The Commercial Modular Building Blog

Many businesses have realized the benefits that adopting green policies and building/manufacturing guidelines can bring. For the past year we have been talking about the compounding advantages that green construction can offer:

• The duel recycling benefits of not only building with recycled material (and using less resources as a result) but building structures that themselves can be broken down and reused in another context, thus minimizing construction waste.
• The energy-saving insulation that’s inherent in a modular design. This cuts down on heating and cooling costs dramatically, and when used in combination with water-saving appliances and low-energy lights and appliances, reduces your overall footprint.
• The air quality-preserving indoor manufacturing process. This process allows construction processes to be carefully controlled, leaving the air contaminant-free at the actual build site.
• The commercial advantage of green building. Energy conservation and sustainability are on a lot of consumers’ minds these days. Offering a product that addresses these concerns allows for a favorable market-capture.

These are certainly great benefits. We’ve also talked about the fact that not only is the public demanding greener, sustainable products, but cash-strapped governments everywhere are looking for green, efficient products. Providing goods that address this need could be highly profitable, as there are government contracts everywhere. This article helpfully details the opportunities for government contracts out there.  

Another advantage more businesses could think about is this: offering green products help to further integrate your own employees by encouraging their own views. As we have said previously, green, sustainable products are on a lot of consumers’ minds lately. Chances are, that’s going to include a lot of your employees as well. This article details how you can get your employees more invested in your company, which includes representing their own views and interests…in this case, providing green and sustainable products. Definitely an interesting read, which apart from endorsing green processes and products, provides some wonderful insight into how to make your employees more productive overall.

There are always many ways to make a product and a business better and more efficient. Almost always, pursuing these ends themselves results in a more prosperous business overall.

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.

A winery is being built in Lodi, California, and it is being built with modular construction.

This is the first winery to be built with modular construction. The builder’s aim is to create an eco-friendly, sustainable, clean winery using the latest in technology.

The actual winery equipment is going to be built with state of the art, green equipment and electronics. The building is seeking LEED gold status.

Not only is the building going to be affordably built with high quality, environmentally friendly materials, but the actual machinery inside will be subscribing to those same aims, supposedly powered with solar energy. Modular construction, coupled with smart green technology and design, is quickly permeating every aspect of modern construction.  

For wine lovers and green/modular technology advocates, this is great news. The full article is here.

When promoting the green qualities of our modular walls, we often mention that modular construction contributes to a better overall air quality where the construction is taking place.

We all want good air quality. We want to be able to breathe easy and we want our lungs to be healthy. We’ve all seen those images of black smoker’s lungs, images that have probably been ingrained in our minds for generations to come, and we often act in opposition to that fate.

This claim of better air quality in our modular construction method raises several questions. How does modular construction improve air quality? Why is better air quality (usually situated indoors) considered green? And what effects does bad air quality have on human beings?

To answer the first question, air quality on the build site is improved due to better control. Modular walls are manufactured in controlled factory conditions, instead of cut and sanded and painted and patched in a variable environment. With previous iterations of construction, crews had to do all the shaping and fine tuning on the actual build site, which can lead to large quantities of particulate matter being released into the air and dispersed throughout, possibly posing a threat to workers and future occupants.

So why is indoor air quality considered green? Our modern understanding of the green movement is that there is an effort to save the environment by means of using less resources, using sustainable resources, and doing work that does less harm as opposed to benefit when it comes to the general environment. Isn’t indoor air pollution a solely human matter, seeing as how only humans are going to be inhabiting the space? Well, if you didn’t know already, you’ll be happy to know that the green movement is also concerned with human well being, and not just the narrow interest in the environment itself. The ideology of the eco friendly persuasion encompasses not only a concern for the environment, but a concern for the effect the environment has on Earth’s inhabitants, including humans!

In that respect, how do airborne particulates effect human beings? We know about the coughing, the difficulty breathing, and the lung irritation, but what is really going on?  

As it happens, particulates are classified by their size. Particles that are 10 micrometers (one-millionth of a meter) or more in diameter are considered coarse and are less dangerous than finer particles. Coarser particles end up in our throat and nose, which eventually get ejected via mucus and saliva and other such mechanisms. At less than 10 micrometers however, particles become more troublesome.  

As particles become finer, they become more dangerous. Particles at 2.5 micrometers and less start to become even more worrisome. Particles at 10 nanometers (on billionth of a meter) and less are extremely fine and even more dangerous.

The more fine the particles, the further they can enter the body. Finer particles reach deeper areas in the lungs and even finer particles can even enter the bloodstream and reach other organs. Particulate contamination and build-up can result in a number of disorders in disease, such as asthma, lung cancer, cardiovascular problems, and even death.

