Over the years, there’s been much debate about the value of charter schools – debates about funding sources, the impact they have on local school districts, and the quality of the education provided by the schools.  Overall, various analyses highlighted on the NAPCS website indicate that charter schools have proven to be successful at pulling underachieving, economically challenged, and at-risk students up to levels of high achievement that they weren’t reaching in district schools.  These successes are leading to more and more charters being green-lit around the country.  Which of course, leads to construction dollars being spent to accommodate the growth.

Charter schools have a lot in common with district schools. They’re faced with tough challenges around academic achievement, dropout rate reduction, funding, budgets, and appropriate classroom space. Some charters are housed in existing buildings, like the Match Charter in Boston, located in the heart of Boston University’s campus on Commonwealth Avenue.  But some require new construction.

Why Modular For Charter Schools?

The modular construction industry has a lot to offer charter schools that are starting fresh or ready to expand.  With prefabricated classroom construction, we can get a school built in about half the time it takes for stick-build construction, and often at a much lower cost. Science and innovation charter schools can especially benefit from the “green” options available to the modular industry – and use the building itself as a learning tool.  With unlimited space capacity and design alternatives, charter schools, like regular district schools, can create adaptable, reusable, modular learning environments that exactly suit the needs of their students and staff.

Saving time and money for schools in need is an integral part of the education sector of our business.  Please check out last week’s blog post, where I talk about more challenges facing charter schools we’ve heard from at http://www.triumphmodular.com/blog/prefabrication-solutions-for-public-charter-schools, and visit with the National Alliance For Public Charter Schools to learn more about the movement to these independent public schools.

As you may know, Perkins+Will, an integrated design firm serving clients from twenty-three offices around the world has teamed with Triumph Modular Inc., a Northeastern US provider of high-quality relocatable and permanent modular buildings. Their intent is to offer Sprout Space™, a modular classroom designed to compete afford-ably with more traditional “modular classrooms” and school buildings. Sprout Space can be ganged together to create a school solution that will compete particularly well where schools have a 3 to 5 year need for additional space, or if uncertainty exists in the longer term planning process. Much of the preconstruction planning process has been done, the buildings will be installed by Triumph Modular in the Northeastern part of the United States, and a collaboration is underway with a national team of fabricators and modular contractors to enable owners, school districts and charter operators across the country to take a look at this process as a potential solution to an often complex set of facility concerns.

The cost benefit “tipping point” between “barely legal” temporary trailers and Sprout Space is starting to make sense, first because the designers and fabricators collaborated to wring excess costs from the final prototype, second because building codes are increasing the costs of the cheapest form of “trailers” and third, the lowest cost solutions are proving too costly both in terms of inefficiency, and what they say about how we educate our youth.

In 2004, Triumph Modular launched a campaign to be the first modular company in the country to produce a LEED® “level”, green portable classroom, winning multiple awards and recognition for changing the perception of what a modular classroom should or can be. Since then, Triumph has collaborated on numerous green modular classrooms, including a permanent 13,000 SF early childcare center in North Andover, Massachusetts; a 6,000 SF addition at the Oak Hill Middle School in Newton, Massachusetts; of permanent design but capable of re location, and a 5,800 SF child care center at Harvard University, which won a award from the USGBC Mass Chapter in 2010 for its contribution to sustainable design and construction practices. Triumph’s innovative project in Needham, MA in the summer of 2011, a 36,000 SF school that exceeded the community’s expectations for a temporary building, won first place honors nationally in the Green Education category as well as “Best of Show” award at the Modular Building Institutes (modular.org) national awards ceremony held in Orlando in April of this year.

The need for configurable solutions

Schools, both private and public often face challenges, including budget shortfalls, outdated facilities and population fluctuations. These difficulties sometimes force them into less than optimal building solutions. The basic requirements for a classroom include: natural daylight, good indoor air quality, adequate space, proper temperature control, and good acoustics. This challenge inspired Perkins+Will, a leader in education design, to give schools an alternative through their award winning design of Sprout Space.

