Modular Does Not Equal Trailer House

Our paradigms about modular are changing, or perhaps ought to be changing. They range from ‘modular is shoddy’ to ‘modular is cool’ to ‘modular is green’ to ‘modular is [fill in the blank here].’ The reality of course can be any or all of the above... and more besides. At any rate, after a bright beginning followed by a cool off period, modular seems to be back, albeit in a somewhat modified form.

Henry Ford’s Model-T factory has inspired mass production of all types of products – it only makes sense that eventually we would find ways to use it in building construction as well. It has been tried repeatedly in various ways, but never became a major player. Technology may be the difference in now making it more practical.

Earlier iterations of modular were scoffed at by traditional builders as being flimsy and boxy, but steel and concrete are now de rigueur, and modular designers are offering an increasing number of options to change the look and feel.

Modular Student Housing at Bryn Athyn College was given a traditional look

There is now much more emphasis on incorporating modular pieces into otherwise site-built construction, rather than going 100% modular, or 100% site-built. In other words, the distinctions are becoming greyer, which increases possibilities to look for areas where it most makes economic sense.

A recent McGraw-Hill AEC survey reports that mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, exterior walls, building superstructures, roofing, floors and interior rooms are all increasingly popular modular units. Among the 800 professionals surveyed, most cite productivity improvements - including improved scheduling, decreased costs, and reduced construction site waste – which leads to greater ROI as well as giving them a competitive advantage - as primary drivers for using modular construction. Owner resistance is listed as a primary reason against it. Almost all believe they will be using some form of modular within the next two years.

Prefabrication offsite does offer some quantifiable advantages. It’s environmentally friendly because of less waste. The prefab assembly allows related jobs to be done simultaneously instead of in sequence, which improves speed…and quality. Work is also done at bench height inside an environmentally controlled space, rather than on ladders or scaffold. This saves time and money and greatly increases safety. On the other hand, negatives include size constraints and costs for transporting the modules to the work site as well as overcoming the ‘prefab is shoddy’ prevalent mindset.

Modular’s primary supporters over the past decade seem to have been in the area of student housing, which makes sense since the monetary advantages of modular can best be seen in repeatable design. Schools are also ideal customers because they typically want the construction to be done during breaks, with as little disruption as possible – and one of modular’s selling factors is how quickly the buildings can go up.

A 25 story student housing unit in England is currently billed as the tallest modular building. The ground floor and core - including centralized utilities, fire stairs, and elevators - were site built, but the other 24 stories were assembled from 383 modules built hundreds of miles away. Each module was pre-fitted with everything from plumbing to drywall to furniture. Weighing around 25 tons each, including the structural steel frame which would carry the weight of those above, they were hoisted into place by crane and spot welded to the core and surrounding modules.

In NYC, Forest City Ratner made news earlier this year, saying it was considering modular construction for the first Atlantic Yards 33-story, 322-foot, 368-unit residential tower, next to the new arena, which reportedly would be constructed from 900+ modules…but permit applications filed in August are unclear as to whether the construction will or will not be modular. Union workers are not happy at the prospect of modular construction, which would greatly reduce the number of on-site jobs. Even when union workers are employed, factory work wages can be considerably lower than for on-site work.

McGraw-Hill reports that health care is the fastest growing market for prefabrication and modular construction, with 49 percent of all projects using it to some extent. Since institutional construction is one of the brighter areas, with health-care construction estimated to grow 16 percent next year to $28.5 billion nationally, this is a good sign for modular.

Skanska reported great success using modular elements in a recent hospital addition project. According to an ENR article, the construction manager estimated that, “prefabbing the 178 identical patient rooms and 120 overhead corridor utility racks sliced more than two months from construction and 1% to 2% off the cost of the $152-million building. For the job, building team leaders decided, during design development, to join mechanical, electrical, plumbing (MEP) and drywall trades in a warehouse to assemble five levels of racks, bathroom pods and bed ‘head’ walls.”  

“The unique part of this project was combining the MEP in our prefab unit. Worker productivity for laying pipe, for example, went up 300% over site-work productivity, while labor costs were down about 20%.”

Since this was an addition to an existing functioning hospital, on-site constraints were also considerable. A competitive edge on future bids was also mentioned. One other outstanding fact claimed in a case study on this project: “Number of dumpsters filled at prefab shop: Less than One (1)”

One of the basic constraints has been in managing the amount of coordination required for success – as project management tools become more advanced, this becomes less problematic. What’s next? Hotels, Office Buildings, Malls - basically any construction which contains repeatable elements could be the next modular project near you.

