Atlantic Yards- 32 Story Residential Modular Construction

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We love the momentum modular construction is gaining in New York City.  Check out the article from www.nycurbed.com:

This week, Forest City Ratner broke ground on the next phase of the Atlantic Yards, a 32-story residential tower known as B2, which will be the world's tallest modular building. It will have 363 residential units and 4,000 square feet of retail space, which is great and all, but what exactly does modular construction entail? To get some answers, Curbed spoke with John Dolan, a project executive at Skanska USA Inc., the general contractor on the project, who worked with SHoP Architects, structural engineer Arup, and consultant Xsite Modular.
How does prefabricated construction work?
Much of what is happening today began 20 years ago. We're pre-manufacturing elements of the building off-site, whether it's a pump, piping or valve that that may be put on a truck, shipped to a job site, taken off a crane or a forklift, bolted down to a floor and connected to other pre-manufactured elements. That has been going on for years.
[Rendering by SHoP Architects]
This is a much bigger project. What's different?
We're taking a frame—we're calling it a chassis—our largest is 36 feet long by 14 feet wide and 10-foot tall, a steel tubular frame that will house all the elements of a single studio apartment or a portion of a multi-room apartment. We have drywall framing, the light fixtures, all the appliances and all the details in bathrooms—down to the toilet paper holders on the wall—in the factory, packaged up and shipped over. The chassis are built at steel fabricators manufacturers. They'll ship those to the Brooklyn Navy Yard and then to Atlantic Yards. For the most part, one chassis will be on one truck. In some cases, two small chassis will be on one truck.
How much do you save compared to conventional construction? How much faster is it?
We estimated that it's around 12 to 15 percent in savings based what we think our effectiveness will be. We hope it'll be better than that. It does provide tangible savings, because we're producing it around four months faster than conventional construction. We expect to be done in 18 months. The conventional construction would have been 24 months.
[Rendering by SHoP Architects]
How does the prefabricated structure compare to a normal building?
There is a denser collection of material. The overall building is lighter. Our column spacing is tighter than the normal 25 by 25-foot column grid. Our column grid is every 14 feet, but I don't want that to sound like a detriment. It's very strategically laid out so the columns are not noticeable. Most of the transitions are done in the doorway and archway. You don't see the columns, you don't know the steel columns are in the walls, although they may be wider. It's not as noticeable because we have laid out the apartment where they're concealed inside the wall.
How has new technology helped this process?
We have relied heavily on 3D modeling in the past to ensure our mechanical and electrical piping all had space. This particular project is taking the modeling effort to a new level. Everything that will be produced in a factory will be on a drawing. What we don't want to have happen is have factory production stop to try to find the dimension for something like a light switch. Everything has to be done in the model.
[Rendering by SHoP Architects]
What impact will prefabrication have on the construction industry?
New York City building trade unions have worked very closely with Forest City Ratner and Skanska. I've worked with unions throughout my 30-year career. It's an opportunity to evolve. We all want it to pay the bills. I think it's better for the industry that we find strategies to build elements and entire projects offsite to minimize the amount of construction that occurs on the work site. The Atlantic Yards site is very difficult to navigate around. We're reducing the amount of activity. There will be fewer trucks.
Have you done any modular buildings before?
Skanska has already completed a modular data center up in Quebec, Canada for Telus, a communications company. It was partially manufactured in Danbury. Conn. by a mechanical contractor. Some of the technical aspects of the data center were shipped out from Wisconsin. We're building a second data center in British Columbia right now, same process. We've also done modular in Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio.
What's your outlook for the future of prefab construction?
This will be the first of six million square feet that Forest City Ratner has committed to the city of New York. We hope this will be something we can do around the country. As a national builder, we are in nearly every state and this is a valuable system for any client. I'm expecting to go beyond the borders of New York and New Jersey.

We love hearing about the advancements and overall embrace of modular construction.  It is in our opinion the future of building.  If you have any building needs please call Coastal Modular Group at 732-800-2447 x. 1

About
Coastal Modular Group is a collective of New Jersey’s premier modular home builders, designers, engineers, architects and contract professionals. The collective was formed by local New Jersey  builders, engineers, architects and designers to ensure that our New Jersey neighbors receive the best possible direction, service and support in light of the damage incurred after Hurricane Sandy.

