At Greenbuild 2012, education and sustainability took center stage with the arrival of the SAGE modular classroom, designed and built by a team from Oregon. The demonstration facility, which was on display November 13-15 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, was conceived and co-sponsored by Building Design+Construction and its parent organization, SGC Horizon LLC.
The genesis of the project came from the Department of Architecture at Portland (Ore.) State University, in particular Assistant Professor Margarette Leite. In examining the role of architecture in education spaces, she and her students recognized a growing need for sustainably designed classrooms nationwide.
While modular classrooms—or “portables,” as they’re commonly known—have been around for decades, some practitioners in the modular building industry feel they have not been used to their full potential. “School district administrators typically look at this kind of space as a temporary fix,” says Garth Haakenson, President/CEO of Pacific Mobile Structures, Chehalis, Wash. “But the reality is that these buildings stay up for 20 to 30 years. When they’re built to a minimum standard and not maintained over that time period, the quality of the classroom deteriorates and you have kids learning in a substandard environment.”
SETTING OUT ON A MISSION
With that historical background in mind, Leite and her students set about changing the design of modular classrooms—to create sustainably designed, factory-built classrooms that were good for children’s health and well-being, but also practical. “The only way to do that is to find a way to keep it affordable for school districts,” she said.
As the project began to pick up steam, the staff of Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber stepped in. The modular classroom was named an official “Oregon Solutions” project. This program, established in 2011, promotes “sustainable solutions to community-based problems that support economic, environmental, and community objectives, and are built through the collaborative efforts of businesses, government, and nonprofit organizations.”
With the governor’s backing secured and the project becoming more and more of a reality, the team grew to include Portland State’s College of Engineering, and Institute for Sustainable Solutions, in conjunction with AIA Portland. There was just one problem—the team didn’t have a buyer for the proposed classroom. “We were going to try and raise money for it if we had to,” said Leite. “Luckily a buyer stepped in and made it happen pretty quickly.”
That buyer was Haakenson and Pacific Mobile Structures, which has a branch in Oregon City, near Portland. With funding secured, modular builder Blazer Industries, Aumsville, Ore., got to work. “I think it was October 5 or so that we actually started construction,” said Kendra Cox, Blazer Industries’ Project Manager. “The building shipped [to San Francisco] November 9. We were working on the design, working on the pricing, every single last-minute item. It was pretty hectic.”
They called it SAGE, for Smart Academic Green Environment. The SAGE modular classroom came in at $77 a square foot in construction costs, about half that for conventionally designed and constructed “portables,” proving that sustainability and affordability were not incompatible.
THE CLASSROOM AS TEACHING TOOL
The shortage of high-quality classrooms is a national problem, said Sergio Palleroni, Professor of Architecture at Portland State and chief designer of the SAGE classroom. “Coming to the Greenbuild conference, everybody was feeling, ‘OK, we’re having this national crisis, what do we do about it?’” said Palleroni, a Senior Fellow at PSU’s Center for Sustainable Solutions and a founder and faculty member of the federally funded Green Building Research Lab.
While the entire Building Team was excited about the generous feedback they received from Greenbuild attendees while the classroom was on display at Moscone, they were equally interested in the goal of opening people’s eyes to the potential of mobile classrooms.
Haakenson said it was important to get AEC professionals and the public to see that mobile structures could be more than portable classrooms. “There are a lot of interesting features about this structure that are completely different than anyone’s previous expectations of a portable classroom,” he says. Changing the stereotype of the modular classroom was a key component of the SAGE team’s strategy.
TAKING THE CONCEPT TO THE NEXT LEVEL
With a strong first showing at Greenbuild behind them, the team now hopes that this is just the start of a revolution in the creation of sustainably designed and constructed modular classrooms.
“There’s a lot of interest nationwide, so the next step is to start addressing requests from other states and figure out how to find manufacturers and contractors that believe in the project,” said Blazer Industries’ Cox.
Portland State’s Leite recommends that future modular classroom Building Teams collaborate early and often. “A lot of projects don’t make it because they’re not efficient to build, so they become too expensive,” she says. “That’s why it’s important to start working together right from the beginning.” +
Related Stories
| Apr 1, 2014
The risks of mismatched fire-rated assemblies
Mismatched fire-rated glass and framing happens more often than you think. Failing to confirm that the tested and listed performance capabilities of the framing system match those of the glazing can create a financial nightmare for the entire building team.
| Apr 1, 2014
Planned global commerce center breaks ground near Phoenix
When completed, PhoenixMart will be one of the largest single-level trade centers in the U.S.
| Apr 1, 2014
Paints, coatings and sealants: Choosing products and procedures for best performance
This course covers life cycle assessment, color selection, emissions, durability, resilience, corrosion resistance, specification standards, and other critical aspects of choosing coatings for interior and exterior walls, ceilings, and roofs.
| Mar 31, 2014
Extreme conversion: Soaring Canadian church transformed into contemporary library
Even before the St. Denys-du-Plateau Church was converted into a library, it was an unusual building, with a towering nave designed to mimic a huge tent inflated by the wind.
| Mar 31, 2014
Tips for creating a competitive bid using codes and loads
Landing a project feels like winning a prize, sort of like finding that forgotten $20 bill in the pocket of a pair of jeans you haven’t worn in a while. But living on the “chance” of winning a job isn’t a great way to pay your electric bill. So, how do you swing the chances in your favor?
Sponsored | | Mar 30, 2014
Ontario Leisure Centre stays ahead of the curve with channel glass
The new Bradford West Gwillimbury Leisure Centre features a 1,400-sf serpentine channel glass wall that delivers dramatic visual appeal for its residents.
| Mar 28, 2014
Crazy commuting: British artist wants to construct 300-foot water slide on city street
Bristol-based artist Luke Jerram hopes that the temporary installation, once funded, will encourage the public to think about "how we want to use the city, and what sort of future we want to see.”
| Mar 27, 2014
Develop strategic thinkers throughout your firm
In study after study, strategic thinkers are found to be among the most highly effective leaders. But is there a way to encourage routine strategic thinking throughout an organization?
| Mar 27, 2014
16 kitchen and bath design trends for 2014
Work on multifamily housing projects? Here are the top kitchen and bath design trends, according to a survey of more than 420 kitchen and bath designers.
| Mar 26, 2014
A sales and service showcase
High Plains Equipment, a Case IH dealership in Devils Lake, N.D., constructs a larger facility to better serve its customers.
