"Building Green" in the modular industry was and has been for decades the industry standard long before it became the "in" thing to do. Before "Eco-chic" or "Green chic" were Google terms, the modular manufactures were practicing "Planet-Friendly" methods to build state of the art homes, offices, condos, and school rooms.

Early on modular manufactures realized that the amount of on site waste when building a home in the field was excessive. There is no real science involved here. Simply watch a site built home being done and what what goes into the dumpster. Are these builders wasting our country's resources? Possibly but in most cases it is simply waste created by trying to build a quality home in an uncontrolled environment.

As a new home owner you can close the loop and create your dream home with a carbon-neutral design helping all of us but also helping you in a big way. The two photos above are examples of construction projects where "carbon foot print" or certainly "ecological footprint" never became a thought. As the new home owner you are paying for this virgin product to not only be created but hauled away as well. On a 30 year mortgage you will be paying for those dumpsters well after they are gone.

In a factory setting the costs of disposal are the same everywhere which is why the manufacturing process is so highly controlled to make sure an "Environmentally Friendly" approach to building hundreds of thousands of homes is practiced every day. It is good for the planet, good for the country and good for the bottom line. This really did not make the modular home producers part of the "Eco-elite" but certainly made them every day practitioners of "Sustainable Design". The most successful modular companies today have kept a "triple bottom line" mission belief of "People/Planet/Profit"

When building a new home today using state of the art modular construction methods all of your favorite home features and amenities are available. Building "Green" offers not only a high performance home but a home you will proud to own for a lifetime.

Framing

Modular construction takes the waste factor out of the process. Every year millions of homes are built creating thousands of metric tons of waste. As a customer you are paying not only for the home but also the waste involved in the construction process. This is why modular construction makes a lot of sense. In a factory setting lumber cuts are precision made. This saves damaged materials. Cut offs, those ends of boards that generally get tossed out, are used as blocking. When building in the past it was always disturbing to see a three foot piece of lumber thrown in the dumpster only to find a subcontractor cutting a twelve foot piece into three foot pieces for floor blocking. This level of waste is eliminated in factory modular and pre-fab construction.

Sheetrock

Sheetrock is another area of construction where waste is cut dramatically by modular construction. When building a stick built home most builders use eight foot long pieces of sheetrock as they are easier to lift. The really good builders use 5/8" thick sheetrock as it provides a far superior ceiling finish. Lesser builders use 1/2" because it is cheaper and lighter. In modular manufacturing the sheets are 14' long. Weight is not a problem as the factory has the tools in-house to move them. The 14' long sheets are easier to finish as there are far fewer seams which in turn provides you, the customer, with some superior wall and ceiling finishes. Again with less seams there is less labor and less waste.

Floor systems.

The better manufactures in the modular industry have adopted the open web floor system for their construction. This is a major contributor to saving our nation's forests but actually has the additional benefit of providing the customer with a far better floor system. The web style floor systems use the same engineering and technology that has been used in roof truss framing for years. Snow loads are a major design consideration here in the Northeast and engineered roof trusses have exceeded the demands very well. Now this same feature has been extended to floor systems. A stronger floor makes it possible to feature a heavy granite countertop in a kitchen without exceeding the live load limits of your floor.

Engineered lumber

 Engineered lumber is one of our favorite innovations for building. If you ever went to the lumber yard for a 2X4 or 2X6 you know why this is a neat feature for building quality luxury homes today. You struggle through a pile of limber to find a few pieces that are straight enough to use in your project. Regular building "sticks" are cut from the tree and as they come out of the mill they are straight, for a few days anyway. As they dry however they take on some interesting shapes. Most of those shapes do not work well when trying to build a quality home and wind up in the dumpster. Engineered lumber is actually smaller pieces of wood that are straight to begin with and then specially cut and glued to provide a stronger and straighter piece of lumber. You will find most quality builders using engineered lumber especially on kitchen walls and in open foyers. The reason for this is obvious. A straight kitchen wall makes it possible for the builder to properly install both expensive cabinets and countertop without the need for "trimming". In the case of the open foyer these can reach twenty feet tall. Generally there is a large window above and a featured front door with two sidelights. Tons of light flow into the foyer which highlights any irregularity in the wall surface. So as engineered lumber is good for the environment it also enables the builder to do a superior job for you and create a home of worth and beauty.

Material Waste

In modular construction we would like to think there is none. After all, we are building in a factory controlled setting and do not suffer the damages caused by weather, theft, or just improper handling. Although we do generate some waste it is minute compared to site building. One estimate is that the material damaged or wasted in one site built home is equal to the waste created to build eight modular homes. That is a pretty impressive record for systems built product.

Wasted or damaged materials can cost you many more dollars than you may realize. If a lift of plywood gets water damage the home owner is the one writing a check for fresh materials. Builders generally budget for a dumpster or two to be kept on site which again gets built into the price you pay.

Diesel Fuel Surcharges can become another drain on your budget and the environment. In a home built piece by piece on a job site dozens of trips are made delivering materials. The long list of subcontractors also need to get to your job site to perform their tasks. These additional fuel costs are passed onto the home owner at each fill up. Modular manufactured homes are not immune to the rising costs of fuel. We do have a big advantage though. Our factory is our "construction job site". When we get a window delivery it is a full truckload, not just enough windows to do one home. As a result we do pay a fuel surcharge but the cost has little impact on our customers simple because we are buying in full truck load quantities. This becomes a double savings for the home owner. They save on the fuel costs and get all of the benefits or buying in some very large quantities. Building Green Homes with modular construction methods is far better for the planet and in the case of fuel charges, good for your new home budget as well.

Noise pollution. Yes noise pollution is an environmental issue as well. This is especially so when building a new home in a neighborhood setting. A stick built home takes months to build. Dozens of contractors visit your new home over that period of time bringing their saws, air guns, ladders, and tools. Generators and compressors are fired up to supply power to do the job. Most people are fine with a generator running all day long for a day or two but when it runs longer than a few months it becomes too much noise especially when building in the summer when windows are open. The modular construction building model is to create your new home in a controlled factory setting and then make some noise on delivery day and then let you and your neighbors get back to the quiet setting you bought your property for.

VOC (Volatile organic compounds) are a Green Building issue as well. These are the items in a home like carpeting and cabinets that give off gases that give you that new home smell. The smell of a new home is nice but it is bad for you as well. Modular manufactures have come a long way in only selecting products like paint, cabinets, flooring and construction materials that have low or better yet no VOC pollutants that will affect you or your family.

Heating and Cooling Modular Homes

Modular homes have long enjoyed a reputation for being energy efficient. Product innovations and scientific construction techniques have made prefab and modular homes much more energy efficient that they were just a few years ago. The energy used in most American homes is 43% of a family's energy budget. What better place to reduce your carbon footprint. Superior wall insulation, energy efficient lighting and appliance packages and controlled construction methods to avoid and seal air leaks all benefit the home owner and make the home less expensive to own and run without sacrificing comfort.

As oil and gas reserves continue to be under attack and price pressures. It is more important now than ever to build energy efficiency into each home built today. What we save today will be available for the next generation of home owners.

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Learn More About the Modular Advantage from BusinessWeek

Before going "green" check out the high performance home features in:

Fine Home Building Magazine-Green Building

Green Building Practices along with Energy Star high Performance Features make your new modular home a smart investment for you and the environment.