Perkins+Will partnered with DeKalb County Schools to win an international award in the 2009 Open Architecture Challenge: Best Re-locatable Classroom design competition, which was hosted by Architecture for Humanity. This worldwide initiative invited the architecture, design and engineering communities to collaborate directly with students and teachers to rethink the classroom of the future. Designers entering the competition were given a simple mandate: collaborate with real students in real schools in their community to develop real solutions. The winning design was the genesis for Sprout Space.

Perkin + Will recognized the severity of the problem, that too many schools think about portable “trailers” as an easy and quick fix. The challenge the modular community faces is to prove that a better design and healthier building is not out of reach price wise, even for short term swing space. A partnership between thought leaders in education design and modular practices was borne.

Sprout Space Modular Classrooms

The goal of any classroom is to have inspired teachers instructing engaged students who are learning in a healthy and productive environment. Sprout Space is the first high performance modular classroom designed by school design experts, and it incorporates unique features including:

• Healthy Learning Environments: Sprout Space was designed with children’s health and various learning styles in mind. Built from low-emitting materials, these classrooms meet the highest indoor air quality standards. A healthy learning environment equals fewer sick days, higher test scores, and happier students.

• Flexible Learning Environments: Sprout Space is very flexible. It is well-suited for various teaching styles, seating configurations, and outdoor learning opportunities. Each classroom opens up to the outdoors through large bi-fold doors. This encourages experiential learning and complements and a variety of teaching methods.

• Sustainable Learning Environments: Our design incorporates ample natural daylight, which has been proven to increase test scores and retention rates with the added benefit of significantly lower utility costs. Numerous design features such as integrated rainwater collection, overhanging eaves, and sustainable materials make Sprout Space an excellent example of passive and active green building strategies. The materials that we use include FSC-certified wood, high-reflective roofing, and bio-based insulation and flooring.
Delivered

Sprout Spaces are pre-engineered, built in a factory and delivered on site. Constructing the buildings in a controlled environment has many advantages over building them on site such as: reducing cost, reducing construction time by up to 50%, less construction waste, a longer building life-cycle, and the elimination of mold growth during construction.

About Perkins+Will

Established in 1935, Perkins+Will is an integrated design firm serving clients from twenty-three offices around the world. The firm practices architecture, interiors, branded environments, planning + strategies and urban design for clients in the aviation + transit, corporate + commercial + civic, healthcare, higher education, K-12 education, and science + technology markets. Perkins+Will routinely ranks among the world’s top design firms and has received hundreds of awards, including the prestigious American Institute of Architects’ “Firm of the Year Award.” With more LEED® Accredited Professionals than any firm in North America, Perkins+Will is recognized as the preeminent sustainable design firm in the country and recently rated the #1 Green Design firm in the country by Building Design + Construction Magazine. Perkins+Will was the first multi-office company to commit to the 2030 Challenge, in which the firm has pledged that all of our projects will be designed for carbon neutrality by the year 2030.

About Triumph Modular Incorporated

Formed in 1981, Triumph Modular Incorporated of Littleton, Massachusetts is a long trusted source for leasing temporary space and today is a specialty contractor of custom permanent commercial modular buildings. Triumph provides all types of building space, from relocatable to complex multi-story permanent modular buildings. Learn about the game changing innovations in education and classroom planning at http://www.triumphmodular.com/modular-classrooms-sproutspace.php

Regularly, they are seeking a solution to a complex set of facility space problems. Most often, they are seeking a sustainable plan to provide best in class teaching spaces for the long term.

Among the challenges they tell us:

“Our enrollments can and do change over time we add a grade a year.”

“Speed of construction is critical for a number of factors.”

“We have a time definite occupancy, e.g. we must be occupied by Sept 1st.”

“Temporary stock classroom is being considered, because it meets the timeline, but it does not meet our funding requirements. Also “trailers” are a short term band aid, and a sunk cost!”

“We do not want our children learning in inferior learning spaces.”

“The potential always exists for space needed at another school down the road.”