Collectively, our team has built hundreds of custom modular homes along the New Jersey Shoreline and that same team consists of lifelong local New Jersey Residents committed to the rebuilding effort and more importantly the people and families that were affected.  The majority of home building the collective has done is in Monmouth and Ocean County New Jersey.  

 Coastal Modular Group - Engineering
If you were affected by or have any questions related to Superstorm Sandy, please give us a call. We are informed and eager to help.  Coastal Modular Group  is located at the Jersey Shore; waterfront designs are one of the mainstays of our business. We have the experience required for site design in shore areas. We are prepared to assist with the following related services:

• Structural inspections of buildings and foundations of any use
• Structural inspections of bulkheads and similar waterfront structures
• Structural engineering designs for reconstruction or new construction, such as:
  • Foundations designs
  • Helical pile designs
  • Timber pile designs
  • Breakaway wall designs
  • Foundation scour protection
• Land use permitting for reconstruction or new construction, including:
  • NJDEP
  • Local zoning
  • Local construction department
• Surveying services (including flood elevation certificates)
• Compliance with FEMA guidelines
• Peer review

New York City Embraces Modular Construction

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An article from the New York Times:

A vacant lot on Broadway between Academy and 204th Streets in Inwood is littered with rubble and concrete pilings. But in a matter of weeks, this 50-foot-wide sand pit will be transformed into a seven-story apartment building, with finished bathrooms, maple cabinetry and 10 terraces. It is not a magic trick, but rather the result of modular, or prefabricated, construction.

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Ryan Collerd for The New York Times

A worker in Pennsylvania welds together steel for the modular units.

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Ryan Collerd for The New York Times

The lot in Inwood, between Academy and 204th Streets, where the modular building will stand.

Enlarge This Image

GLUCK+

As seen in this rendering, the building in Inwood will have a stacked style.

A technique in which a building is manufactured piecemeal on a factory assembly line, trucked to the construction site and erected much the way Legos are, modular construction is gaining popularity across New York City. It is not new, but it has never gained much of a foothold here, in part because of its association with low-cost housing like mobile homes. That perception is changing; the city does not track modular data, but at least anecdotally, more developers and architects are embracing its ethos.

“Historically, people have had negative associations with modular construction,” said David J. Burney, the commissioner of the New York City Department of Design and Construction, “and certainly within the design industry, it didn’t have much cachet. But there has been a sea change, and now there is much less of a distinction over whether a building has been assembled off-site or on-site.”

The announcement late last year that Forest City Ratner would use modular construction to build its first residential tower at the Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn helped to shine a spotlight on this method of construction, and New York City, in announcing the winner of its first microunit apartment building design contest, has chosen a modular design.

The trend toward modular does pose issues, particularly for New York City’s powerful construction unions. It means exporting some construction jobs to factories outside New York, and while many modular factories are unionized, the employees tend to earn less than traditional construction workers. For its part, Forest City Ratner announced that the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York had created a modular division to help build its 32-story high-rise, and it joined with Skanska USA in creating a modular company at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

“Any change in the way you do business involves some concerns and issues,” said Richard T. Anderson, the president of the New York Building Congress, a nonprofit organization that represents professionals in the construction industry. “If for New York City construction, business as usual is a challenge, you need to change some of the basic ingredients, and labor and management needs to address this.”

About
Coastal Modular Group is a collective of New Jersey’s premier modular home builders, designers, engineers, architects and contract professionals. The collective was formed by local New Jersey  builders, engineers, architects and designers to ensure that our New Jersey neighbors receive the best possible direction, service and support in light of the damage incurred after Hurricane Sandy.

Collectively, our team has built hundreds of custom modular homes along the New Jersey Shoreline and that same team consists of lifelong local New Jersey Residents committed to the rebuilding effort and more importantly the people and families that were affected.  The majority of home building the collective has done is in Monmouth and Ocean County New Jersey.  

 Coastal Modular Group - Engineering
If you were affected by or have any questions related to Superstorm Sandy, please give us a call. We are informed and eager to help.  Coastal Modular Group  is located at the Jersey Shore; waterfront designs are one of the mainstays of our business. We have the experience required for site design in shore areas. We are prepared to assist with the following related services:

• Structural inspections of buildings and foundations of any use
• Structural inspections of bulkheads and similar waterfront structures
• Structural engineering designs for reconstruction or new construction, such as:
  • Foundations designs
  • Helical pile designs
  • Timber pile designs
  • Breakaway wall designs
  • Foundation scour protection
• Land use permitting for reconstruction or new construction, including:
  • NJDEP
  • Local zoning
  • Local construction department
• Surveying services (including flood elevation certificates)
• Compliance with FEMA guidelines
• Peer review

Article from The Record Regarding Hurricane Sandy

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March 05 (The Record, Bergen County, NJ) -- Thousands of Jersey Shore owners whose homes were flooded by superstorm Sandy are now facing the most crucial decision yet: raise, sell or raze.

