Commercial builders favoring metal siding

While aluminum siding now has minimal market share in the United States residential building sector, the popularity of prefabricated structures is causing the use of metal siding to grow in the commercial building sector.

According to a new study by Cleveland-based research firm The Freedonia Group, by 2021 metal panels will make up 18 percent of siding demand for commercial buildings, giving it the second largest share in that market.

The Fredonia Group writes, “A growing interest in prefabricated metal buildings, which reduce construction times and labor costs for commercial customers, will help drive demand.”

Other predictions in the study, titled “Siding Market in the US, 17th Edition,” include that overall siding demand in the U.S. is projected to advance more than 3 percent per year to 101.5 million squares in 2021. (A square represents 100 square feet of siding.)

In the residential sector, demand growth for fiber cement will be among the fastest for any siding product, “driven by its ability to inexpensively mimic natural wood, brick and stone siding materials,” according to the Freedonia Group.

Other recently released studies by The Freedonia Group, available through its website, cover the building insulation market in the United States and the global market for windows and doors.