Butler System A Trendsetter in Steel Construction

The accelerated pace of globalization started in the early nineties has immensely benefited developing nations including India. The opening up of the economy paved the way for increased investment in sectors including infrastructure, manufacturing, warehousing facilities, residential and commercial buildings and outsourcing operations including trading products and services.

In the process, big players including Australian BlueScope Steel Limited have virtually made a beeline to enter India to make the most of the lower labor cost and stretching stream of qualified and talented technical experts available in the country. Resultantly, it is not only the global players that have joined the nation building in India but local entrepreneurs from diverse sectors including equipment makers, IT service providers and steel makers are also traversing borders, setting up their units in other countries and contributing in building global economy.

In the recent past the non-residential construction industry in the region has grown manifolds in the developing economies. The pre-engineered metal building systems have become a favored solution for many multinationals making their presence felt in South Asia. When projects demand speedy construction, controlled cost and world class quality, metal buildings enjoy an edge over conventional raw materials. In fact, these factors had previously driven the growth of construction and building industry in the United States and the trend is currently crystal clear across the developing economies including India.

Bluescope steel model

Metal buildings have been imported into India for decades but manufacturers are currently either setting up joint-ventures in the country or are expanding their existing operations from their bases across the world. Likewise Australian-based BlueScope Steel offers a visionary blueprint for companies out to achieve success. It forged an equal partnership with Tata Steel and set up Tata BlueScope Steel company with two business divisions serving the building and construction industry. Its products are metallic coatings that include Galvalume® coating technology and pre-painted steel; pre-engineered buildings (PEB) led by Butler and steel components like roof systems; wall panels and others for commercial construction. Over a period of time it has developed manufacturing facilities in Pune, Chennai and Bhiwadi and a network of 20 sales offices serves clients largely in planning and building programs.

The Butler is the premium brand of metal building offered by the joint venture. While marketing Butler in India, BlueScope not just offers metal buildings of globally acclaimed but has also earned a reputation for quality and established preference of global clients that Butler has been serving in the United States and elsewhere in the world. In India, it has produced award winning applications as the Tata BlueScope Building Solutions has recently received the 'Pre-Engineered Building Project of the Year Award' at the Essar Steel Infrastructure Excellence Awards ceremony jointly organized by the CNBC-TV and Essar Steel. The division won the award for the successful execution of multi-site contract for buildings along the 'East West Gas Pipeline Project' developed by Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure Ltd. The contract involved design and erection of 122 Butler metal buildings across four states and completed in about 280 days. Sixteen types of Butler buildings were needed at 32 locations in states including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Research & development

Metal buildings are distinctly engineered materials solutions as compared to ordinary raw materials and largely depend on the skills of job site workforce. From the rudimentary steel beams and corrugated structures brought to market in the early 20th century, the factory-produced materials comprising metal building produced after decades of research and product development. The current generation of metal building features fully integrated steel structural framing and cladding elements available from a single manufacturer. The buildings erect faster at lesser cost with more predictable quality and longer durability. This segment of the construction materials industry may also be the most computerized field of fabricated steel products.

Butler ranks the most recognized brand of metal building across worldwide construction industry. It has an unrivaled legacy measured in billions of square feet of constructed or retrofitted facilities. This high-performance steel roof ranks the most specified roof of its type in the world, with more than two-billion square feet on buildings in every continent and in every climate.

The MR-24® roof system is particularly suited for wide buildings subjected to roof movement induced by temperature change. A unique fastening method, incorporated into the seams of the steel panels allows the MR-24 to accept rather than resist, the expansion and contraction freely without compromising the structural integrity of the impervious steel weather barrier. Built-up roofs are particularly vulnerable to thermally-induced roof movement that is usually manifested in the form of cracks, blisters, and splits that allow water to infiltrate into the building's interior environment. The MR-24 roof system accounts for the majority of roofs on Butler metal buildings in the US and is already favored on 40 percent of projects in India applying Butler buildings.

Eco-friendly construction

The Butler Research Center has become equally known for developing and testing methods to improve the energy efficiency of metal building construction. This expertise now plays to the trend toward building "green" facilities with environment–friendly site development, design, materials, construction practices and high-efficiency plumbing, lighting, HVAC backed by solar or other supplemental energy systems can significantly reduce or eliminate the negative impact of buildings on the environments. Other traits include the adoption of low-VOC paints, caulks and adhesives, reduced material use, recycled content and increased marketing of the concept.


One goal of the green movement is to shift building design decisions more toward life-cycle benefits than lowest initial cost. This progressive rationale continues to gain global momentum with third-party organizations, formal certifications or adoption of equivalent design and construction practices. Just as the US Green Building Council (USGBC) administers a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certification program to promote the trend, counterpart organizations now exist in many nations including India with their own LEED programs to promote green standards.