     Is it cheaper to elevate or demolish? How long a wait will there be for insurance and grant money? Can the emotional attachment to homes -- some of which have played host to generations of family members -- be broken? Add to that a need to learn what a "base flood elevation level"

is, become knowledgeable about local building codes, and then find the cash to make it all happen.

     Making the call is proving to be stressful at the least, and, in some cases, paralyzing for owners.

     "It's a very, very difficult time to make those kinds of decisions because the trauma has been so fresh and recent,"

said Adriana Fitzsimmons, consultation liaison director of psychiatry at Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune Township.

"That kind of trauma, life-threatening experience and all that loss puts them in situations where they're more likely to be emotionally unstable."

     After coping with the initial shock of the damage to their properties, owners have experienced peaks and valleys of anxiety as they've tackled debris removal and cleanup in the months after the October superstorm, said Eric Rice, a disaster response crisis counselor who is the Monmouth County team leader for the Mental Health Association in New Jersey's Hope and Healing Project.

     With so many choices, homeowners are overwhelmed and having difficulty moving forward.

     "Right now, they're just burned out," Rice said. "People are just emotionally and physically tired and they're so worn down that they can't think clearly anymore."

     Rules fuel frustration

     What has hindered decisions is the governor's recent adoption of FEMA advisory base flood elevation maps that will require many residents to build higher. If owners don't comply, they face spikes in flood insurance premiums.

     While FEMA plans to issue finalized maps in the coming years, some homeowners are worried that elevation levels will change and their efforts will be for naught. In addition, towns that have adopted flood elevations that exceed FEMA's recommendations -- to be on the safe side

-- and people are further confused.

     "We are slammed right now with estimates, but people are afraid to move forward because there aren't a lot of answers,"

said Patrick Barton, a principal of Crystal Springs Construction, which specializes in lifting homes. "We have a lot of verbal commitments of people who want us to do the work, but either the town hasn't issued permits or they haven't established the height [restrictions] or people haven't gotten their insurance money or they received money that's a third of what it should have been."

     The company has performed at least 150 house-raising estimates, he said.

     Unfortunately, Barton said, he believes many frustrated owners will opt to sell their properties. One out of every four property owners for whom he has provided estimates has asked whether he's interested in buying the home, he said.

     John McHugh, a broker with Re/Max Bay Point Realtors in Point Pleasant Beach, said he hasn't seen an overwhelming number of homes in Monmouth and Ocean counties -- the hardest-hit areas in the state -- go on the market. But he expects that number to grow.

     For most owners though, it's still too early to make that call, he said.

     "They haven't fully exhausted the insurance process and other money may be out there," McHugh said. "And they're also sitting on their hands a little bit because of the advisory maps."

     Decisions on hold

     Gina McDonnell, an Oakland resident whose Seaside Heights summer home was flooded throughout, remains in a holding pattern while she learns whether she will receive added benefits through the National Flood Insurance Program. She and her husband, Dan, could receive up to

$30,000 of Increased Cost of Compliance funds to elevate, relocate or demolish their ranch-style home, which is intended to reduce future storm risk.

     The couple qualifies for the funds because their structure sustained damages of more than 50 percent of the value of their home.

But if they accept the funds, they must commit to lifting the house within four years.

     They are also applying for funds through the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Towns apply for the funds by listing potential projects, such as building a seawall or raising homes in a particular neighborhood, and the state distributes the funds, said Chris McKniff, a FEMA spokesman.

     And the McDonnells are waiting for their flood insurance reimbursement check to clear before moving forward.

     FEMA's flood maps show the McDonnells' home is in a zone requiring their house to be 8 feet above the mean high tide line, according to Seaside Heights construction officials.

     An engineer must determine the height of their structure and how much it would have to be lifted, she said.

     McDonnell has compared the $30,000 cost of raising her house to the

$12,000 annual flood insurance tab she could eventually face if she does nothing.

