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Steel-Framed ‘Cajun Cottage’ Shown at New Orleans Summit
A 400-square-foot, steel-framed “Cajun Cottage” constructed by the Steel Framing Alliance was exhibited in the New Orleans Housing Solutions Summit on Sept. 29-30.
The Steel Framing Alliance is a national industry association comprised of steel framing builders, manufacturers, designers and suppliers; and it is a member of the National Council of the Housing Industry — The Supplier 100 of NAHB.
“We are excited to be able to officially introduce steel framing to New Orleans because we believe that it is an important solution to some of the challenges of rebuilding strong, durable homes in the Gulf Coast,” said Larry Williams, president of the alliance.
Williams noted that although it has not been commonly used in Louisiana over the past 10 years, nearly 500,000 homes have been built with steel framing, including 70% of the homes in Hawaii, where termites and mold pose challenges for the home building industry.
 “In addition to the fact that steel framing can't be eaten by termites and will not provide food for mold, steel won’t burn, warp, crack or split, giving home owners straight, square walls without unsightly nail pops,” Williams said. “Better yet, steel framing can be designed to withstand hurricane-force winds and is protected from corrosion by a galvanized coating that can last hundreds of years.”
The Housing Solutions Summit was hosted by the City of New Orleans, Home Builders Association of Greater New Orleans, the State of Louisiana and Entergy to provide home owners, renters, leasing agents, contractors, businesses and investors with first-hand information about building technologies and research that are available to them as they rebuild. The summit was cosponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the American Institute of Architects, New Orleans.
Along with 12 steel companies and the Metal Roofing Alliance, American Iron and Steel Institute and Steel Recycling Institute, the Steel Framing Alliance is supporting the Gulf Coast Steel Initiative. The initiative is a collective effort to reshape future construction in the region by training code officials on steel framing and roofing best practices, working with the insurance industry to implement Builders Risk and home owner insurance discounts and promoting building codes that define state-of-the-art practices for hurricane-prone areas with state and federal legislators.
The steel industry is also updating its national recycling database in the Gulf Coast region to list sites where consumers and businesses can bring their steel products for recycling.
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