Builders today face a familiar set of pressures: tighter timelines, rising labor costs, stricter fire codes, and the constant demand to deliver housing people can actually afford. The question isn't whether these challenges exist. It's how to solve them without compromising on quality, safety, or long-term performance.
Some builders are answering that question by rethinking the materials they use from the ground up. Cold-formed steel framing paired with magnesium oxide panels is emerging as a system that addresses speed, durability, fire resistance, and sustainability in ways traditional wood construction simply cannot match.
Jason Schaller is one of those builders. Through Vitruvian Housing and Vitruvian Steel, he's constructing multifamily buildings in Central Florida using 100% steel framing and MAXTERRA® MgO structural floor panels. His perspective offers a window into why this approach is gaining momentum and what it looks like in practice.
Key Takeaways
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- Speed Advantage: Panelized CFS framing with 1/128" precision enabled a 24-day framing timeline, with individual walls manufactured in 7.5 minutes versus 2+ hours on site.
- 100% Non-Combustible: Steel framing + MAXTERRA® MgO panels + DensGlass sheathing create a fully non-combustible assembly, with only trim, doors, and cabinets made of wood.
- Built to last: CAT5 hurricane-rated, termite-proof, mold-resistant construction that won't rot, shrink, or shift over time.
- Sustainability Credentials: 60-90% recycled domestic steel combined with MAXTERRA®, the only MgO panel with a verified North American EPD.
- Dual Certification Advantage: MAXTERRA® is the only MgO structural subfloor certified by ICC-ES for both wood and cold-formed steel framing (ESR-5194).
The Henry Apartments: A Case Study in Modern Construction
The Henry is a residential community in Plant City, Florida, adding 96 new apartments across four three-story buildings. Developer Peacock Capital and general contractor Vitruvian Housing chose cold-formed steel framing and MAXTERRA® MgO Non-Combustible Single Layer Structural Floor Panels to build faster, build safer, and build smarter.
The project team includes Vitruvian Steel for steel fabrication and Cold Formed Steel Systems as a framing partner. Together, they're using FrameCAD technology to produce precision-engineered panels that arrive on site ready to install. As Ryan Manley, NEXGEN's Vice President of Steel Construction, puts it, "CFS and MgO go together like peanut butter and jelly."
Speed and Precision: Like an Assembly Line for Buildings
On a traditional wood-framed job, framing crews measure, cut, and assemble on site. That takes time, generates waste, and introduces variability. Steel changes that equation entirely.
At The Henry, everything is panelized. Walls, floors, and trusses are manufactured in the factory to 1/128-inch precision. When panels arrive on site, they fit. Windows fit. Doors fit. There's no shimming, no forcing, no surprises.
The speed difference is dramatic. Jason's team framed the structure to its current state in just 24 days. A single wall that would take a field crew two to two-and-a-half hours to build can be manufactured in the factory in about 7.5 minutes. One project cut build time by 30% after switching from wood to steel framing.
"You don't hear saws out here," Jason explains. All service holes are pre-cut in the factory, 3D cut for running MEPs. The result is a cleaner, quieter, more efficient jobsite.
Fire Safety: 100% Non-Combustible Construction
Fire risk is one of the most significant concerns in multifamily construction. Wood-framed buildings under construction are particularly vulnerable. Steel eliminates that risk at the framing level because steel doesn't burn.
At The Henry, the non-combustible approach extends beyond framing. MAXTERRA® MgO subfloor panels are three-quarter-inch thick, fire-rated, and completely non-combustible. DensGlass sheathing on the exterior adds another layer of fire resistance. The building is also fully sprinklered throughout.
Jason is direct about what this means: "The only wood we have in here is the trim, the doors, and the cabinets." Everything structural is non-combustible.
This has practical implications beyond safety. "Your insurance company's gonna love that," Jason notes. Non-combustible construction can significantly reduce insurance premiums during both construction and building operation.
Durability and Resilience: Built to Withstand Time and Nature
Central Florida presents specific challenges: hurricanes, humidity, and termites to name a few. Steel framing addresses all of them.
The Henry is CAT5 hurricane-rated. The G60 and G90 galvanized steel won't rust. Unlike wood, it won't rot, shrink, or shift over time. And termites? They're simply not a factor.
Hurricane strapping connects the floors to prevent uplift during high winds. Jason's assessment of the finished structure is characteristically blunt: "This thing is damn bulletproof."
Mold Resistance: A Healthier Building System
Both cold-formed steel and MAXTERRA® MgO panels share an important characteristic: they're inorganic. Mold needs organic material to grow. When your framing and subfloor don't provide a food source, mold simply can't establish itself.
