There are a lot of benefits to buying a modular home. If you’ve been researching your options, you probably know that modular homes are more durable and can be built more quickly than traditional site built homes.
In addition, fixed pricing and pre-planning ensures that you won’t suddenly find yourself over budget due to unexpected changes. You might not know, though, that modular homes are also a more sustainable, environmentally-friendly option than site built homes. If you’ve been taking steps in your life to go greener, you should definitely consider choosing modular construction for your next home.
Construction Efficiency
A study from the U.S. Forest Service found that construction waste accounts for approximately 17 percent of total landfill waste. Building a 2,000 square foot home can generate as much as 5,500 lbs of wood waste! By choosing to build modular, you can dramatically reduce the amount of waste created by your new home construction.
Because modular homes are constructed in a precision factory, they can be built more efficiently than traditional site built homes. Before construction begins, your modular home is thoroughly customized and planned. Your builder is able to calculate and purchase the precise materials needed, and tighter construction tolerances help reduce the overall materials. Since modular homes are built in a central location, many unused materials from one construction can simply be reclaimed for another build at the same factory. The controlled factory setting also helps eliminate costly mistakes that can take extra materials to fix, and it ensures no materials will be lost to weather damage or warping.
Additionally, once the components of your modular home are on site, they can be assembled much more quickly than a traditional home, and this stage of construction generates substantially less waste on site.
Energy Efficiency
A report from the U.S. Department of Energy states that 40 percent of all electricity usage in America is used in buildings for heating, cooling, lighting, etc. That’s a lot of energy being used in homes and buildings across the country, but choosing a modular home can help you reduce your overall energy footprint.
Modular homes help their residents waste less energy than traditional site built homes. Thanks to the carefully controlled factory construction, modular homes can be built to much closer tolerances than site built homes. Your new modular home is more tightly-constructed than a site built home could be, and as a result, you’re getting better insulation and sealing and fewer drafty corners. Your HVAC system will need to spend less time regulating the indoor air temperature, and less of its hard work will escape outside the walls of your home.
Long-Term Efficiency
According to Megan McCardle writing for The Atlantic, between 200,000 and 300,000 homes are razed annually because they are no longer livable. Each demolished home ends up as waste, and many are replaced with new constructions which create additional waste and use more energy to build. A modular home is sturdy and long-lasting, and if it is eventually demolished, many components can be reclaimed and recycled for new uses.
Closer tolerances and tighter construction mean your modular home is built strong, with 20 percent more lumber than a site-built home. Your modular home is built to be shipped on a truck and lifted by a crane without suffering any damage, so you can be sure it is well-built to withstand the normal stresses of everyday life.
An investigation conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after Hurricane Andrew struck Florida found that modular-built buildings suffered comparatively minor damage and fared much better than traditionally-framed buildings. That’s a strong testament to the durability of modular construction. A modular home is ready to stand the test of time and elements.
Proven Value
There are many reasons to opt for a modular home instead of a traditional site built home. When you build modular, you get faster construction at a lower cost, and there’s no need to compromise on quality. Besides all the benefits for you, a modular home is also better for the environment than a site-built home in several key ways: less waste ends up in a landfill as a result of construction, and the final product is more energy efficient and longer-lasting. If you’re looking to live greener while saving more green, a modular home may be the right choice for you.
Sources
1. fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/39428
2. energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2017/03/f34/qtr-2015-chapter5.pdf
3. theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/06/are-there-too-many-homes-in-america/240786/
4. fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1611-20490-8788/fia22_sec2.pdf
