Modular Advantage Magazine
In each bi-monthly issue, Modular Advantage magazine explores a specific modular construction topic and features interviews and articles from industry experts along with news and updates from the Modular Building Institute and its members, modular building case studies, and upcoming industry events. This construction trade magazine is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the global commercial modular and relocatable buildings industry.
Printed copies are free to MBI members and include exclusive content not available anywhere else. The abridged, digital versions of each issue, available below, are available free for everyone.
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Latest Articles & Interviews
AoRa Development Aims for New York’s First Triple Net Zero Building Using Modular Methods
More cities are providing funding for newer infrastructure projects as long as they meet sustainability requirements. This is how modular can fit the bill, thanks to its lower waste production.
Developers and Designers: Lessons Learned with Modular Design
Modular construction is attractive to many developers because sitework and module construction can occur simultaneously, shortening the schedule and reducing additional costs.
UTILE: Putting Modular Building on a Fast Track
In Quebec, UTILE is taking the lead in creating affordable modular buildings to help decrease the student housing shortage. During the process, the company discovered what it takes to make the transition to modular building a success.
Sobha Modular Teaches Developers How to Think Like Manufacturers
With its 2.7 million square foot factory in UAE, Sobha Modular is bringing both its high-end bathroom pods to high-end residences to Dubai while developing modular projects for the U.S. and Australia.
RoadMasters: Why Early Transport Planning is Make-or-Break in Modular Construction
In modular construction, transportation is often called the “missing link.” While it rarely stops a project outright, poor planning can trigger costly delays, rerouting, and budget overruns.
Navigating Risk in Commercial Real Estate and Modular Construction: Insights from a 44-Year Industry Veteran
Modular projects involve manufacturing, transportation, and on-site assembly. Developers must understand exactly what they are responsible for versus what they subcontract. Risk advisors should research the developer’s contractors, subcontractors, and design-build consultants—especially the modular manufacturer.
Art²Park – A Creative Application of Modular and Conventional Construction
Art²Park is more than a park building—it’s a demonstration of what modular construction can achieve when thoughtfully integrated with traditional materials. The use of shipping containers provided not only speed and sustainability benefits but also a powerful structural core that simplified and strengthened the rest of the building.
Building Smarter: A New Standard in Modular Construction Efficiency
Rising material prices, labour shortages, expensive financing and tightening environmental rules have made conventional construction slower, costlier, and more unpredictable. To keep projects on schedule and within budget, builders are increasingly turning to smarter industrialized methods.
Current Issue
Featuring new interviews and articles from modular building stakeholders around the world, this issue of Modular Advantage provides commercial real estate developers with valuable insights and strategies for getting started—and succeeding—with modular construction.
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Featured Modular Building Case Studies
Pomeroy Employee Housing
The Pomeroy Lodging Employee Housing complex in Kananaskis, AB, is a 24,194 sq. ft., three-story structure with 57 studio units and a communal main-level area, designed for full-time employees and comprised of 36 prefabricated modules.
Scalable & Smart EV Charging Containers
NexE, the green energy sister company of TECO-Westinghouse, partnered with Falcon Structures to design and build portable enclosures for EV fleet operators interested in re-deployable units that support EV charging depots with significant cost savings. The goal: create durable, relocatable EV infrastructure solutions that sidestep the constraints of traditional construction.
732 El Camino Real
Each living unit at 732 El Camino Real was built in the Autovol plant by a combination of robots and Autovol’s skilled builders. Work was completed for all 134 units in 51 days. The living units left the factory as fully functioning apartments—approved in factory by California inspectors to meet all applicable codes.
Heat-Resistant Equipment Enclosure for Industrial Ovens
To house the end customer’s industrial-strength ovens, Panel Built created over 400 heat-resistant panels, each built to exact specifications and clearly labeled for straightforward placement. Panel heights ranged between 7 and 9 feet, with a uniform thickness of 3.75 inches.
LIFE Senior Services
The installation of Solatube TDDs in the new recreation facility successfully met the project’s goals for daylighting, comfort and functionality. The space which houses indoor pickleball and basketball is now naturally illuminated with bright, evenly distributed daylight that enhances visibility and supports safe movement for senior users.