According to the Steel Framing Industry Association, "CFS framing can combat slow destruction caused by mold because steel is not organic matter. That makes it an unappealing surface for mold to establish itself and grow."
MAXTERRA® panels take this further, exceeding ASTM G21 standards with zero fungal growth under testing conditions. For residents, this translates to healthier indoor air quality and reduced long-term maintenance issues.
The Subfloor Advantage: MAXTERRA® MgO Panels
The flooring system at The Henry demonstrates how CFS and MgO work together. MAXTERRA® three-quarter-inch tongue-and-groove structural subfloor panels fasten directly to the metal framing. Once in place, the next level of framing goes up immediately.
Jason's description of the surface quality is direct: "This stuff is flat as hell." Unlike poured concrete systems that can develop waviness from pump truck inconsistencies, MAXTERRA® panels deliver a consistently flat surface ready for finish flooring.
Vitruvian uses a 6mm flooring product with a sound-deadening pad that goes directly over the MAXTERRA® panels. The system maintains non-combustible continuity throughout the floor assembly.
MAXTERRA® is the only MgO structural subfloor certified by ICC-ES for both wood and cold-formed steel framing (ESR-5194). This dual certification gives engineers complete technical support and simplifies the approval process.
Sound Control and Livability
Multifamily buildings require careful attention to sound transfer between units. The Henry addresses this through thoughtful wall assembly design.
The demising walls use separated stud walls with a gap between them. Jason explains the principle using a familiar analogy: "If you can imagine when you were a kid, and you had a string between two cups and you would take that string, pull it tight, and you could talk to each other... This breaks the string."
Both sides of the wall receive insulation and 5/8-inch drywall, creating a firewall between units that also delivers effective sound isolation.
Sustainability: Recycling Cars Into Homes
The environmental case for steel framing is compelling. Vitruvian Steel uses 60-90% post-consumer recycled domestic US steel. The steel comes from Nucor Mills, an American manufacturer known for its recycling-focused production process.
"We're recycling cars and scrap steel to create homes without cutting down 15 acres of trees," Jason explains. "Our method is faster, more affordable, and far superior to traditional wood construction."
The sustainability story extends to MAXTERRA® as well. It's the only MgO panel with a verified Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for the North American market, providing the transparency that architects and developers need for green building certifications.
Waste Reduction and Jobsite Efficiency
One of the most visible differences between steel and wood construction shows up in the dumpster count.
"Since we've been here doing what we're doing, that is the only dumpster we've had on site," Jason points to a single container. "If you were building this out of stick, had guys out here cutting two by sixes, two by eights, two by twelves... you would have a full dumpster, you would have sawdust everywhere. Very messy."
With FrameCAD's precision manufacturing, material waste drops below 1%. Everything arrives cut to spec, labeled, and ready to install.
Long-Term Value and Operating Costs
Jason's approach to building design reflects a focus on total cost of ownership rather than just construction cost. Every decision aims to reduce long-term maintenance and operating expenses.
"If you are an apartment investor and you're trying to make things work where you can charge rents that people can afford, you're trying to get your investors a return on their investment, you're trying to keep your property operating costs down, the best way to do it is to eliminate maintenance issues."
This philosophy extends to details like solid core doors instead of bi-fold doors and mini-split HVAC systems in every bedroom and living space for zoned climate control. "Every dollar that we save a resident in utility costs is an extra dollar they can use to feed their family, pay their rent, take 'em to the movies."
The Wood Comparison
Jason's observations about wood construction come from direct experience seeing both systems side by side.
"When you drive by some of these wood buildings... look at them and look at what that wood looks like after all that rain and weather and sun has hit the building," he says. "It looks like something out of the Bible, like Jerusalem or something, with these wood ladders climbing up, and the wood is starting to decay a little bit. And that stuff gets covered up with drywall and insulation, and then you're living inside of there."
Steel panels, by contrast, sit in the rain and elements, dry out, and look exactly the same. "Here, what you see is what you get."
The Future of Building
Jason's conviction about this building approach is unambiguous: "This is the future right here."
The need is clear. "We simply need more apartments, but not just any apartments," he explains. "Quality apartments that will stand the test of time and not burn, blow over, be eaten by termites, or shrink and warp. Quality at a value our workforce can afford."
Now a NEXGEN customer, Vitruvian Housing is bringing these construction methods to new customers across Central Florida. "Whether it's multifamily housing, commercial projects, or custom builds," Jason says, "we can help you build smarter, stronger, and faster."
See the Henry Apartments Project Spotlight.
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