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What is the Best Orientation for Your Prefab Metal Building?
7
Jul 2020

What is the Best Orientation for Your Prefab Metal Building?

Stephan Michaels
Metal Buildings

The benefits of metal buildings are as numerous as they are varied, making prefab metal buildings an excellent choice for Americans from all walks of life. Whether you’re investing in a new farm building, building a guesthouse for the in-laws, or creating a do-it-all commercial distribution center, a metal building can meet your needs.

Prefab steel buildings are more popular thanks to their versatility, customizability, strength, durability, and more that they offer. If you’re on the market for a building, buying a metal building is one of the best investments you can make.

As you research and decide on the design of your prefab steel building, you will be faced with many decisions. One of those decisions is how to orientate your prefab metal building. Yep, the direction of your building matters, and we’re here to explain why! So, read on for why the orientation of your building matters and what the best orientation is!

The Importance of the Right Orientation for Metal Buildings

Believe it or not, the orientation of your steel structure can influence its energy efficiency quite dramatically. This is possible because, by orientating the building correctly, you can actually work with the sun rather than against it.

In other words, you can position your building to utilize the sun’s heat during the colder months and avoid it during the summer months. By dedicating just a little time and effort into the positioning of your metal building, you can drastically improve your energy efficiency and save a substantial amount of money!

Here’s What You Need to Know

Now that you have a basic understanding of why positioning your metal building correctly is important, it’s time to expand on that knowledge and dive into what to do with it. Check out the three most important things you should know below!

The Basics

There are four facts that form the foundation of building positioning. The first two, you are likely already familiar with—the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. The third and fourth are also related to the sun. In the summer, the sun will be at a high angle in the middle of the day. In the winter, it will be at a low angle during that same timeframe.

Equipped with these four basic, foundational facts, you can position your building in such a way that your building’s interior temperature remains steadier, leading to savings on your energy bill!

Axis

Orientating your building so that it sits within a specific relation to the east/west access—within approximately 15 degrees—will also contribute to energy efficiency. If you have a rectangular-shaped metal building, the effects of this positioning will be even more dramatic due to the reduced surface area of the east and west-facing sections of the building.

This positioning is also important because, during the winter months, the south-facing side of your steel building will benefit from more consistent sunshine and warmth. Because of this, it is a good strategic move to install windows on the south side of your prefab metal building.

Southern Exposure

Speaking of the southern side of your building, let’s get a little more specific with the benefits and potential design of it. To truly maximize the energy efficiency of that southern wall, you will want to position it within 20 degrees of true south. If you don’t, that’s fine, but you will miss out on some of the advantages associated with solar exposure.

Giving the south wall more window area is also a great way to maximize the potential of your building placement. By combining this with proper landscaping—most notably, shade trees that can protect from the sun in the summer—you can truly elevate the energy efficiency of your building to new heights.

Garage Buildings is Here to Help

As the go-to dealer of prefab metal buildings in the United States, it’s fair to say that Garage Buildings know about designing and building these fantastic structures. In fact, you could say that Garage Buildings is the premier expert on the matter!

When you team up with Garage Buildings to design, customize, and buy your steel building, you receive the full guidance and support of its team of experienced experts. They will help you navigate the processes associated with your new metal building, including evaluating and identifying the best orientation for your building based on your location and needs.

Call today on +1 (888) 234-0475 to learn more about metal buildings and how Garage Buildings can help!

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