During the decades since World War II and the “prefab” movement, the idea of off-site construction of major sections of a building that are then assembled onsite has been considered somewhat a fringe concept, primarily for use in lower-cost residential developments. However, today modular construction is anything, but restricted to residential or low-cost. Multi-story, multi-family and multi-use buildings are going up in modular fashion and attracting new investments and new companies annually.
One of the newest groups to enter this field is iBUILT, a design-build-operate company combining the assets of Deluxe Modular, a company in modular construction for over five decades, and a focus on state-of-the-art technology to transform modular construction. The new company hopes to solve developer’s pain points by using end-to-end technology and offsite manufacturing to eliminate inefficiencies at each stage of the building lifecycle, to build higher quality smart buildings in half the time, and effect significant cost savings.
The COVID-19 pandemic and current economic recession have only accelerated the industry movement to develop more productive approaches to construction. To achieve approximately 20% lower construction cost and 50% faster construction, iBUILT will seamlessly integrate design, detailing, fabrication, and onsite assembly.
iBUILT is re-imagining the entire design, development, and construction processes to create end products—buildings—that are more sustainable, meet the highest standards nationally and are “smarter” than those that result from a traditional development approach. iBUILT’s proprietary software and process ensure each project’s financial viability with guaranteed budgets and timelines.
Upcoming iBUILT work includes a multi-family condo project in Brooklyn leveraging smart building technology, a 100-unit affordable housing development in Baltimore, and an 80,000-sq.-ft. residential building in New Haven, Connecticut. iBUILT is also designing a number of branded hotels in North and South America. The company’s approach to designing and constructing sustainable, “smarter” buildings will transform the development process across asset classes, including affordable and market housing, student housing, hospitality, retail and more. iBUILT claims it can deliver complete buildings of up to 35-stories anywhere in the country.
But modular construction is only part of the iBUILT program. iBUILT plans to “de-risk” construction for developers and owners by delivering a fully designed building in 30 business days at a guaranteed price and schedule, with no change orders. Called the Fast Track program, deliverables include comprehensive interior and exterior designs, 70% of architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire prevention drawings, a complete schedule of finishes, and a guaranteed price and delivery schedule. As a part of the program, iBUILT is committed to never putting forward a change order unless requested by a client.
The company’s BIM-based blueprints incorporate proprietary digital twin software that gives developers complete control over the ongoing management of buildings, including preventative maintenance, projected to result in 70% lower operating costs. In addition, by guaranteeing schedules and budgets with no change orders, building offsite, and leveraging technology-driven construction, iBUILT can continue to deliver products on time and on budget while the construction industry navigates the COVID-19 pandemic, all while being safer due to the controlled manufacturing environment. Social distancing and new protocols to control the spread of COVID-19 have become a new normal for the industry, reducing productivity on work sites as much as 20%. By building off-site, and guaranteeing delivery and specs, iBUILT hopes to create a new construction paradigm.
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