Modular manufacturing ramps up production in N.B. to meet housing demand

CBC

a day ago

Henrique Manreza knew he would love small-town life in Woodstock when he moved to New Brunswick three years ago from San Paulo, a Brazilian city of 12 million.
An outdoorsy person, he loves to hike and kayak, and he's even learning to fish.
"In San Paulo, if you want to go into nature, you need to travel two hours or something like that. Here, in 15 minutes I'm in the middle of the woods or in the middle of a huge river. It is just an awesome place."
Manreza also knew he wanted to work in construction, specifically the modular construction industry with Woodstock-based Ironwood Manufactured Homes, where he would work indoors all the time.
"I'm from Brazil, so winter [here] can be hard on us," he said. "And then here you can work the entire year inside. Of course you feel the cold, but it's not the same as working outside."
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The ability to work indoors is one of the strengths of an industry that has become a focal point for provincial and federal governments trying to meet demands for new housing nationwide. Workers like ducking the cold weather outdoors, and companies say it considerably shortens the time frame for the construction of new houses and apartment buildings.
Manreza is part of a pipeline of trades students from New Brunswick Community College in Woodstock. Many want to work in modular construction, and one of the main reasons is to avoid the inclement weather in the outdoor construction industry.
Ironwood owner Mark Gaddas likes the mix of employees — young and older, newcomers and people born and raised here.
"We have a pretty diverse workforce," Gaddas said. "We've got a really good working relationship with NBCC. Most of our employees have come through one of their programs. We certainly work with the Atlantic immigration program too. We are going to have to look towards immigrants as our workforce needs increase."
Companies like Ironwood need the infusion of new people as modular construction becomes a key driver in a housing sector that's trying to keep pace with a growing population in New Brunswick and across the country.
To keep pace itself, Ironwood is building a new 100,000-square-foot factory to replace the 10,000-square-foot one.
The current plant produces a house every one to two weeks, and has turned down opportunities to do projects such as multi-unit apartment buildings because it would tie up their operations for weeks, and they'd have to turn away house builds that are the staple of the business.
"We've got 33 guys on the floor right now, and they go non-stop," Gaddas said.
Brandon Searle, the director of innovation and operations of the Off-site Construction Research Centre at the University of New Brunswick, says speed is a key feature of modular construction, which is especially important given Prime Minister Mark Carney's commitment to doubling the amount of new homes constructed per year to 500,000.
"I don't think the country's ever built much more than 250,000," Searle said. "If you want to really produce that, we have to rethink how we do things."
The UNB centre works with industry partners on innovative pre-fabricated solutions in panellized, precast concrete, mass timber, modular construction, and has produced a simulation for the production design and flow in the new Ironwood facility.
Carney has said that modular and other forms of pre-fabricated construction will be critical to doubling the amount of new housing. The New Brunswick government has said the same.
David Hickey, the minister responsible for the New Brunswick Housing Corp., said they're counting on companies to ramp up production, as Ironwood will do when the new plan opens in the fall.
The provincial and federal governments have put 2.5 million into helping the company expand its workforce and build a plant that can produce multi-unit buildings and more single-family homes in the $200,000 to $300,000 range.
"We need to be doing a better job of making sure we're investing in [modular construction], seeing the economic development opportunity … but also as a solution to the supply crisis that we're in in housing and really solving that question around how we fill the 'missing middle,'" Hickey said.
Gaddas said the main attractions for modular-home buyers are speed and price predictability.
His team can construct a single-family home in the shop, deliver the large Lego-like pieces by truck to the site, and assemble it all within four to six weeks.
A traditional on-site build is four to six months, he said.
The price is also locked in once the estimate is done, because there are no cost overruns that come from dealing with weather and co-ordination of tradespeople with on-site construction.
"With us it's always on time, on budget," he said.
Ironwood currently employs 54 people, with 33 on the shop floor. Gaddas said the new plant will have up to 85, with as many as 65 on the shop floor, ramping up production and opening up new opportunities for the company.
"We're essentially recognized as a custom-home builder for single-family homes," he said.
"Our new facility will open up additional markets such as the multi-residential, and the hospitality industry, so a lot of your hotel chains now are looking at modular builds. University dormitories can be built using modular technology."