Modular Advantage Magazine

As the race to reverse global warming intensifies, there is little doubt that modular techniques will be adopted with far greater frequency than has been the case to date. Meanwhile, modular building continues to offer its more traditional benefits to project owners, but the issues facing society are far more pressing these days than simply helping project owners make their pro-formas pencil out.

As part of MBI’s continuing efforts to expand the footprint of the commercial modular construction industry, we launched an intelligence gathering process in mid-September 2023 to collect information on member companies’ challenges and needs with respect to training, professional development, and workforce. The purpose of this process was to identify critical needs to support development of a near- and long-term strategy to address these needs. Here are the results.

Modern CRM and ERP systems make it easier for modular manufacturers to manage complex orders to multiple customers while still providing high levels of customer service and technical support.

Modular construction significantly reduces waste generation due to its precision and the controlled environment in which the modules are constructed. According to a report by Waste & Resources Action Program (WRAP), modular construction can reduce waste materials like timber, cardboard, plastics, and concrete by up to 90% compared to traditional construction methods.

Polyisocyanurate, or polyiso, insulation has become a top choice for modular construction. This thermosetting plastic foam board is renowned for its impressive list of attributes:, including high thermal performance, it’s low weight, and more.

With about 100,000 square feet of space on four levels, MODLOGIQ is producing 100% of the hospital’s space off-site in their factory. That includes everything from mechanical, electrical, and plumbing to interior finishes and casework to about an 85% level of completion.

ReMo Homes founder Vamsi Kumar Kotla has an ambitious goal: assemble a net zero, single-family home with a minimized carbon footprint in just one hour. Surprisingly, his team is close to making his goal a reality. They recently assembled a 400 square foot net zero model home on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Assembly took ten days.

FullStack Modular’s dedication to sustainability and process yielded their
latest project for its new Portland, OR, factory: a sustainable Treehouse Hotel for Starwood Capital Group in Sunnyvale, California. The six-story Treehouse Hotel features 200 modules and 143 rooms.

House of Design, located in Nampa, Idaho, provides a unique solution to building trusses, walls, and other building assemblies: they call it dynamic automation. Shane Dittrich, CEO, explained the term as “the robots have no idea what they’re building today.”