So the less particulates we have in the air, the cleaner the air, the less of a risk we have of developing certain diseases. Cutting down in particulates is one aspect of the green endeavor, and necessary to continue the betterment of the human experience.

Why has the modular building industry been growing so rapidly recently? And why has the industry been talked about so much in business and construction journals? Is it because of new technologies, making the modular building process more advantageous? Is it because of concern about the environment? Or because of concerns about efficiency?

I want to argue that it is all of the above. Due to coinciding advances in technology and various global problems, modular building is poised to set the new standard in construction practices.

Early modular technology saw cheap, quickly put-together prefabricated buildings being put up in a deliberate sacrifice of quality for quantity. As modular technology has improved, efficiency of the building process has not only improved, but building quality has vastly improved as well, a quality that makes modular buildings comparable to buildings of hard construction.

As technologies improve, more architects are becoming interested in designing with modular frameworks, making modular buildings not only functionally desirable, but aesthetically as well, attracting new portions of the market.

These changing trends in technology and design in the industry have coincided with not only economic panic, but environmental panic as well.

In a weak economy, businesses worldwide are looking to cut costs, improve efficiency, and adopt leaner practices in general. Modular buildings naturally account for this, as they save on material, labor, and energy costs. Not only that, but modular buildings are highly flexible and adaptable, and go hand in hand with leaner business strategy.

On top of all this, concern with our impact of the environment has reached a global high. With modular buildings’ recyclability and eco-friendly materials and design-aspects, modular construction can account for more sustainable building practices as well.

It is a converging of all of these seperate forces that is propelling the modular construction industry into a new worldwide standard. We can use technology and ingenious design techniques to solve many difficult societal and environmental problems. Certainly a beautiful thing.

I briefly touched on the topic of downsizing in my previous post when I explained a solution for our modern problem of limited space, but the real reason for today’s prominent downsizing trend is the change of living and buying behaviors in the wake of the recession.

The baby boomer generation embodies this trend, as aging consumers seek to downsize from their previously larger homes. Most of these downsizers cite expense, maintenance costs, and overall effort when explaining their need for downsizing.

Large homes are costly in several respects. First of all, the homes themselves are expensive. Then you have the heating and cooling costs, which can be hefty in themselves. Add to that list cleaning costs, general maintenance costs, and landscaping (since large houses are usually situated on a large plot of land of course) and you’ve got yourself a pretty high cost of living, a cost of living that’s certainly going to be unacceptable in post-recessionary times.

So what does it mean to downsize? Well, this term does not only connote the act of moving into a smaller house, it has many connotations in today’s market, and has become quite a business of itself.

First, a consumer looks to moving into a smaller house, condo, or apartment due to excessive expenses, which is happening on a mass scale, since many newly prosperous builders cite small, green houses as their major seller.

But the process of downsizing doesn’t end there. People want their smaller houses green because not only do they care about the environment, they want to save on energy and other utility costs. Modern houses are being smartly built to take advantage of environmental utilities such as wind direction and natural light to handle heating and cooling needs. Some people are opting for solar paneling, some for improved insulation, and others for water saving technologies. Still others are opting for all of it to save money in the long run. All of these green technologies are creating quickly growing markets as well.

People are seeking to get rid of many excessive objects they once owned, and there are businesses out there that seek to help with that. Then there is the process of actually taking advantage of what little space people have to work with to still live comfortably in their homes. Single rooms are now multi-use thanks to smaller appliances and modular technology, all of these things creating other markets.

Businesses themselves are actively involved in the general process of downsizing as well. Businesses are constantly looking to cut costs and become lean and efficient in the face of a weak economy. Smaller facilities, more efficient use of materials, harnessing of green energy, whatever it takes to get by.

So as you can see, today downsizing is a big deal, and the term itself implies many different facets of slimming down and optimizing smaller amounts of space and material. The practice itself is generating its own newly booming market, generating a perpetual engine for efficiency/ecology-minded technologies and space utilization. This is how we will recover from the recession.

Hopping aboard the green movement

One of the main functions of modern business is to recognize social movements and leverage that forward momentum, funneling buyers to relevant products and services.

Today’s growing green movement is one of those movements…and not just because it has “movement” in its name! We are at a critical point in history when the ideas of environmental conservation and sustainable living have become the agenda of the masses. Environmentalism is no longer seen as weak, fanciful, and superfluous, but absolutely necessary and a noble cause. This is all due to our growing realization (thanks to advances in science and technology) that our ecosystem really is delicate and that up to this point we have been destroying it. Now humanity as a whole is concerned with the well-being of the environment and the necessity of preserving it.   

Smart, growing businesses are taking advantage of this social movement, which is only adding to the beneficial practices of preserving the environment.

 In a time when the economy is hurting and job growth is stunted, the green industries are flourishing and green tech jobs are growing. This astounding fact is testament to the power of a social movement.