“The Modules” – student housing at Temple University

Quoted article: http://enr.construction.com/buildings/construction_methods/2010/0908-PrefabPotential-1.asp
McGraw-Hill Report: http://construction.com/market_research/FreeReport/PrefabSMR/
Hospital Case Study: http://www.coaa.org/Portals/0/documents/Chapter/Texas/Marty%20Corrado_PreFabrication.pdf
English modular highrise: http://www.visionmodular.com/uploads/files/World_s%20Tallest%20Modular%20Structure%20-%20Construction%20June%2009.pdf

For several years, shipping containers have caught the eyes of ‘green’ designers. Since there are reportedly over 18 million of them in the World and because we import more goods than we export, a tremendous buildup has occurred in the US. Typically 20’ or 40’ long by 8’x 8’, and structurally very strong - they are built to be stacked 9 or more high – proponents tout them as weatherproof and hurricane resistant. They can also meet the standards of building codes, including those with hurricane or seismic requirements.

Containers are not in short supply!

While originally considered for disaster relief, temporary housing, and cabins or studios, containers are becoming more mainstream with a wide variety of more substantial projects built or in process. As with other modular construction, and for the same reasons, student housing has been at the forefront for usage.

A University in Australia built 6-story student dorms from shipping containers. “The first stages of the building opened just six months after the container modules were ordered, far quicker than a regular structure... http://chronicle.com/blogs/buildings/to-meet-housing-demand-an-australian-university-turns-to-shipping-containers/29041

Still proponents say they can modify one with approximately 400 kilowatt hours of energy, whereas it would take about 9,000 kwh to melt one down – an overall energy savings of 95%.

Proponents mention their durability and smaller carbon footprint, but the costs can be similar to a more traditional building – it really depends on a combination of factors, including how much modification is done to get the final product.

Recent information and projects:
http://www.rew-online.com/2011/05/04/ship-to-shore/

Container architecture can be colorful…and whimsical.

Dealing with Catastrophe – Learning What Works:

Tornadoes supposedly hit a given location just once in 5,000 years. Those recently hit in the Midwest are facing questions. Should they spend the extra (estimated 3-6%) money to use ICF, which claims to be the best tornado-resistant construction method, when obviously their construction won’t be around in 5,000 years? It’s a similar issue those in potential flood or hurricane areas face. http://www.technewsdaily.com/rebuilding-after-a-tornado-new-methods-a-materials-needed-2725/

Evaluation of structures that survived the tornado and those that didn’t. http://enr.construction.com/buildings/sustainability/2011/0704-joplinlearnsfromrubble.asp

Construction: How Toyo Ito's Mediatheque Building in Sendai survived the earthquake http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703859304576305243667119026.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Post-tensioned timber building withstood earthquake in Christchurch http://www.starcanterbury.co.nz/business/news/building-to-beat-earthquakes/3953140/

 News to Use

Interesting take on why architecture is so often grey. This is from Australia but is relevant here too! http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/are-architects-that-bright-when-it-comes-to-the-old-grey-matter-20110729-1i4bp.html

 How to achieve ‘Deep Energy Retrofits’ http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2011/07/25/how-chicago-can-make-even-bigger-impact-building-retrofits?page=full

 Henry Gifford’s suit against USGBC dismissed. He had claimed LEED’s energy claims were false advertising. http://www.cepro.com/article/court_dismisses_100m_lawsuit_against_us_green_building_council/ or http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2011/08/19/leed-lawsuit-gets-dismissed-energy-efficiency-fight-goes

LEED 2012 2^nd draft is available for review – includes substantial changes in the materials section. http://www.leeduser.com/topic/leed-2012-certification-second-public-comment-USGBC-guide-forum

New focus from Studio Gang to give Lexington, KY stalled project new life: http://www.archpaper.com/news/articles.asp?id=5572

South Korea wins 2018 Winter Olympics based at least in part on a resort designed by Minneapolis’ Cunningham Group. http://archrecord.construction.com/news/2011/07/110715-Cuningham-Group-Olympics.asp

1885 school upgrades aim for net zero. http://www.greenbuildingpro.com/articles/57-features/3273-greening-a-historic-school

The art of removing concrete: http://www.forconstructionpros.com/publication/article.jsp?pubId=5&id=21222&pageNum=2

Shortlist for World Architecture Festival announced. Dallas came up with two of the few from the US: the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium and Foster+Partners’ Margot and Bell Winspear Opera House. http://www.worldarchitecturefestival.com

Events

Sept 19 SMPS Nashville http://smpsnashville.com/

Sept 22 AIA-Middle Tennessee http://www.aiamidtn.org/

Sept 23 – Oct 2: Solar Decathlon 2011- Washington DC http://www.solardecathlon.gov/

Oct 4 – 6: Greenbuild 2011 –Toronto http://www.greenbuildexpo.org/Home.aspx

Oct 30 – Nov 2: ASLA 2011 – San Diego http://www.asla.org/2011meeting/index.html

Nov 2 – 4: World Architecture Festival – Barcelona http://www.worldarchitecturefestival.com/

Dec 5 – 9: Ecobuild 2011 – Washington D.C. http://www.aececobuild.com

Did you Know?

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