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Higher Education Campus facilities can expect better quality and lower maintenance needs if the new bedrooms and other student homes use modular construction, according to a general contractor experienced in this method.
Modular construction is mainly used for affordable homes as a way to bring new units to the market at a lower cost, but universities and colleges look more, according to Jim Stanley, executive vice president and responsible for the Los Angeles division of Suffolk Construction, a builder who operates in the United States.
A good example is the California Polytechnic State University, which plans to wear about 3,000 beds online over 10 years to house the school’s growing student base at a lower cost of housing, maintaining the design aligned with the historical structures of the school.
“Especially with a renowned university like Cal Poly, they want it to be an experience for the student and have some historical buildings, so that you compete with the older student housing and you want it to be a positive experience,” he said.
Modular construction has evolved to include units that may have relatively sophisticated designs without sacrificing the value proposition offered by simplifying and standardizing the base component, he said.
“I have seen a lot of modular jobs that have [ornamental] projections where the [modules] Let’s say, “he said.” Perhaps the real box must be improved in order to manage some of these things. “”
Stanley said that modular builders have evolved two types of business models. Either build each modular unit from scratch or act as a mounting line and contract with other manufacturers to produce unit pieces.
“They could outsource the construction of the frame, the construction of the wall panel and the bathroom pod, similar to how a car is made,” he said.
Cal Poly could expect to obtain the main structure for a building of 100 units completed in seven days, 30% faster than if it was built Stick, using the modular method, with a corresponding cost savings, said Stanley.
“Yes, I still have to make scaffolds and cover it,” he said. “I have to put the facade on my skin and there is still a work that must happen, but the structure is surpassed, in addition to the interior” within this shorter period.
A residential building under construction by modular components.
Courtesy of Suffolk
Once the modular units are stacked by a crane, workers can enter and relatively quickly connect the plumbing, electrical and mechanical infrastructure of the individual units to the main system, he said.
For electricity, “all I have to do, once the mod is established, my main feeder is running [central] Board, and everything that is already distributed from that moment, “he said. [the one] Just above, I have approximately 18 inches of new pipe that I have to install to connect point A to point B, in theory, on the floor and on the roof at the next unit above, and only put directly up and down vertically … the same with mechanic. It is very autonomous in the unit. “”
For facilities managers who are commissioned to keep buildings after operation, modular construction can lead to less problems because each unit is built on a manufacturing plant with uniform standards subject to quality in situ control inspections before the construction site is sent.
“If I am building the same unit again and again, 100 times, and I have the same person who does the same task 100 times, and I have a [quality control] Verification List that I go through to say this happened, this literally checked these boxes [– then, in theory, there’s a lot more control,” he said. “You’re less likely to have a plumbing trap missing, for instance.”
Suffolk focuses mainly on stick-built multifamily housing in the $40 million-plus range, but it has also developed expertise in projects with a modular component, Stanley said. It contracts with manufacturers to build the units to the client’s specifications with its input and oversight.
“We send a Suffolk representative to the plant to do a lot of hand-holding,” he said. “The quality of the mod, ultimately, is the quality of the job because we own the end product, so it behooves us to [oversee] Its production. “”
He said that the costs for modular construction should decrease as institutions of customers, manufacturers, components and contractors. Modular construction could also be applied to different types of buildings in the house. In a campus, this could mean classrooms and laboratories.
“Some K-12 schools are experimenting with modular classrooms built and other buildings, but at the university level, expansion beyond the house is still mainly in the conversation stage,” said Stanley. “I am not yet familiar with anything really built.”
But the construction economy drives industry clients and executives to include modular construction in the conversation, he said.
“I look like a solution to a problem,” he said. “You have increased the cost of the materials, the scarcity of specialized labor” among the factors that affect the on -site construction. With modular, “you are taking a lot of variables and you put them in a manufacturing environment … This is where I see [construction] Trend. “”
