Effectively Integrating Panelized Cold Framed Steel
into Residential Construction

Background
As residential steel framing gradually gains market share in the United States, builders and steel framing providers have developed numerous methods, systems, and relationships to manufacturer and supply steel wall panels. The knowledge, efficiencies, and innovations gained through these experiences are important and transferable to other projects and locations.

The objective of this project is to gather state-of-the-art information to enable builders and framers to better integrate steel-framed wall panelization methods and processes into their construction systems, designs, and business models. This information is reported in the form of case studies on builders and framers who are successfully using panelized construction in concert with cold-formed steel.

The work that provided the basis for the publications in this study was supported by funding under a grant with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. The substance and findings of the work are dedicated to the public. The author and publisher are solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in these publications. Such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government.

Residential steel framing has been used extensively in Hawaii for at least the past ten years. Builders in Hawaii face many of the same issues as those in the Gulf Coast region of the United States, especially in regard to termite infestation and climate issues. Thus, the experience gained in Hawaii is important to transfer to other locations to minimize false starts and shorten the learning curve of builders who are looking for sustainable and efficient alternatives to current practices.

Observations and interviews were conducted with personnel from Hunt Building
Company (Hunt) and Worthington Military Construction, LLC (Worthington). The
builder, Hunt, is using steel panels fabricated and installed by Worthington. The construction site was observed for four consecutive days to document sitespecific practices. We also visited the fabrication facility to document their operations. One-on-one interviews were conducted with management representatives from both companies and with construction site workers and subcontractors regarding their impressions on working with steel in general and steel panels specifically.

This case study focuses on insulated structural steel wall panels supplied by Premium Steel Building Systems. Premium Steel has been supplying residential insulated structural steel wall panel framing packages since 1999. They also manufacture joists and trusses, and provide necessary design documents, installation training, and technical support.

Although the emphasis of this case study is on Premium Steel and their business approach, we also selected a builder to interview for this case study to address how Premium Steel interacts with its clients. In this case, the builder, Roger Terry Construction, is constructing a two story custom home with a full basement. The home has 4,835 square feet of livable space, including an attached two car garage. The home is being built in a rural area in Laurel Fork, Virginia.

NEXFRAME is a joint venture between a subsidiary of Lennar Corporation, one the nation’s leading high volume home builders, and Nuconsteel, a designer and manufacturer of steel framing products for both the commercial and residential markets. Through its Stockton, California location, NEXFRAME provides framing packages, engineered designs and assistance to steel framing fabricators and builders throughout the United States.

This report investigates the use of the NEXFRAME system on small, starter homes in a Northern California development.

This case study is based on the observation of three model homes framed by Lane Framing Systems using steel wall panels fabricated on-site for Craftsmen Homes. Lane Framing Systems (Lane Framing) is based in Anaheim, California and is a regional framing contractor serving the residential and light commercial building market. Lane Framing specializes in framing commercial, single-family, and multi-family buildings using cold-formed steel wall panels. They also frame homes with wood and hybrid steel-wood framing systems. Lane Framing has built thousands of homes since its inception in 1987.

Lane Framing utilizes the Lane System©, a proprietary integrated construction and budgeting software program that maximize efficiencies in all aspects of its operations. The Lane System provides precise procedures, predetermined protocols, computer-generated calculations, and budgetary controls to monitor and evaluate real-time performance.

Craftsmen Homes builds custom and semi-custom homes in the California market. Their homes are framed in steel by Lane Framing. Although the two companies are closely affiliated and have overlapping ownership, Lane Framing works with other residential and commercial builders. They apply the same approach described in this report independent of the builder on the project.