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Metal Features
Metal storage buildings are typically made of steel. Steel offers many benefits, including strength and durability over long periods of time. This metal also resists cracking and rotting, unlike traditional wood frame buildings. In addition, building designs are more flexible with metal construction, negating the need for load-bearing walls required for wood structures. Metal offers fire-resistance as another benefit.
Lightning Protection
Metal storage buildings require air terminals and roof conductors. Air terminals are aluminum or copper projections, resembling antennas, installed on a roof at 20-foot intervals. The air terminal extends at least 10 inches above the roof's surface, providing a lightning strike point, as opposed to any other area on the roof. Roof conductors extend from the air terminal and attach to the metal storage building's frame. As lightning strikes an air terminal, the electrical current moves down the air terminal, into the conductor, down through the building's frame and into the ground. This system protects the exterior and interior of the building from high-voltage damage.
Metal Benefits
Many people hesitate to use metal as a building material because of lightning strike concerns. However, metal's natural composition creates a path for electrical current. Lightning strikes search for a ground point for rectifying the electrical charge imbalance. A metal building's framework is essentially a ground wire. The lightning will move through the framework to the ground without dispersing throughout the building, creating a safe interior for any inhabitants.
Lightning Protection Installation
Lightning protection systems are simple in theory but require specific installation for the best functionality. Each metal building is unique in size and design. Air terminals and conductors must be located in specific configurations. Design and Build with Metal recommends hiring a contractor specializing in lightning protection installations, including the nationally recognized standards of the Underwriters Laboratories and the National Fire Protection Association.
Buyer Considerations
Currently, there is only one specific installation process approved by U.S. national standards. Buyers should be cautious if a contractor presents a new, innovative protection system. The subsequent system may not operate as well as the approved protection installation configuration.