In this uncertain, constantly changing economy, it is good to know there is one driving idea that won’t change for a while: the idea that we need to develop green technologies and conduct business in an environmentally friendly manner.

So to reiterate, successful business that are surviving and growing in today’s economy are either entering into the green technology market or embracing green technology and investing in environmentally friendly processes as they manufacture their products or offer their services. Today’s consumers prefer green companies. The environment is on everyone’s mind, so everyone is going to prefer green products. They are also going to prefer doing business with the companies that can claim to be green friendly.

In the next post, I will talk about the usefulness of branding when it comes to surviving in today’s economy.

It’s interesting how the explosion in technological advances in the modular building industry coincided with the rising global awareness of the green movement. Coincidence? Act of fate? Or maybe it couldn’t have been otherwise…

Whatever the case, the fact of the matter is that we are now painfully aware of the human impact on the ecosystem and the environment in general. Climate changes due to global warming, energy shortages, depleting fresh water stores, collapsing ecosystems, and other environmental problems have been made fully present in today’s public awareness. In the last 30 years, the picture painted by these problems was pretty bleak. Basically, corporations were recklessly destroying the environment in pursuit of profit, and the general character of mankind was seen to be squandering natural resources daily, natural resources that we took for granted but that wouldn’t be around for much longer. Soon the earth would be an inhospitable wasteland and we would be obliterated.

However, that’s not the picture we see today. The green movement has reached a critical stage in which businesses and concerned individuals have embraced environmentalism and the pursuit of green technology. Whereas in the past, going green was seen as expensive and impractical and was resisted, today going green is seen as actually profitable and cost-saving and a necessary pursuit for the good of our future generations. We are beginning to see the development of a bright, optimistic view of our environment and the future. Population growth is stabilizing and the existing population is more aware of human effect on the environment than ever.

Instead of just advancing for the sake of advancing, modern technology is advancing carefully, taking care not to “tread all over the grass.” Technology is now green-oriented, focusing on energy conservation, efficiency, and waste elimination.  Modern technological advances are not only focusing on human benefit, as they were before, but balancing that with environmental benefit and doing a great job of managing the two while still bounding forward, in my opinion. That’s brilliance right there.

Modern modular construction is a big part of the green technology movement, seeing as how construction waste makes up more than 30% of landfill waste. With the reusability and recyclability of modular systems, construction waste could be virtually eliminated if modular construction advances as the standard method of construction. Modular systems are made from completely recyclable materials, which helps. But one of the greenest aspects of modular buildings is their reusability. If you build a modular building intended to carry out a certain function out of universal, modular parts, you can break those parts down and rearrange the parts to build another building that can carry out a completely different function.

This is a profound advantage that carries benefits that are two-fold. Not only are you cutting down on waste from having to destroy a building and dispose of the debris, but you are saving on the energy and resources that it takes to construct a whole other building. This is an elegant solution to construction waste if I don’t say so myself, and a sign of the beginnings of a new, bright age of clean, green technology.

Time is Money and with The Economy in Flux, Successful Businesses look at a Fast New Building Product to Stay In Front

As businesses change, so do their facility’s needs. In this day and age slowing down is simply not an option. Downsizing and expansion both require changes in physical space; prefabricated modular wall systems can accomplish both these tasks with minimal impact on productivity or workflow.

Businesses today must meet the changing business environment quickly and intelligently. Using prefabricated modular products can save companies tremendous amounts of time and money. The look of modular has become so streamlined that it is virtually indistinguishable from standard construction; however, the cost savings, non-intrusiveness, flexibility, and reduced environmental impact of modular truly makes it the best business solution on the market.

Standard stud and drywall construction causes enormous strain on companies looking to transform their workspace. “Many organizations overlook the productivity lost during a lengthy construction project; the cost of downtime can be staggering! Invasive drywall dust, sanding, and painting can become a thing of the past, although few companies have realized that prefabricated modular building systems are available and are a better solution” said Scott Nielsen, LEED Certified Operations Manager of Allied Modular.

Now, modular construction, which is pre-manufactured before arriving at a job site, eases the strain on companies looking to modify their facilities. Offices, lunchrooms, conference rooms, and a host of other applications can be completed in days instead of months, with very little impact on the operations of the organization and by purchasing prior to year end; you can maximize your tax benefits under http://www.section179.org/section_179_deduction.html [IRS tax law, section 179].

In addition to providing a non-intrusive and highest-quality business solution, prefabricated modular products offer myriad other advantages over standard construction. Modular products can be reused and relocated with very little effort or financial impact. Also, modular companies like Allied Modular Building Systems manufacture building solutions that are environmentally friendly using only recyclable materials and small installation crews, the carbon footprint on the environment is as minimal as the impact on your company’s productivity.

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…