Steel Buildings in Europe

Part 2: Concept Design 2 - 9  Construction in steel m aximises th e opportunity and ease of extending buildings and change of use  High levels of thermal insulation can be provided in the building envelope  Prefabricated construction systems are rap idly installed and are much safer in terms of the construction processes  Steel construction is safe to install, and safety features can be introduced into the steel design, such as pre-attached safety barriers, as shown in Figure 1.5. Different sustain ability assessm ent m easures exist in various European countries [4] . National building regulations pr esent m inimum levels of overall energy performance which m ust be satis fied. Many m ulti-storey buildings are designed with solar shading and active energy creation technologies, such as Photovoltaics (PVs), as shown in Figure 1.6. Utilisation of the ther mal capacity of the building s tructure can be achieved using composite slabs, and research has shown that a slab depth of only 50 mm to 75 mm is needed to provide adequate fabric energy storage [5] . Figure 1.5 Safety barriers pre-attached to the perimeter steelwork