We have found that by using repeatable systems, which have been successful in the past, we have reduced the time and costs in pre construction, and have unleashed savings without sacrificing building quality. Our buildings can also provide flexibility of financing and leasing, as well as 100% re use, while satisfying the all important requirement of quality. I want to share three telling examples of how, when people open their eyes to the benefits of adding a level of “prefabrication” as a solution to their facility space problems, they find amazing results.

Pictured: Whole School Solution – Permanent School Building – Six Month Construction Process

Pictures by NRB Inc.

The gymnasium shown below, is 64’ x 42’ with a rear, outside deck, and 16’ in height from the floor to underside of roof trusses. The floor was constructed at the factory, 8 floor sections, 42 feet long, to make up the multi-purpose room, and the rear outside deck. They were shipped to and stacked on site, off loaded with a crane and set on the piers. The surrounding modules were then set in place.

The roof trusses were also fabricated off-site and shipped. They rested atop columns, which were set atop the end walls of the building modules. “Stub” walls with windows and the end walls of the room were then site fabricated to close off under the trusses. All finishes were site installed.

Of the building example pictured above, two whole schools were started in March, delivered in June, and occupied in September for the start of the school year.

See example/solution number two in a video below:

See example/solution number three in a video by Perkins & Will Architecture below:

Article written By Glenn Cort – VP at Triumph Modular.

The kinds of shelters we live and work in have a major impact on our environment.   As Earth’s population grows, we’ll need more hospitals, schools, homes, and commercial and government centers.

That begs the question: How can we make choices that fill our need for buildings while respecting natural resources and keeping a watchful eye on the future?

According to the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), buildings consume about 40% of all energy in the U.S. every year, including the energy it takes to build. In spite of the complex issues affecting a build, the construction industry as a whole has to take responsibility for where we build, how we build, and the materials we use.

Long before Earth Day events popped up in the 1970’s, the industry was already thinking about ways to change the face of construction.  Consider the early 20^th century, when modular homes were being delivered straight to consumers by Sears Roebuck and Co.  Originally designed to be temporary money-savers, today’s modular commercial and residential structures are being designed and built to be more functional, reusable, and greener than ever before.

Here are a few points on how the industry is eco-friendly:

Natural Resource Depletion: Weather conditions, vandalism, and theft plague construction sites and ruin materials.  Add in human error, and materials are sometimes wasted even more. Despite all this, the construction industry is largely a logical and efficient machine, but could be even more so.  With more careful planning, better storage of materials, and more use of prefabrication, we can limit waste and be more responsible with our limited resources.

In the modular industry, we keep all of our building materials stored indoors, and our construction takes place in a factory setting, so weather doesn’t harm our structure while it’s being built.  All this can add up to a 90% reduction in wasted materials compared to standard on-site construction, resulting in less waste in landfills.  Add in the energy savings associated with daily deliveries at traditional stick-build sites, and the green impact grows.

• Recycle/Reuse: Modular buildings can be moved to a new location, making entire buildings reusable. Adhering to the same stringent building codes as traditional buildings, modular schools and commercial properties can be re-purposed for generations.

• Sustainability: The greenest building is of course the one that doesn’t have to be newly built at all!

• Clean Air & Energy Conservation: Using less energy and emitting less vehicle pollution into the air isn’t easy when you’re constructing a major project. The modular industry tries to reduce its impact on the areas surrounding a work-site by building off-site, which requires less traffic from workers and deliveries to a site.   Once the building is built, it can be easily delivered to a prepared site. Total construction time can be as little as 50% of that at a stick-build site.  For example, in under 60 days we set up a 40,000 square foot modular school in Needham, MA.

• LEED Rating System: In 2000, The USGBC developed a rating system for builders who show Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Our article entitled Green Building: Innovative Modular Systems explains the inherently green aspects of some modular structures.

• Reducing Our “Footprint”: By creating less travel and human traffic necessary to complete a project, the construction industry will have a smaller impact on local wildlife, the climate, and water supplies when we tread more gently on the areas that surround worksites.

While there have been advances in recent decades, the entire building industry must strive to make construction more efficient and eco-friendly. If we really want to support Earth Day, we can do it by cutting down on vehicle emissions and waste, and by insisting on eco-friendly practices.

