Modular Advantage Magazine
In each bi-monthly issue, Modular Advantage Magazine explores a specific modular construction topic and features interviews and articles along with industry news, updates from the Modular Building Institute and its members, modular case studies, and upcoming industry events. Our magazine is a valuable resource for professionals in the construction trade magazines.
While printed copies are mailed free to MBI members, we have partnered with PBC Today and BD+C magazines to send free electronic copies to 300,000+ industry professionals around the world, including architects, engineers, developers, and general contractors in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Europe.
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Latest Articles & Interviews
homeD: On a Mission to Improve Affordable Housing in Canada
homeD’s mission is to alleviate homelessness and in British Columbia and they’ve developed unique modular housing products to that end. The company also embraces a strong social justice ethic, providing solutions for marginalized communities who face housing challenges, and is aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Modular Hotel Room Prototype Shows Global Investors the Speed and Versatility of Modular Building
Forta PRO, a modular building manufacturer in Latvia, recently partnered with Marriott to create a modular hotel room based on their current design, Moxy. The two connected in Copenhagen in 2019, when Marriott expressed an interest in creating a mock-up to show investors the quality available through modular construction techniques. The stand-alone room is currently located in Frankfurt and is available for investors to visit.
PROMET: Providing Award-Winning Workforce Housing in Chile & Beyond
South America is a mining powerhouse, producing a substantial amount of the world’s silver, copper, tin, zinc, lithium, and nickel, and the mining industry requires a substantial amount of infrastructure to operate. That infrastructure includes workforce housing and office space that modular builders such as PROMET provide.
Turkish Manufacturer Has Long History of Responding to Disaster
On February 6, 2023, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked southern and central Turkey, killing over 2,300 people and injuring 10,000 more. DORCE responded with the force of its huge production capacity, dedicating all their abilities to producing emergency houses for those displaced by the disaster with help from AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency of Turkish Republic).
The Envelope Insulation Design Regarding Material Alteration Compatibility in Blast-Resistant Modular Buildings
BRM envelope insulation configuration has impacts on construction schedule time, potential redesign workload, and market competitiveness, which are all critical to the success of a BRM project.
Observations from My Travels to Ukraine
With over 2,300 damaged or destroyed schools, the potential for modular construction as part of the rebuilding effort is huge. In fact, mayors from several cities asked me about this exact issue when I visited in May. And, of course, the needs for medical clinics and housing are greater than ever.
Is the World Deglobalizing?
There is a popular narrative indicating that the world is now splintering after a period of coming together. For decades, the world seemed destined to become a unified production unit. Dozens of free trade agreements, the expansion of World Trade Organization (WTO) membership, and import/export data suggested that national boundaries were falling, at least with respect to the movement of goods, including productive construction inputs.
Current Issue
This special internationally-focused issue of Modular Advantage magazine offers a glimpse of the global modular construction industry with brand new interviews, articles, member news, case studies & more.
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Featured Modular Building Case Studies
Recent Issues
Past Articles
US Modular Capital: Revolutionizing Offsite Construction Financing
Traditional lenders have standards and practices which are not tailored to modular construction and accordingly, it has become increasingly evident that securing adequate funding is one of the key factors essential for the industry’s continued growth.
Lean Construction: A Tool to Drive Productivity
Once you know the current state and the wastes in your processes, you can start improving with the foundational tools of Lean Construction.
Modular and Off-Site Construction: Risk Questions, Scenarios, and Suggestions
Selecting a quality surety professional is of utmost importance. When researching a firm, consider their years of experience and amount of bonds written, current relationships with underwriters, and the memberships they hold to various professional
associations, as well as their overall knowledge of your unique industry. By partnering with a reputable consultant, you can ensure reliable performance that maximizes your bonding capacity.
The Cost of a Dated Education System on our Workforce
When the subject of workforce development arises there are many opinions on how our dwindling labor pool has become what it is. There is likely some truth to everyone’s response, but the real question should be: How do we help fix this mess? The reality of our labor shortage is that it’s our problem and each of us can play a part in helping to fix it. Kids need early exposure to the offsite construction industry.
The Mountains, Hills, and Valleys of Material Prices
With the global economy poised for further weakness and recession highly likely in America at some point over the next 12 months, there could be
additional downward pressure on input prices during the year ahead even as more infrastructure projects break ground.
Roland Brown Looks Back at His Story of Success in the Modular Construction Industry
Roland Brown never imagined his life would turn out this way. He retired from a nearly 50-year-long career, starting off as a draftsman in the mobile home industry to becoming the VP of Design and Development at Ramtech Building Systems, Inc., a design/build construction company in Mansfield, Texas with its own modular
manufacturing facility.
Welcoming the Industry’s Rising Stars to the World of Modular
As part of Tremco’s Rising Stars program, students from the East Career & Technical Academy attended World of Modular to learn from industry experts and meet representatives of companies from across the modular construction industry. Their instructor, Tremco’s David Hutchinson, led the morning-long program on the conference’s third day.
A Presidents’ Lunch 40 Years in the Making
At a luncheon hosted by MBI’s current executive director Tom Hardiman, CAE, and operations director Steven Williams, CAE, on the final day of the conference, nearly half of the association’s former board presidents were joined by Judy Smith, MBI’s former executive director who retired in 2004. There were warm greetings, old stories, and new insights into an
industry poised to grow like never before.
An Event to Remember: The 2023 World of Modular
MBI’s 2023 World of Modular conference and tradeshow was held in April at the luxurious Bellagio Resort & Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. World of Modular has long been the industry’s best chance to meet new contacts, learn from industry experts, and reconnect with old friends, but this year the excitement was palpable.
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