Housing units provide efficient comfort in harsh environments

Temporary housing units from MODS International are made to withstand the harsh environment of remote gas, oil and mining sites. Completely furnished, the 8-foot-wide by 8.5-foot-high by 40-foot-long unit can comfortably house four workers (customized, larger floor plans, including 53-foot and double-wide units, are available).

The standard 40-foot unit provides 320 square feet of interior space and includes living area with table and sofa, kitchen, bathroom, shower and bedroom with bunk beds.

Built from a new standard cargo container, the 12,930-pound unit features air- and water-tight welded construction. The stackable units (up to seven high) can be transported on a flatbed or shipping container trailer, loaded and unloaded with a small crane, forklift or tilt bed trailer with winch.

The concept for the housing containers came in response to Hurricane Katrina, says Brian Fezatte, marketing business development manager for MODS International.

“The owner, who also owns Orion Builds, had crews doing reconstruction. They were living in several large Class A RVs and struggled to keep them cool.” Breakage also was a problem.

It was while discussing the use of storage containers for another project that it was decided they would be perfect for temporary or long-term housing units.

“You get a bunch of construction workers together in a place and they’ll be pretty hard on it,” Fezatte says. “These [units] are built to withstand tornado-force winds if properly anchored.”

The housing units have 6 inches of fiberglass insulation with a 4 mil plastic moisture barrier. The base floor is made of marine-grade 1.5-inch plywood with a bearing pressure of 16,000 pounds per 100 square feet. The 7-foot-1-inch-tall interior is finished with 1/2-inch drywall and slip-resistant laminated wood flooring.

They include Pella brand sliding vinyl windows with Low-E thermo-insulated glass, screen and mini-blinds.

Interior furnishings include a 4.6-cubic-foot refrigerator and a 1.6-cubic-foot microwave. The kitchen has upper and lower cabinets (7 feet long) with five doors and two shelves each. The base cabinet has two doors under the single-compartment stainless steel sink and four-drawer side cabinet.

The bathroom includes a rear-discharge toilet with a macerator grinder pump that can be connected to a septic system or holding tank up to 150 feet away, vanity cabinet, wall-mounted mirror and 32- by 32-inch shower. Wastewater discharges through a 1 1/2-inch PVC line, while freshwater is supplied by a 3/4-inch PEX line. A 6-gallon, fast-recovery, electric water heater provides enough hot water for a 10-minute shower.

“Everything on the unit is internal except for the point where it hooks up,” Fezatte says. “All the plumbing is run on the inside of what would be considered the box.”

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The bedroom has two bunk-style beds with access ladders and storage under both beds.

Units are heated by thermostatically controlled electric baseboards and cooled by a 10,000 Btu air conditioner. The 120-volt electrical service is supplied by a 100-amp panel with space for 12 20-amp breakers. Units can be hard-wired to an existing utility or run off a generator.

“You can add anything you want to the unit,” Fezatte says. “When you’re ready to leave them, you can lock them up. They have steel doors with [7.5- by 7.5-foot] French steel doors on the inside. They’re very secure, and very efficient. It doesn’t take a lot of energy to heat or cool them.”