It would be nice if the construction industry could make it Earth Day, every day.

To the many that are trying, Happy Earth Day.

It is becoming more apparent and widely publicized that traditional methods of on-site construction have a number of flaws. Since it is a fragmented process by nature, it leads to longer time frames to complete a project, delays, lower quality control, increased materials and energy waste and more overall required labor. All of these factors translate into higher spending budgets with lower rates of satisfaction with finished jobs.

Modular construction dates back to when the English moved to Australia, and shipped entire buildings across the globe, and is an entirely different concept and process of construction. The primary difference is that 90% of construction takes place offsite, at a factory. The entire assembly of the components of the building including roofing, electricity and plumbing takes place indoors and then the finished module is transported to the building’s final’s location. Since modular construction is a repetitive, streamlined process, the industry has been able to achieve unparalleled amount of quality control each step of the way. This difference translates into market increases in productivity, energy and materials efficiency, 30-50% faster rates of completion and significant financial savings. As William Cianci, executive director of the Construction Institute at the University of Hartford, points out with regard to modular construction, “Everything is really based on controlling conditions”.

During the construction phase in the factory, streamlining and controlling the process means that materials and production are not subject to weather conditions, it is easier to supervise labor and control incidents of theft, there is faster access to tools, and fewer material deliveries to a construction site. While this saves both time and money, big savings result from the fact that unlike in traditional construction, site preparation and building construction take place simultaneously, rather than as two separate phases of the process.

The savings are particularly significant for clients such as hospitals, hotels and schools, since their buildings have a lot of repetitive rooms (i.e. classrooms, labs, hotel rooms, patient facilities, etc) and can be efficiently prefabricated in an an assembly-line fashion. For example, the Miami Valley Hospital in Ohio saved 2 % off its $152 million construction costs by prefabricating the patient rooms and overhead utility racks. Projects such as this one and resulting impressive savings have been drawing a lot of attention and interest from clients in different industries who are looking to build quality buildings on a budget. Tom Hardiman, executive director of the Modular Buildings Institute, based in Virginia remarked on this new trend, stating: “The downturn of the construction economy has made people look to be more efficient, more productive”.

The undeniable environmental benefits of modular construction has also been one of the leading reasons for many clients choosing to embrace it. Traditional on site construction causes a lot of pollution, wastes materials that end up in landfills and wastes a lot of energy and other resources in the process. Modular construction has made a commitment to making its production process more environmentally friendly and employs many cutting edge green building and design practices. The streamlined automated nature of the process saves a lot of energy and reduces materials waste. Moreover, many building materials in modular construction are made from recycled materials, and can also be recycled at the end of their service life. The industry has also been pushing the envelope on the traditionally accepted concept that a building has an end to its service life. In modular construction, modules are specifically designed to be reused and repurposed, greatly extending their service life and thereby reducing waste and pollution associated with it.

Despite the many advantages, many construction companies are still slow to embrace modular construction. Construction industry as a whole has actually been lagging behind in terms of adapting progressive technologies and improving its best practices and efficiency. In fact, according to the Modular Building Institute, the overall productivity in the construction industry declined from 1995 to 2001, while nearly every other industry has embraced technological advancements. One of the reasons for this resistance to modular construction has been the fact that most contractors, subcontractors and trades with various specialties are trained in the ways things in construction have been traditionally done. Another hurdle that needs to be overcome is unions and laborers, who tend to oppose prefabrication because it reduces the amount of labor needed as most of the work is performed offsite and offers lower wages to workers.

States themselves have been slow to embrace modular construction, but successful case studies across the country, such as Miami Valley Hospital in Ohio, are giving many state agencies food for thought. In particular, prefabrication has been picking up interest in the West and the Midwest, and such states as Connecticut are slowly beginning to consider the potential benefits of modular construction. For example, as a step toward more efficient construction, the state of Connecticut, where modular construction is practically non-existent, has been moving some projects away from the low-bidder concept, and focusing more on design-build partnerships, instead. Additionally, construction projects have begun to be laid out virtually on a computer before work onsite begins. While change is slow, the fast speed of evolving technologies in modular construction, and many successful money saving prefab projects springing up across the US, there is no doubt that both states and companies within the construction industry itself will come to realize the efficiencies to be gained from modular construction.

