Disaster Recovery with Modular Architecture

The seasonal spurt of environmental hazards that wreaks havoc across the country year after year has made modular architecture increasingly relevant for individuals, communities and business establishments to restore their respective residential, social and commercial installations.

Modular constructions have been receiving tremendous patronage, even from official bodies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as a viable short term and long term option. Real estate firms that specialize in modular architecture work closely with different jurisdictions in the country to raise money, plan, execute and manage the restoration of damaged properties, especially in regions prone to natural disasters.

This initiative took off more than half a century ago when severe environmental hazards tore down infrastructure in states such as Louisiana and Mississippi. FEMA then decided to promote modular constructions and tap into the design’s potential to adapt residential and commercial sites in a manner that mitigates the impact of natural and manmade hazards prevalent in their surroundings. The effort proved equally beneficial to both local communities and commercial establishments.

Modular Constructions Can Be Rebuilt Faster After a Disaster

It’s imperative that constructions that suffer an impact during natural disasters are restored as quickly as possible, especially if such facilities are used by medical or academic institutions. Fortunately, the modular industry has an extensive and well-connected network of dealers and manufacturers. Regardless of site requirements in terms of capacity, or whether they are used for personal, social or commercial purposes, the turnaround time for provisioning both first hand and second hand modular constructions is negligible when compared with conventional constructions.

Another advantage is ease of business as in many cases, customers can deal directly with the company that offers to construct modular buildings. Rental options are also available with many of these firms. Mobile classrooms, make-shift workspaces for companies of all sizes, and small, functional retail outlets that can be quickly mounted, are also gaining popularity as a feasible alternative during emergencies.

There have been instances in the past when hospitals could continue operating even after environmental hazards such as hurricanes ripped through entire localities because these healthcare institutions were able to quickly put together ad-hoc facilities that could support essential and mission critical medical services without compromising on quality standards or production capacity for as long as the permanent facility was unavailable owing to repair and renovation work.

Manufacturing Modular Components in Isolated Facilities

Individual components or modules that go into the construction of a modular structure can be fabricated at an isolated facility that is safely tucked away from any possible natural or manmade disaster and where there is a steady supply of resources. Meanwhile, the site of construction is prepared to meet the acceptable standards for starting work. Once ready, the finished components and modules are shipped to the construction site, assembled and supplemented with utilities such as power and water supply systems.

Constructions can be erected in half the time required for regular structures built using traditional methods. For instance, entire premises of schools and other academic institutions in a local district had been razed to the ground due to a major explosion at a large scale manufacturing facility in the region. However, stopgap arrangements could be quickly made with a modular design strategy and alternate learning facilities were designed and built to accommodate all the classes with full student strength in around two months.

Modular Construction with End-to-End Project Management

Most of the firms in the modular architecture sector offer the complete range of services such as conceptualization, design, development, construction, maintenance and so on, as a packaged solution for projects of all sizes, making it easier to stick to timelines while carrying out tasks at both the temporary and permanent sites.

In the case of projects that involve public funds, modular strategies offer other advantages such as:

• Subsidized rates for design and construction
• Negligible deviation from the original scope of the project
• Reduced construction turnaround times
• High quality, health and safety standards
• Cleaner constructions with very little residue

This approach is particularly compatible from a project management perspective and has been employed time and again in numerous disaster recovery efforts where the success criteria is largely determined by the DR solution’s ability to meet pre-established RTO and RPO targets.

Modular constructions have a very flexible composition and can be adapted to a wide range of uses such as learning facilities, research centers, emergency food & essential supply stalls and so on. This is because individual components and modules can be assembled and dismantled in a countless number of permutations and combinations.

Modular Architecture is Ecofriendly, Tech-savvy & Fast

Modular constructions have evolved over the years to accommodate the entire range of DR requirements from a real estate perspective – be it temporary arrangements or permanent sites that are as sturdy and robust as conventional buildings.

Given the rate at which they are being adopted, industry experts have very valid reasons to believe that the day is not far when modular constructions would become the norm.