     She still needs to figure out what types of repairs the grants would cover, if approved. For example, she wonders whether the funds to elevate the house would include replacement of her front porch.

     "If you don't get compliant and are way below, then you're at risk if you ever want to sell," she said. "Who's going to want to buy a house where the flood insurance is going to be so much more?"

     Another option would be to knock down the Sumner Avenue house and build an elevated modular home, but those costs run about $85,000, she said.

     One choice she's ruled out? Selling the property, McDonnell said.

     But deciphering the best choice is becoming extremely stressful, especially as summer approaches and the couple want to use their house, she said. The McDonnells haven't yet progressed with any repairs to their ranch-style home other than ripping out the floors and removing waterlogged items.

     "This is work," she said. "You're on the phone and researching things on the computer and it's a lot more involved than people think.

It's not a simple answer because sometimes you have to wait to find out something else before you take the next step."

     McDonnell also marveled at how different Seaside Heights'

landscape will look with all of the altered homes.

     The views in Union Beach, a working-class town in Monmouth County that was battered by the storm, have already changed.

Where four Front Street homes owned by Constantine Zois once stood, there are now vacant lots.

     One of them, known as the Princess Cottage, was an 1855 brick home that Zois' son lived in year-round, and he and his sister frequented during the summer. The yellow colonial -- which was the oldest home in town and had survived countless nor'easters and storms -- was sheared in half by Sandy. It was later demolished after Zois and his sister investigated saving the home but learned it could not be salvaged.

     They hope to build a home similar in design, Zois said. But it depends on whether they can find funds because they didn't carry flood insurance on the property.

     "In a way it was a symbol of the entire town of Union Beach," Zois saidadding that he had fond childhood memories of seeing it first thing when his family would visit their summer home.

     With the other three empty lots, he plans to use flood insurance reimbursements to pay off his mortgages and possibly sell the properties.

     As for the lone house still standing, he's waiting to see how much insurance money he'll receive.

     "If they give me a sufficient amount of money, I can rebuild," he said. "I'm still leaning in that direction if I can get satisfaction from my insurance company."

     While he's received emergency funds of $20,000 for each of his five homes, he can't take the next step without knowing how much he'll eventually be reimbursed.

     "The whole thing has been stressful and with four months gone, I still haven't gotten any sizable amount of money except the emergency funds," he said.

     Email: sudol@northjersey.com

     Sidebar:

     Relieving the anxiety

     Techniques for managing stress and anxiety stemming from storms and

flooding:

     * Limit your exposure to graphic news stories.

     * Get accurate, timely information from credible sources.

     * Seek out and follow expert advice.

     * Educate yourself about the specific hazards.

     * Try to maintain your normal daily routine.

     * Exercise, eat well and rest.

     * Stay busy - physically and mentally.

     * Communicate with friends, family and supporters.

     * Use spirituality and your personal beliefs.

     * Keep a sense of humor.

     * Talk and share your feelings with others.

     Source: State Department of Human Services

Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

About
Coastal Modular Group is a collective of New Jersey’s premier modular home builders, designers, engineers, architects and contract professionals. The collective was formed by local New Jersey  builders, engineers, architects and designers to ensure that our New Jersey neighbors receive the best possible direction, service and support in light of the damage incurred after Hurricane Sandy.

Collectively, our team has built hundreds of custom modular homes along the New Jersey Shoreline and that same team consists of lifelong local New Jersey Residents committed to the rebuilding effort and more importantly the people and families that were affected.  The majority of home building the collective has done is in Monmouth and Ocean County New Jersey.  

 Coastal Modular Group - Engineering
If you were affected by or have any questions related to Superstorm Sandy, please give us a call. We are informed and eager to help.  Coastal Modular Group  is located at the Jersey Shore; waterfront designs are one of the mainstays of our business. We have the experience required for site design in shore areas. We are prepared to assist with the following related services:

• Structural inspections of buildings and foundations of any use
• Structural inspections of bulkheads and similar waterfront structures
• Structural engineering designs for reconstruction or new construction, such as:
  • Foundations designs
  • Helical pile designs
  • Timber pile designs
  • Breakaway wall designs
  • Foundation scour protection
• Land use permitting for reconstruction or new construction, including:
  • NJDEP
  • Local zoning
  • Local construction department
• Surveying services (including flood elevation certificates)
• Compliance with FEMA guidelines
• Peer review