For tradition and habit’s sake, the Italian constructors have always favored traditional construction methods. Differently from the solutions chosen in other countries, which over the last years have more frequently preferred dry or hybrid construction systems, Italian companies have always stuck to traditional methods based on the use of bricks, concrete and mortar.
Despite traditions and habits may be difficult to change, the awareness about the advantages of dry construction methods (including the use of steel) is spreading also in our country. Contrary to traditional construction methods, which require the use of water, mortar and sealing materials, dry construction ones don’t need after pose stabilization processes. With dry procedures, indeed, the final structure of the building can be realized on the construction site by putting together components, both structural and complementary, previously realized, wrought and, if necessary, controlled and checked.
Dry Construction Methods
Buildings realized through dry construction methods are of two kinds:
- structures entirely realized through dry construction methods, heavy carpentry or cold-formed structural steel without using mortar or sealing material;
- hybrid structures realized with metal heavy carpentry and mixed systems.
The advantages of dry construction methods
The advantages of the construction site
Both the solutions have many different advantages: first of all, they needs shorter time of realization and assure a better economic affordability. Indeed, choosing dry construction methods allows to shorten the duration of the construction site, reducing the downtimes typical of traditional methods which are main responsible of the increase of the production cost. Moreover, this technique allows to previously arrange the elements, limiting the construction site to the assembly works, which by the way can be better scheduled.
Furthermore, thanks to the industrialization of the building process and to the fact that all the structural elements are ready to be implemented, the time for the building works can be reduced by the 50% or 60%, with a correlated reduction of the expenses typical of the construction site.
This shrinks also the incidence of the labour cost, as the onsite activities are esteemed to cost twice as much as those realized at the plant.
The dry construction site is typically more tidy and neat, better organized and better scheduled than the traditional one: It can be easily set up also in narrow areas and allows to work in less favorable conditions than those usually required. Furthermore, the use of structural steel means a lighter structure: this limits foundation and excavation works and reduces the costs.
The environmental sustainability
Beside the economic advantages, buildings realized through dry construction methods and the use of steel are more sustainable from an environmental point of view. Indeed, this methods lower the impact both during the construction (for the above mentioned reasons) and during the entire life of the building, given the high percentage of recycled components. As very well showed in this article by Fondazione Promozione Acciaio, the industrialization of the construction process has many advantages; among these there are the reduction of the energetic consumption, the reduction of packaging and wastes and the possibility of reusing different construction components.
Furthermore, the pros can be measured in terms of recycling and circular economy: steel is indeed 100% recyclable and does not lose its original characteristics, allowing to avoid the waste of raw material.