Florida Building
New Approach to Modular Housing
by Tom Yates
What do recycled building materials, limited sub-contractor involvement, strong customer demand for affordable housing, and a choice of engineered component systems have in common? The answer lies in the modular building system being developed by Environmental Building Products, Clearwater, FL.
As a builder of developer, how do you feel about the profit opportunities and social benefits of providing affordable housing to a large market, using a building kit system that is both easy and quick to put together.
Well let's take a look at the building approach, system components, and market potential to help you make that decision
The modular system was developed and patented by Bill Loftus, a building contractor and founder and President of Environmental Building Products. "My goal was to create high quality affordable housing, but conventional building methods and materials were too expensive", said Bill, so he became determined to find a better method of building affordable housing.
The result of that effort is a modular building system that consists of six major components. Picture in your mind a combination of color coded multiple size Lego Building Blocks and Erector Set and you have the basic concept of how the components fit together to form the finished building whether it's a single family home, multiple story dwelling, or commercial buildings.
Wall System:
The interlocking blocks are made from a blend of concrete and recycled materials that form a lightweight insulation concrete. The wall blocks are easily lifted and stacked, and they are already insulated. The wall is reinforced structurally so it is straight, level, and plumb. There is a choice of prefinished facings.
Plumbing System:
All the horizontal and vertical pathways for plumbing pipes are build into the wall blocks at the factory, so there is no need to drill and cut at the building site.
Electrical System:
The boxes for plugs and switches, and the pathways for the wires are built into the wall blocks. These pathways and boxes provide a "map" for easy and accurate wiring installation.
HVAC System:
By this time you probably getting the idea that the wall block system serves many purposes, and simplifying HVAC work is one of them. As the blocks are stacked to build the walls they form rectangular ducts for heating and cooling systems. This eliminates labor and material costs normally associated with ductwork installation.
In fact, tests by independent laboratories have shown the components to withstand wind force that far exceeds and current Florida code requirements.
What about the interior? One of the unique advantage of this modular building system is the complete creative and functional freedom a builder has to create any type interior.
Because of the design, insulating quality, and materials used in the Wall System, drywall, paneling, of other interior finishes can be attached directly to the walls which minimizes prep time and speeds the entire finishing process.
