce urban

temperatures during heat waves, potentially saving lives. It was
clear to us that a great deal can be done to benefit planet Earth
through the increased use of stainless steel in construction.
Stainless steel is an extraordinarily efficient reflector of
solar radiation, making it an ideal material for roofing as well
as wall systems. Stainless steel does not oxidize; it retains its
solar reflectance efficiency over time, unlike painted surfaces
and membrane materials. While modern high-tech white paint
finishes offer about the same solar reflectance when new, they
oxidize over time, thereby losing solar reflectance. After about
20 years in most environments, white paint loses about a third
of its solar reflectance, while InvariMatte stainless steel has
been proven to lose none.
Accumulated dirt on the surface of a building envelope will
interfere with solar reflection. This is true of any material, including stainless steel. Since InvariMatte is designed to shed
dirt, its solar reflection efficiency is undisturbed over time. We
tested three InvariMatte roofs in different parts of the United
States after 10 years in service that had not been cleaned and
were unable to measure any degradation in solar reflectance
compared to brand-new control samples.
Beyond cooling the planet, stainless steel roofs and wall
systems act as radiant barriers that conserve energy. Since
stainless steel contributes to the buildings insulation system in
this important way, the advantages apply to warm climates as
well as cold. However, the biggest economic benefits as well as
the greatest contribution to cooling the planet will be realized
in hot climates.
In the past, stainless steel had been an underappreciated
building material. However, more building owners and the construction professionals who serve them are recognizing the tremendous value this material represents. Beyond its impressive
energy performance as a building material, stainless steel has
low embodied energy compared to other construction materials
including glass and painted aluminum. Provided the right alloy
is used for a given environment, its durability is unquestioned,
allowing stainless steel buildings to last indefinitely with low
maintenance and operating costs over a service life that can last as
long as the building stands.