STEEL ROOFING PRODUCTS – SELECTION GUIDE 1A

Steel Roofing Products – Selection Guide 1

INTRODUCTION

This article serves as a guide to selecting the most appropriate Steel Roofing product for your roofing needs considering its intended location and the environmental factors likely to be encountered during its service life. Selecting the correct product for the location will contribute to ensure that your roof achieves a long service life.

01. INDUSTRIAL INFLUENCE

For industrial buildings the internal activities and external environment of the building must be considered. Where the roof sheeting, either internally and/or externally, is subject to heavy dust, emissions fallout, contact with heat, moisture, corrosive chemicals or acids etc, it is essential to consult Steel Direct for advice on suitable products to use. Likewise, any site immediately adjacent to such activity should also be referred to Steel Direct for specific recommendations on suitable products.

In addition, the concentration and nature of industrial activity and the effects of the combustion of fossil fuels must also be considered in some localities, whilst the direction, intensity and nature of prevailing winds will also exert an influence.

02. UNUSUALLY HARSH INTERNAL SERVICE CONDITIONS

There are many activities carried out in sheds and industrial buildings that have a severe impact on metals and steel products. In some instances, COLORBOND® steel and ZINCALUME® steel products are unsuitable due to the micro environment within the building. Information on some common applications can be found in our previous Corrosion Technical Bulletins.

03. ROOFING MADE FROM ZINC-COATED STEEL

COLORBOND® steel and ZINCALUME® steel provide superior corrosion performance in most roofing applications. Zinc-coated (galvanised) steel roofing for this reason is not recommended except for buildings where unique environmental conditions (e.g. intensive animal farming) make zinc-coated steel the preferred product. For zinc-coated steel roofs on heritage buildings, specific conditions apply regarding warranty* eligibility – refer to Steel Direct for advice.

04. THERMAL EFFICIENCY

Properly insulated steel roofing has inherent thermal efficiency benefits due to its low thermal mass. Thermatech® solar reflectance technology provides further thermal efficiency benefits and is incorporated in Lysaght® COLORBOND® steel standard and matt finish colours (except for Night Sky®) and Lysaght® COLORBOND® Ultra steel standard colours. has also been developed specifically for high solar reflectance. These technologies are designed to reflect more of the sun’s heat on hot, sunny days and may help reduce cooling costs.

05. ATMOSPHERIC EXPOSURE CONDITIONS

 BlueScope has strategically positioned long term exposure test facilities across a range of climatic conditions that have allowed decades of testing and monitoring of our products in some of the harshest environments. The wealth of data accumulated from these sites has allowed BlueScope to develop products and provide product recommendations suitable for a given location. Localised environmental conditions will impact the corrosive nature of a particular site which may alter recommendations. Such conditions include the direction of prevailing winds, amount of rainfall, time of wetness, temperature, shelter and areas not naturally washed by rainfall. The following environmental descriptions and Table 1 (below) are therefore intended to serve as a GUIDE ONLY and it is essential to consult with Steel Direct for advice on the most suitable choice of product.

Table 1: Recommended BlueScope products guides for roofing in marine environments