References:

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news23395.html

The principal difference of modular construction is that it takes place offsite in a factory setting. Once constructed, the finished modules are transported and assembled at the building’s final location. Since the process is controlled from beginning to end it is inherently greener, resulting in a greater energy and resource efficiency. Green design and build advantages of modular construction include the following:

1. Reduced material waste
2. Minimal site disturbance
3. Ability to repurpose existing modular buildings and their components

Reduced Material Waste

One of the major downsides of traditional onsite construction is that it deals with large amount of waste produced in the process by either recycling or diverting it only after the project has been finished. On the other hand, modular construction takes an entirely different approach by focusing on reducing waste on the front end. In fact, modular construction is able to a achieve dramatic reduction in waste because 90 % of the building process takes place inside. Modular builders can store much more material than onsite builders which allows them to have a better sense of the quantities of materials that will be required for the project. Since production process is repetitive in nature, it becomes possible to have greater accountability of materials before they leave the factory, thereby significantly reducing waste that goes to the landfills. Moreover, inside the factory materials are protected from inclement weather and theft. Lastly, the automated streamlined nature of production ensures higher quality, which means that there are fewer onsite errors and less need to re-do the job, which also significantly reduces waste.

Another key way in which modular construction helps reduce waste, is by recycling and reusing its buildings. Modular buildings come apart in the same pieces they were originally created. This makes it easy and efficient for a building to be disassembled and the modules to be relocated and reused with minimal waste. In some cases, even entire buildings can be recycled, eliminating the need to demolish or abandon an old building while a new one is being constructed.

Minimal Site Disturbance

One of the major advantages of modular construction is that it takes place with minimal site disturbance. This is possible because modular construction happens primarily offsite. Consequently, there is less waste to landfills from the site, less harmful construction pollutants on site and less vehicle traffic, all of which cumulatively result in reduced community disruption. Offsite construction allows for modules to be assembled at the same time as site preparation is taking place. Also, the streamlined nature of the process requires less labor hours and therefore workers need to take less trips to the site. Overall, a modular construction project can be completed 30%-50% sooner than a project that was fully executed onsite. Minimal site disturbance is a highly desirable feature for such clients as schools, hospitals, government buildings and all other buildings that have a routine schedule and a high volume of people going to and from the site on a daily basis. This is one of the reasons why schools and medical facilities have been using modular construction for their projects with great success and their numbers continue to grow.

Repurpose and reuse modular buildings

Repurposing is a fairly new concept within the sustainability community and construction industry, but because of its obvious benefits, it is quickly catching on. Until recently it has been commonly accepted that most building materials will eventually end up in the landfill. Moreover, it costs too much to deconstruct an abandoned site-build structure, and reuse or repurpose its components or materials. Modular construction has slowly been redefining all of these notions by building structures that are inherently more sustainable. Modular buildings are specifically designed for fast and efficient disassembly and reuse. As a result, there does not have to be an end to the lifecycle of a building, or at least modular construction allows for it to be greatly extended. Overall, this cleaner greener process wastes a lot less energy and resources, contributing its share to reducing global warming on our planet.

References:

http://www.kenilworth.com/publications/cc/de/201204/files/86.html

Bath Iron Works (BIW), a Dynamics Company founded in 1884 is a major American shipyard of national historic significance located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine.   The shipyard has built and designed battleships, cruisers and destroyers, which are currently among the world’s most advanced warships. During World War II, ships built at BIW were considered by sailors and Navy officials to be of superior toughness, giving rise to the phrase “Bath-built is best-built.”

Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics. The shipyard is a sprawling complex made up of both small materials handling facilities and fabrication shops and huge transfer facilities and support centers that hold ships in excess of 1000 tons.  Modernization in production methods is resulting in large facility changes and modular buildings were sought out to minimize building construction on site and to have improved facilities of quality design, but on a fast time frame.

