What is a Modular Home

Unity Homes Production Facility SketchModular housing is one solution to the post hurricane housing shortage that is gaining traction throughout the Gulf Coast and Delta. Not to be confused with what is often referred to as “manufactured housing” or trailers, modular construction offers some significant advantages over traditional site-built homes that are particularly well suited to the current challenges facing Gulf Coast recovery:

1. The efficiencies of building housing in a controlled factory environment can deliver more housing, faster, with less waste, than site built operations. When operating at full capacity, the Unity Homes manufacturing facility will be capable of producing two 1,200-1,400 sq ft homes a day. With 90% of the construction taking place in the factory, these homes can be “set” on site and ready for occupancy in as little as 2-3 weeks. By dramatically reducing construction waste and weather-related down time, and by maximizing the labor efficiencies of assembly line production, significant savings can be realized by the consumer.

2. The inherent precision of factory production produces a more rigid structure with fewer defects than “stick built” housing. In the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, government studies found that modular homes experienced less damage than other types of homes because of the precise and inflexible construction, making it ideal for resisting hurricane winds.

3. The efficiencies and cost savings of modular housing are further magnified when applied to in-fill housing. Large site-built developments often take the modular process “outside” by establishing material depots, centralized work stations and other modular derived approaches in large housing developments. Such techniques are impossible to apply to in-fill construction.