Kirby India is in the forefront of green innovation and is leading the green construction in the country through its PEB technology, thereby contributing to the green building movement, says D Raju, MD, Kirby Building Systems & Structures India Pvt Ltd.

How has technological innovations aided faster construction of steel and metal structures and thereby timely completions?
The impact of the steel industry on global GDP and economic development cannot be overstated, especially when its role is critical in buildings and infrastructure. An integral part of infrastructure, steel also helps to connect people to education and social opportunities as well as supports health, safety, and security. This is all in addition to buildings and infrastructure’s important correlation with other steel consuming sectors. Given the role of steel in the global economy, it is important to understand the forward-looking factors influencing the sector as well as steel producers—particularly in light of the ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic.

Steel represents a significant share of the materials used in construction – industrial, commercial and multi-storey residential buildings and other construction avenues. Beyond the immediate economic volatility currently experienced by the global economy, there are a number of underlying trends driving the future demand for steel in the building and construction sector, especially steel structures. At the heart of many of these trends is progressive urbanisation, infrastructure development, Make in India, Atma Nirbhar Bharat, Product Linked Incentives (PLIs) and the growth of so-called smart cities which can create a significant opportunity for steel producers to evolve their thinking of how steel can play a role in the buildings and cities of the future in the form of pre-engineered steel buildings (PEBs). The material embraces full, end-to-end lifecycle thinking, starting with the architect’s vision and design thinking through to the end-of-life or perhaps re-purposing of a building many years in the future.

Construction companies are also moving towards standardisation, modularisation, and prefabrication of building and infrastructure components to drive efficiencies and minimise potential project schedule overruns. Such modularisation is expected to improve the productivity and margins for contractors, while standardisation is driving improvements in quality and shortening project schedules.

Steel sections can be produced off-site at shop floors and then assembled onsite using nut and bolt connections. This saves time and increases the efficiency of the overall construction process resulting in faster project completion. Also, with companies looking for faster project completion which in turn will give faster returns on their investments, PEB is the only one-stop solution to fulfil their requirements. All these buildings are unique in nature with different steel sections and customised as per the requirement of the customer.

What are the long-term benefits of a pre-engineered steel structure?
Steel buildings are steadily increasing its market share in the construction and civil engineering sector. Steel construction is a good option for diversity of projects for many reasons, including durability, affordability and sustainability. Steel is versatile in nature, tensile, highly durable, recyclable, has scrap value and can withstand external pressures such as earthquakes when used in the form of a building. It has a high strength-to-weight ratio which means it has high strength per unit mass. So, no matter how large the overall structure is, the steel sections are stronger than other building materials and have a good load carrying capacity. Steel can be easily fabricated as it is flexible and can be moulded into any shape without changing its properties and also converted into sheets or other products as per the design.

Components of a pre-engineered steel structure can quickly be fabricated off-site in different customised sizes and then transported to the construction site when needed, minimising onsite labour requirements and reducing the impact of variables that can delay a project. Steel buildings are flexible in expansion, environment-friendly, earthquake resistant, faster to construct, dry construction, quality controlled, recyclable and aesthetically appealing.

What are some of the methods to prevent the oxidation of steel and metals and ensure they remain protected from heat and corrosion?
Steel addresses the need for greater strength, toughness, formability, and weldability. For construction steels, there has already been a number of developments in the area of high strength steels, which have greatly improved structural performance. Meeting requirements for corrosion resistance and fire resistance through barrier coating powders, protective paint coatings, etc., also plays a significant role. Focusing on steel cleanliness, microstructure control, advanced thermo-mechanical controlled rolling processes, and innovative rolling technologies are fundamental to supporting the future evolution of steel materials in building structures.

How can steel and metal structure maintain a perfect balance between cost and energy efficiency? India is world’s fastest growing economy and its rapidly growing younger population is driving the domestic consumption story leading to evolve ways of sustainable growth including construction. PEB is one of the choices when it comes to sustainable and eco-friendly construction as steel is 100 per cent recyclable and can be re-used for making other products again and again. PEBs use simple nut and bolt connection for installation of sections which are transported from the factory as per the customer’s requirement and erected as per the standard procedures with world-class safety protocols. All the sections of PEBs are lightweight, quicker design and detailing, factory fabricated with quality control, faster completion, future expansion and easily transportable when compared to conventional buildings.

These buildings are also referred to as green buildings, which has caught the attention of many builders and developers across India and is making inroads across all types of construction. Kirby India is in the forefront of this innovation and is leading the green construction in the country through its PEB technology, thereby contributing to the green building movement. These buildings are cost-effective, energy-efficient and provide better quality environment as they are cooler in hot conditions due to the favourable roofing material, suitable insulation and natural ventilation.

The use of skylights and solar panels mounted on rooftops of industrial buildings also meet daylight and captive power requirements which reduce the dependence on power supply from other sources and at the same time reduce emissions and gain carbon credits under clean development mechanism. Effective usage of insulation material, louvers and other materials also helps in temperature control and rain water harvesting. This will lead to a viable construction methodology as it has all the green benefits, dry construction, saving of natural resources, etc., thereby using environment-friendly material.

What kind of projects are you undertaking in the current market scenario?
Kirby continues to take all type of projects catering to industrial, commercial, infrastructure, etc., depending on the project feasibility and taking into consideration various other factors related to the project. We take all small and big projects right from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 400 crore without any size limitation catering to all kinds of customers – Indian corporates and MNCs from manufacturing sector, warehouse owners, logistic park developers, builders, contractors, architects, etc., belonging to all the industry segments and their sub-segments.

Government is extensively promoting steel as one of the key building materials for construction as it is 100 per cent recyclable; environment-friendly; and savings in natural resources such as water, sand, etc.;  thereby giving preference to PEBs which is one of the advanced and sustainable construction technologies today.

This will lead to increase in demand for pre-engineered steel buildings which is definitely going to increase in the coming years as there is paradigm shift towards steel construction with higher acceptability across manufacturing sector and commercial high-rise buildings. Other sectors expected to create demand for steel buildings include e-commerce and warehousing, automotive, textile, engineering, food and beverages, consumer goods, agro based etc.

Government’s focus on higher infrastructure spend, increasing urbanisation, rising acceptability of sustainable construction technology such as green buildings, Make in India scheme, etc., is likely to create a much more vibrant market for steel construction in India. Kirby being a pioneer and market leader in steel construction in India is one-stop place for customers as their most trusted partners for their steel building requirement and turn their dream into reality by contributing towards their growth and success. Kirby is definitely poised for a big PEB growth wave and take India to the higher growth trajectory by contributing to the infrastructure development through its sustainable and advanced steel construction technology.