BIW contacted Triumph Modular within a few months of when they wanted to have permanent building on site.  Triumph found facilities staff, and in particular, a director of facilities who had a firm understanding of what BIW, wanted and needed in this building.  Original design ideas were given to Triumph who then worked with Mobile Modular Express a factory chosen due to their capacity to work the design specifications and engineer what the client wanted within the time frame allotted.  Head engineer and VP Ken Zuromski and his team worked diligently to communicate with Triumph who integrated daily with BIW on the design and within budget considerations.  Long lead items such as non standard custom windows with high wind bearing capacity were placed well in advance of even final contracting.

The parties demonstrated a collaborative effort similar to what many in the construction field today call more formally a project delivery method of construction called Integrated Project Delivery.  A “True IPD” (where one contract is entered into by multiple parties) was never formed, as BIW also has firm objectivity and bidding requirements in procurement,  however the efforts to integrate BIW design with modular engineering team early in conception, design assistance and engineering changes on a rapid schedule, this project had every feel of a new age collaborative effort,  not seen in other more traditional contracting methods such as Design Bid Build.  In fact a large BIW Team, including contractors and sub contractors boarded their plane, and visited the factory during construction where final planning points for the set of the building.  Drawings were modified a number of times consistent with the client’s needs and in some cases re submitted for approval and inspection by the licensed 3^rd party of the modular factory.

Project Highlights:

Triumph worked with the client to make choices that would result in a quality building that could be delivered and set up on site almost literally “in record time”.

Location: Bath Me, Square Footage: 4032, No of Modules: (4) 14 x 60 (2) 12 x 28, Time from design approval to set: 10 weeks.

This article was written by Glenn Cort.

The Triumph Modular Team invites New England architects to both learn about, and engage in dialog regarding prefabrication and modularization as a way to ensure they are providing their clients with the latest in project delivery alternatives.  As experts in the modular industry, we are eager to share our knowledge and experience.  It is our hope that by sharing our know-how and listening to the responses and opinions of the architects we can forge relationships that will lead to future consultation and eventually collaboration on worthwhile projects.  Every time we have the opportunity to meet with an architectural team, we walk away with a better understanding of an individual architect’s unique perspective as it pertains to modular construction methods.

There is a deep rooted mental association with the word “modular”. For many people “modular” conjures up images of an aluminum sided mobile home or trailer. In 2012 modular encompasses a broad category of building types. Modular buildings range from the early “trailers” to some of the most highly customized, architecturally significant building in the world, for example the 24 story Victoria Hall in Wembly, UK. Have a look at the Modular Building Institutes conversation with Jenny Hayes RIBA from O’Connell East Architects http://www.tpsconsult.co.uk/tps/news/2010/01_victoria.asp about the project. The Victoria Hall project, comprised of 805 volumetric modules and 656 en-suite units, was designed by O’Connell East Architects. Our primary goal in seeking an audience with members of the architectural community is to educate in an effort to change the modular mental model to encompass all the potential of permanent modular construction today.

The Modular Building Institute, www.modular.org offers an AIA approved course that consists of a one hour face to face presentation. The overall learning objective of the course is to share an overview of permanent modular construction. Specific objectives include: gaining an understanding of modular construction as a process rather than a type or style of building, learning how the process is inherently greener and the specific green benefits, considering the time savings advantage, and becoming familiarized with the modular process, both as it relates to and differs from traditional construction methods. We thank the Modular Building Institute for authoring the presentation course and the advocating they do for the modular industry each day.

AIA members receive 1 LU hour for participating in the course.  Triumph enjoys hosting “lunch and learn” presentations of the MBI’s program at your place of business. Please contact Janet Field or Glenn Cort at Triumph Modular, at jfield@triumphmodular.com , gcort@triumphmodular.com or call us at 800-257-2536 to schedule a date.

The final tally came to $315 and was distributed in this manner:

• One PC (valued at $35) was donated to the First Federal Church
• $175 was collected and donated to the Hudson Boys and Girls club
• $105 was collected and donated to the Hudson Food Pantry