Faster, Smarter, Custom-Built: A New Era of Student Housing
Modular Genius delivered a 25,000+ square foot modular student housing complex made up of 22 buildings to Catholic University: 19 cottage-style units and two larger traditional hall-style dormitory buildings, totaling 124 student beds.
Building Hope: ROC Modular’s Role in the Steveston Highway Affordable Supportive Housing Project
At ROC Modular, we knew this was the kind of project where modular construction could make a real difference. By fabricating the building in modules offsite and assembling them on location, we could cut down construction time significantly while maintaining the high standards required by BC Housing and CMHC Universal
Design Guidelines.
How Caster Concepts Redefined Durability in Modular Construction
Frequent failures, high maintenance, and operational slowdowns became a challenge that Autovol wanted to solve as quickly as possible. The solution to the problem was Caster Concepts’ ten 81 Series Kingpinless Heavy-Duty Casters, each rated to handle over 10,000 lbs.
Midland Apartments
The Midland Apartments in Buena Vista, Colorado, are a standout example of how innovative thinking and collaboration can solve housing challenges. A key to the project’s success was its use of offsite modular
construction.
FlexDecks Provides Modular Egress Access to Omaha Custom Manufacturing
FlexDecks provided a modular system, RightWay Pro, which allowed for configuration and quoting within hours. Simple step by step instructions helped
the facilities team assemble the system within a single day, while FlexDecks provided install supervision for peace of mind.
Safe Modular Construction with Aerofilm Air Caster Transport
In collaboration with Aerofilm Systems, Heijmans developed innovative skids using air caster technology for moving modules easily and safely. These pallets are equipped with an auto-flow system, making operation extremely simple.
Building the Future: Triumph Modular’s Construction Services Team and Their Summer 2024 Masterpiece
In the summer of 2024, Triumph Modular’s Construction Services team undertook one of its most ambitious projects: $306 million modular construction initiative for the Manchester Public School system in New Hampshire.
Wilmot Modular Structures, Inc. Corporate Campus
Wilmot required a modern, efficient headquarters to showcase their modular construction expertise while fostering team collaboration and innovation. The facility was designed to streamline operations, reflect the company’s commitment to sustainability, and support long-term growth under multigenerational leadership.
Castlegar Student Housing, Selkirk College
Modular construction was chosen as the ideal solution to provide high-quality, fast-track affordable housing for students, delivering a 3-storey, 30-module, 114-student bed building with a mass-timber main common
area for student amenities.
Manchester Public Schools Temporary Classroom Space
The buildings can accommodate up to 1,000 students during construction of permanent buildings, allowing education to proceed without interruption. The modern and fully equipped modular learning spaces ensure a smooth transition for both students and staff.
Oldivai on 31st – Modular Housing, Rinse and Repeat
With a “kit-of-parts” approach, Oldivai on 31st demonstrated how a predesigned layout could deliver consistent programming and rapid deployment.
Hawthorn Extended Stay by Wyndham—Jackson, WY
The plan was to build the project in two phases. This would enable the property to open sooner and start
accommodating guests while completing the second phase. The digital twin was designed to provide a complete factory-ready model for both phases upfront. That gave the factory everything it needed to bring each phase into production quickly. It also enabled everyone a way to plan both
phases ahead of time, and begin prepping the site in advance.
102-108 Westford Street
102-108 Westford was an opportunity for New England-based GreenStaxx to show how project costs could be trimmed by using a standardized, modular-ready Triple Decker design.
Geberit In-Wall Systems Makes a New Breed Luxury Room Concept a Reality for International Hotel Brand
Geberit in-wall flush toilet systems for wall-hung toilets are the classics for modern bathroom design. citizenM has specified the Geberit systems into their bathroom walls worldwide as a basis of their bathroom design. This installation is part of the over one million times building owners have installed Geberit systems in their buildings around the globe for over the past 50 years.
