frustrations are passed over to offsite suppliers to deal with. Conse- quently, budgeting woes are also passed over to the offsite contractor, freeing the builder/developer to focus on sales and site concerns. Sielaff: Tamarack Grove works on many different projects where offsite construction, labor, materials, and budgets all came into play. For instance, a four-story children’s learning center located in Jackson, Wyoming had a window of construction of only four-five months due to weather. Moving to modular design allowed for the fabrication, labor, and materials in a controlled environment followed by onsite construction of the entire four-story building within the constrained time period. No other construction method would have provided those results. Equally impressive results can be seen in the many log and timber-frame home projects our office has engineered. An entire home shell can be fabricated off site and shipped to the construction location allowing the shell to be erected and enclosed within one month. Rather than a five-step process of building a wall, insulating it, sheathing the inside and outside, and then installing a final siding element, the well- organized offsite construction puzzle comes together onsite. A commercial example of this approach is best represented by a hotel chain located in Redondo Beach, California whose owner chose a modular system. In the end, due to labor issues, material availability, union considerations, budgets, and timelines, the hotel opened 10- 12 months earlier than what traditional onsite construction methods would have allowed. The increased revenue generated by opening sooner was instrumental in swaying the hotel owner to adopt an offsite construction method. What is the ideal environment/situation that benefits most from an offsite construction approach? Ochs: With experience, when done right, offsite construction saves time and, therefore, money in all environments and situations. At Whisper Creek Homes, we’re better suited for high-end custom construction in mountain or resort areas typically with shorter build seasons or where there is a lack of skilled labor available. Weber: Regional preferences typically dictate the construction type and system when using cement-based concrete building systems. In the southeast, concrete masonry systems and cast-in-place concrete systems (with removable forms) both offer price-competitive wall and floor systems. In the southeast, both concrete systems easily meet code requirements for insulation and there is an abundance of manufacturers and contractors familiar with these building technologies. In northern climates, where building codes require higher insulation factors, insu- lated concrete forms (ICFs) and insulated concrete panels are popular with manufacturers, distributors, and contractors skilled at working with these products. Armstrong: Benefits can be realized pretty much anywhere, but certainly in areas that are urban and have tight space constraints by allowing rapid delivery of off site materials in a constrained space. Also, any environment that is remote and does not have a steady work- force is great for off-site. Additionally, climate locations with short building seasons benefit from the extended installation season allowed through off-site systems and speed to dry-in so work in colder or fro-
zen conditions can continue indoors. Lastly, light commercial projects (i.e. restaurants, hotels, retail chains, etc.) benefit greatly from off-site solutions because they are predictable, reliably cost consistent, often allowing for speed-to-market to realize income and reduce onsite car- rying costs of construction. What additional benefits does offsite construction offer regarding geography or location? Ochs: An offsite construction firm must either focus on specific geo - graphic regions and build to those codes or be able to modify their building system to meet building codes in multiple locations. They must also be able to ship to any location and designate who will ship, load, offload, install, check materials, report damage, and oversee the completion of the build. On a recent residential build in a rural location outside Steamboat Springs, subcontractors were difficult to find due to the locale. A panelized building system allowed the builder to dry in faster, leave the structure over the first winter, then return in the summer to finish interiors. Installing windows and siding using off-site construction methods saved six months in construction and significant dollars towards the project budget. Weber: Proximity to the manufacturing plant certainly affects costs; the farther away the plant, the greater the transportation cost. In remote or mountainous areas with restrictive access to job sites, a builder’s cost for delivery of materials and transportation of work crews can be problem- atic for any type of build. These factors may affect the type of concrete system the builder determines as the most cost-effective and practical. Perry: It depends on the construction method. For example, many members of NAHB’s Log and Timber Homes Council ship home packages coast-to-coast and internationally. For modular units, the general shipping radius is 200 miles from the factory. Most panelized components and framing packages – whether wood, concrete, or steel based – are transported regionally. Armstrong: Areas that are experiencing a shortage of labor or have higher material costs due to low competition often see the benefits of offsite solutions. Explore numerous offsite benefit SIP examples in our online project library. Semler: Offsite construction is ideal for rural or hard-to-reach places. When you deliver volumetric construction, you deliver labor with the materials. The materials are already installed in the semi-finished module. The reduction in the carbon footprint is significant when using modular construction to reach remote areas. In your opinion, what is the true value of offsite construction? Ochs: Offsite construction is not meant to replace a builder or con- tractor. It’s a means to help solve a variety of problems, is better for the environment by reducing waste, increases energy efficiency, and is more cost-effective. The precision that can be accomplished in a quality-controlled space as opposed to out in the elements (which re - quires varying levels of skilled labor) is enormous. Weber: The ability to build “inside” is extremely important for pro- tecting materials from the weather, but also for maximizing the con-
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May 2023 csengineermag.com
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