When he was a contractor, Ryan Dore never cared much for modular homes.
He thought they were just fancy trailers, a fresh coat of paint on cheap, poorly built homes that were no longer in fashion.
But that was before he stepped into a modern modular build, and realized what they might mean for B.C.sa国际传媒檚 housing crisis.
sa国际传媒淓veryone knows we have a lack of trades and costs of housing have just gotten out of control for every Canadian,sa国际传媒� says Dore, who now works as a consultant in Castlegar with Eagle Homes, which builds and sells custom modular housing. sa国际传媒淪o we need more efficient, better ways to build.
sa国际传媒淭his is a way better way to build.sa国际传媒�
For a traditional stick-built home, construction is entirely on-site, involves multiple companies, and can be delayed by changing costs, supply chain issues, the availability of tradespeople and even weather.
Eagle Homes, by contrast, builds its units to near completion in a factory before delivering to the ownersa国际传媒檚 land where the finishing touches are made. The company's staff build the homes using its own supply stock.
Once a customer picks a home size, which range between 500-2,000 sq. ft, and decides on customizations, Dore says the home can be built in just three-to-four months at a price thatsa国际传媒檚 10-20 per cent less a similar stick build.
sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檝e been building the same way for 400 years and itsa国际传媒檚 super inefficient, with ridiculous amounts of material waste.sa国际传媒�
B.C. is in desperate need of housing. In a report released last September, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) estimated the province sa国际传媒� in addition to the current units being constructed annually sa国际传媒� to meet demand and lower prices to 2004 levels.
The NDP government has responded to the housing crisis with legislation meant to increase density in most communities. As of July 1, developers can build three-to-six units on lots zoned for single-family homes and duplexes in any municipality with populations of 5,000 or more.
But the legislation only targets creating 130,000 units over the next 10 years, well short of the CMHC estimate.
Modular housing, however, could help make up the difference.
Keith Herring, director of modular and construction systems with the Canadian Home Builderssa国际传媒� Association, estimates just eight-to-nine per cent of all units in development across Canada are either modular or have some factory-built component.
That percentage, he says, will rise over the next decade as labour shortages, rising investment and public interest in affordable construction methods coalesce.
sa国际传媒淭his is the most interest theresa国际传媒檚 ever been in modular and factory built [homes.] So anecdotally, it just feels like wesa国际传媒檙e at the precipice of moving forward.sa国际传媒�
At least one of the West Kootenaysa国际传媒檚 major employers is already jumping into the modular market.
Last month, the provincial government announced into the construction of a new Kalesnikoff Timber facility based out of Castlegar that will create modular buildings using mass timber as well as 100 new jobs.
Chief operating officer Chris Kalesnikoff said modular buildings will account for up to 50 per cent of the new business, while prefabricated components will also be made. The companysa国际传媒檚 2019 move into mass timber meant it already had the tech in place to start designing for modular projects.
sa国际传媒淎 lot of the construction methods are still the same. When wesa国际传媒檙e doing some of our structural walls, yousa国际传媒檙e still taking a nail gun and nailing two-by-six together. So itsa国际传媒檚 really all that digital upfront technology thatsa国际传媒檚 going to allow these products to be faster, better and still be affordable.sa国际传媒�
The company will focus on large-scale projects, which Kalesnikoff said is more efficient rather than building single, customized homes. Kalesnikoff Timber is currently working on its first contract for a 120-unit modular workforce development that will be delivered to Montana.
Theresa国际传媒檚 already an example in Nelson of what such a project might look like. Modular units were used to create at Selkirk Collegesa国际传媒檚 Silver King Campus, which opened in March. The college will complete another student housing development at its Castlegar campus ahead of the fall semester using modular units fabricated by Alberta-based ROC Modular.
Modular construction is also being used to solve classroom crowding in B.C.'s public schools. The Ministry of Education announced last fall that eight school districts would receive 104 new classrooms built as prefabricated additions to existing schools. None of those schools are in the Kootenays, but a ministry spokesperson told the Nelson Star it plans to announce more expansion projects in the weeks to come.
Kalesnikoff isnsa国际传媒檛 sure that modular building will ever replace on-site construction, but he does believe it will be a market for customers in need of affordable homes.
sa国际传媒淚 think it will definitely continue to grow in popularity just because there is such a shortage and we cansa国际传媒檛 continue to do things the same way that we are right now.sa国际传媒�
