Given declining real estate tax revenues, many towns and schools are struggling with their public projects, especially with the expansion and upgrade of school buildings. Today’s high quality modular buildings can offer cost-effective, timely and environmentally friendly solutions for their aging facilities.
With roughly 60 million children and adults spending their days in elementary and secondary schools, environmental conditions and their associated health risks should be a top priority for decision makers. Yet, those risks are often overlooked or neglected altogether in favor of the lowest first-cost solution. Given the fact that many temporary buildings are used a lot longer than anticipated, this behavior is never more apparent than in world of modular building.
Modular units are relied on heavily in academia, providing immediate and temporary solutions to the plethora of issues that plague school systems. Historically, schools have relied on modular as the least expensive alternative to their perceived temporary needs, but modular can serve a greater role than just satisfying temporary needs. With the advent of green design and advancements in modular technology, schools have the opportunity to invest in environmentally friendly, sustainable modular buildings that provide a healthy, cost-effective and flexible solution for whatever term, short or long, they require.
New materials and technologies have allowed modular design to take on responsibilities that the industry would have once found unimaginable. With the focus on high quality, reusable permanent buildings, modular now provides schools with the option to literally relocate from one location to another. This is a cost-effective green solution for many districts in a bind with regard to budget and or space.
In essence, the buildings are 100 percent recycled and, by going modular, there are several inherit green benefits. Modular construction techniques are more environmentally friendly than traditional stick-built construction, and boast green qualities including: less materials waste, less material exposure to inclement weather, less site disturbance, safer construction, flexibility and adaptability, as well as being built to code with shorter build times. With modular, schools may now acquire high-quality, lightly used space for a fraction of the cost of building a new space.
For example, the Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School in Devens recently purchased a 2-story, 26,000-square-foot modular building from Wachusett Regional High School, in Holden. The Parker School, a 370-student charter school, required a high-quality, cost-efficient solution to address urgent space demands. Because Parker is a charter school, it does not receive state or local funding and, by going modular, the high-quality building provides Parker with an immediate, cost- and energy-efficient solution for its expansion needs. The addition is considerable and has the look and feel of a traditionally constructed building. The quality of the classroom space is superior to that of Parker’s current facilities and the school was provided a timely and permanent answer to their enrollment demands, allowing Parker to invest in its future today.
‘Maximizing Efficiency’
High-quality modular design not only saves money given its reusable nature, but also because of its emphasis on energy-efficiency. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, primary and secondary schools spend more than $6 billion on energy annually, and if they were to implement energy-efficient, green practices, they could save as much as 30 percent on energy costs. It is estimated that wasted energy dollars in schools total more than $1.5 billion nationwide. With this waste of resources in mind, high-quality modular buildings now can come outfitted with all the latest technologies and materials in order to maximize energy efficiency.
Using Triumph Modular’s SmartSpace at the Carroll School in Lincoln as an example, it is clear to see how energy-conscious modular can be. Triumph, a Littleton-based provider of temporary and permanent modular storage solutions, worked with the Carroll School to install SmartSpace, the nation’s first green modular building with many LEED-focused design elements. Acting as administrative offices and teaching area, the 1,262-square-foot green design incorporates multiple sustainable elements such as: eco-friendly interior finishes, improved day lighting such as sun-tunnel skylights, light shelves and occupancy sensors, recycled carpet tiles and steel, as well as an improved, quiet and energy-efficient HVAC system. The classroom’s natural daylight sun tunnels and electrical daylighting sensor controls manage lighting needs, ensuring energy-efficiency. Occupancy sensors and programmable thermostats control interior temperature when the building is occupied and two stage heat pumps HVAC units provide CO2 controls, inputting fresh air in relation to occupancy.
All of those features positively impact schools in many ways. With such energy controls in place, SmartSpace saves an average of 56 percent in energy costs in comparison to similar buildings built to meet ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) or Massachusetts Energy Code standards, according to an independent report prepared by The Hickory Consortium. By choosing high-quality modular buildings, decision-makers stand to save big on energy costs while providing a healthy environment for their students and staff, regardless of their short-term and long-term needs.
Occupants benefit immensely from the many health advantages of going green, such as making use of natural lighting, better air quality and acoustics. With regard to air quality, preventive measures were taken to prevent mold growth, an issue that leads to many respiratory and allergy problems among occupants. SmartSpace uses cellulose-free materials such as steel and DensGlass sheathing, which do not support mold growth. By designing a modular building that minimizes moisture problems, mold is dramatically reduced. Also, the aforementioned HVAC unit with CO2 controls and fresh-air management system reduces in-air pollutants, in turn combating short-term and long-term health problems associated with poor indoor air quality.
Considering the enormous economic and health related advantages of going with a high-quality, green, modular design, facility directors and decision-makers have a viable option when considering the expansion and or upgrade of their facilities. Green modular buildings promote energy, health and environmental performance, resulting in a healthier environment for students and staff, tremendous savings on energy expenditure and the support of high quality materials and design.
