The effect of spans longer than normal can be further illustrated. The “usual” floor span range is as follows: for apartment buildings,16 to 25 ft; for office buildings,20 to 30 ft; for industrial buildings,25 to 30 ft loaded heavily at 200 to 300 psf; and garage-type structures span,50 to 60 ft, carrying relatively light(50～75 psf) loads(i.e., similar to those for apartment and office structures).where these spans are doubled, the structural costs can be expected to rise about 20 to 30 percent.
To increased loading in the case of industrial buildings offers another insight into the dependency of cost estimates on “usual” standards. If the loading in an industrial building were to be increased to 500psf(i.e., two or three times), the additional structural cost would be on the order of another 20 to 30 percent.
The reference in the above cases is for floor systems. For roofs using efficient orthotropic (flat) systems, contemporary limits for economical design appear to be on the order of 150 ft, whether of steel or prestressed concrete. Although space- frames   are often used for steel or prestressed concrete. Although space-frames are often used for steel spans over 150 ft the fabrication costs begin to raise considerably.
At any rate, it should be recognized that very long-span subsystems are special cases and can in themselves have a great or small effect on is added, structural costs for special buildings can vary greatly from design to design. The more special the form, the more that design knowledge and creativity, as well as construction skill, will determine the potential for achieving cost efficiency.
4. Volume-Based Estimates
When more accuracy is desired, estimates of costs can be based on the volume of materials used to do a job. At first glance it might seem that the architect would be ill equipped to estimate the volume of material required in construction with any accuracy, and much less speed. But it is possible, with a moderate learning effort, to achieve some capability for making such estimates.
Volume-based estimates are given by assigning in-place value to the pounds or tons of steel, or the cubic yards of reinforced or prestressed concrete required to build a structural system. For such a preliminary estimate, one does not need to itemize detailed costs. For example, in-place concrete costs include the cost of forming,        falsework, reinforcing steel, labor, and overhead. Steel includes fabrication and erection of components.
Costs of structural steel as measured by weight range from ﹩0.50 to ﹩0.70 per pound in place for building construction. For low-rise buildings, one can use stock wide-flange structural members that require minimum fabrication, and the cost could be as bow as ﹩0.50 per pound. More complicated systems requiring much cutting and welding(such as a complicated steel truss or space-frame design) can go to ﹩0.70 per pound and beyond. For standard tall building designs (say, exceeding 20 stories),there would typically be about 20 to 30 pounds of steel/psf, which one should wish not to exceed. A design calling for under 20 psf would require a great deal of ingenuity and the careful integration of structural and architectural components and would be a real accomplishment.
Concrete costs are volumetric and should range from an in-place low of ﹩150 per cu yd for very simple reinforced concrete work to ﹩300 per cu yd for expensive small quantity precast and prestressed work. This large range is due to the fact that the contributing variables are more complicated, depending upon the shape of the precise components, the erection problems, and the total quantity produced.
Form work is generally the controlling factor for any cast-in-place concrete work. Therefore, to achieve a cost of ﹩150 per cu yd, only the simplest of systems can be used, such as flat slabs that require little cutting and much reuse of forms. Where any beams are introduced that require special forms and difficulty in placement of concrete and steel bars, the range begins at ﹩180 per cu yd and goes up to ﹩300.Since, in a developed country, high labor costs account for high forming costs, this results in pressure to use the simplest and most repetitive of systems to keep costs down. It become rewarding to consider the possibility of mass-produced precast and prestressed components, which may bring a saving in costs and\or construction completion time. The latter results in savings due to lower construction financing costs for the contractor plus quicker earnings for the owner. 建筑结构的成本英文文献和中文翻译(4):http://www.751com.cn/fanyi/lunwen_8976.html