Green Prefab Building Wins Points With Eco-Friendly Students

Feb 28, 2017

Today’s young adults are more socially aware than those in the past, and they are making purchase decisions based on their convictions. Over 60% of millennials are more likely to engage with brands that align with social causes.

They are especially strong on improving the future of our environment. So much so that they are including a green campus and a commitment to the environment as one of the criteria they use when deciding which colleges to apply to and attend. In their annual College Hope & Worries survey, the Princeton Review asked incoming college students and parents about how they chose which school to attend. Here is an excerpt from their 2015 survey:

If you (your child) had a way to compare colleges based on their commitment to environmental issues (from academic offerings to practices concerning energy use, recycling, etc.), how much would this contribute to your (your child’s) decision to apply to or attend a school?

A majority (61%) of respondents said having information about colleges’ commitment to environmental issues would contribute “strongly,” “very much,” or “somewhat” to their application/attendance decisions.

For this reason, green ratings have become criteria in several well-known college rating guides, including the Princeton Review and the Kaplan College Guide.

Prefab Building Boosts Your Green Rating

So, how can you prove your commitment to sustainability and green practices on campus? Campus expansion and improvements are always a higher education priority. You can up your school’s green rating by utilizing green prefab building for almost any major campus expansion or renovation. Here are three areas where modular construction has a strong eco-friendly advantage:

Sustainable Work Sites

Modular construction scores points for less disturbance to the building site and surrounding areas. Because green prefab building is completed 90% off-site, there is less need for heavy construction vehicles, employee traffic, and material deliveries to clog up the final building site. The eco-friendly benefits equal less air pollution, less sound pollution, and less disruption to green space surrounding the site.

Materials & Resources

Construction waste management and an expanded building life cycle are key advantages to building modular. Material management is done more efficiently with modular building, keeping more material waste out of our landfills and reducing the reliance on raw materials. Here’s how modular builders handle their materials resourcefully:

less waste due to weather damage and on-site theft
repetitive construction makes it easier to purchase materials in bulk and control inventory

Additionally, modular buildings maintain a very green life cycle because they are adaptable, modifiable, and reusable. As the need for expansion arises, new building modules can be added, relocated, or removed with minimal disruptions to the building. This is referred to as “adaptable reuse” and, as it reduces the need for demolition and the production of additional raw building materials, it minimizes the energy necessary to create a new building.

Companies are even buying bulk reusable shopping bags as it is less expensive and eco-friendly.

Indoor Air Quality

Many indoor air quality issues begin before a building is even constructed. When building materials are exposed to excessive moisture by being stored outdoors on the construction site, mold can occur. Green prefab building takes place in weather-controlled settings, where there is a lower risk of moisture collecting in the building materials, resulting in better indoor air quality in the completed building.