Panel Built Provides Custom Modular Enclosure for Major Beverage Manufacturer
The challenge was twofold. Firstly, Panel Built needed to create a spacious enclosure that could accommodate a large facility crane. This enclosure required a design that provided ample storage space and integrated seamlessly with the existing infrastructure. Secondly, the structure needed to incorporate office space that offered personnel an unimpeded, 360-degree view of the factory floor.
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Online Exclusives
Recent Issues
Past Articles & Interviews
Modular Architecture: Thinking Outside of the Box with Sara.Ann Logan
At a time when modular buildings were still seen as less than by many in the architecture and construction world, Sara.Ann Logan took the plunge and partnered to launch a design-build firm that designed, built, and constructed modular high-end single-family homes. But even though she could see the value of this kind of construction, it wasn’t universally accepted.
Colorado Developer ‘Attacks’ Attainable Housing Crisis
City, county, and state government bodies are reaching out to Fading West Development, a modular manufacturer and developer in Buena Vista, CO, to learn more about how they are using modular construction to solve the affordable housing crisis in Colorado. Governments are eager to learn how they’ve made modular development successful and profitable while meeting the growing need for affordable housing.
CES Group’s Stuart Cameron Will Convince You the Moon Is Achievable with Modularized MEP
While most people think of construction as a gradually layered process, MEP assemblies—such as the modular ones—tend to provide all-in-one installs, like a car factory. A modular MEP product helps developers, architects, and fellow modular manufacturers reach their goals through early integration and planning. MEP assemblies address all the unseen things like electrical, heating, and plumbing when looking at a finalized building. The very nature of MEP assemblies are crucial to any initial prospectus.
Automation: The Future for Offsite Modular Construction
Offsite modular construction lags far behind other industries in embracing and adopting automation. Some people believe it will decrease jobs. Others feel they’ve done okay without it, so why change? In reality, conventional construction methods simply cannot keep up. Cooper Lane of Brave Control Solutions points to the labor shortage and the housing crisis that’s rampant in Canada, the U.S., and globally.
Seizing the Modular Construction Opportunity
The CSA Public Policy Centre’s new report, Seizing the Modular Construction Opportunity, highlights how innovative modular methods can help to bring various building forms—from single unit housing to complex high-rises—online more quickly. Owing to efficient manufacturing practices and controlled factory environments, modular can achieve completion rates that are 25% to 50% faster than conventional construction approaches.
Structural versus Cyclical: What Matters More?
A new set of considerations have induced leaders of major global manufacturing enterprises to reconsider their site selection decisions. Among these are: 1) a desire for simpler logistics emphasizing shorter transit distances and times; 2) a need to better protect intellectual property; 3) more reliable court systems; 4) incentives offered by the USMCA, America’s trade deal with Canada and Mexico; and 5) a recent set of subsidies offered under packages like the Chips and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
How Air Caster Technology Has Helped Improve Modular Building Manufacturing
Air casters mean flexibility, not just in terms of movement but also in terms of change. For example, one structure might be 56-feet-long and another 76-feet-long. Air casters allow manufacturers to easily accommodate a variety of shapes and sizes of boxes and then make changes on the fly.
The Building Industry Needs a Moonshot Speech
In his “Moonshot” speech in 1962, President Kennedy challenged his fellow citizens to land a man on the moon and bring him safely back to earth before 1970. He showed leadership, reimagining human potential and progress, and this famous speech has been an inspiration for many to get things done. Likewise, a “Home-shot” speech that challenges citizens to remove lengthy procedures and “carefully” remove some of the mountain of red tape required for permitting before 2030 would certainly make a huge difference.
How Issa Nesheiwat Conquered the Great Manufacturer/Design Divide
Born in Jordan forty years ago, Nesheiwat is something of an outsider to the modular housing world. His entrepreneurial spirit led him from a childhood growing up in Yonkers, New York, to the more provincial location of Poughkeepsie where he delved into many unique business ventures. Not one to shy away from a challenge, he took on projects that seemed impossible, often in the housing sector. His innate sense of the fundamentals in finance, corporate branding, and business expansion have led him to where he is today.
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