The Commercial Modular Building Blog

The green movement has been quickly gaining ground in the past couple of years, especially after the vulnerable  recovery period following the recession. We found that we needed to start looking at more efficient and sustainable ways to use energy and resources for economic, social, and ecological reasons. Many began to take the green movement more seriously, and many companies adopted green standards in energy and sustainable practices, which led to more business activity and growth in services such as clean energy, thanks to the mobilizing effects of the green movement itself.  

Well, the green movement is going to become even more pronounced in the next few years, maybe even to the extent of it ceasing to be a movement and becoming the norm. This is due to the actual institutionalization of the movement, thanks to the General Services Administration.

If you read their “Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan,” you’ll find that the GSA is actively adopting a green/sustainability policy, and will advocate the spread of such practices throughout our government. This means that any business that would like to build government buildings or acquire other similar contracts will most likely be required to adhere to a certain green/sustainable standard in energy and resource use.

Soon it will become absolutely crucial for all construction methods to employ green, sustainable practices. Modular construction is often touted as being green through and through, which is correct. Modular buildings not only save resources by recycling materials and using available resources more efficiently, but they also save landfills from demolition waste, due to their reusability. Modular buildings also boast better insulation and containment ratings, which saves on energy.

This is definitely an encouraging trend. We will see higher efficiency in our building processes and better management of our limited resources and energy sources. We here at Allied Modular are happy to rise to the challenge.

With our corporate offices located in California we have seen tremendous changes in building codes over our 20 years.  As much as we might say we don’t like to continually conform to the new standards, the proof of the benefits is always in the data.

California, in 2005, boasted the lowest consumption per capita of any other state at 7,032 kWh, and that number looks to get much smaller.  Their relentless pursuit to reduce electricity consumption with state and local building codes, among other things, has had an impact.  By implementing small incremental changes all around, California has reduced electricity consumption for the past 10 years consecutively, while the population growth however has expanded by millions.  You could say that they have been a “green” state for a number of years, and an influential beacon when it comes to energy conservation. Continue reading…