Research and development firm FLEX Structure has set out to offer speed, sustainability and cost savings with a modular construction method to fabricate panels that can be rapidly assembled into a variety of structures.

Established in 2017 by CEO, president and CFO Patricia Livingstone, the Kelowna, B.C.-based FLEX was founded to “figure out why we don’t build houses in factories like we build cars,” she told Sustainable Biz Canada.

The firm's process creates reusable structural wall panels that are easily assembled or taken down in a matter of days. Inside each panel is a foam-like insulating core made from hundreds of recycled plastic bottles, which eats away at the planet's plastic pollution problem and lowers carbon emissions related to production.

With proposed commercial, industrial and residential applications, FLEX is demonstrating its potential with a prototype 380-square-foot building supported by Transport Canada. Invest Ottawa, Transport Canada's partner on the project, will test the building's durability and suitability as a multi-purpose structure.

Saving time and money with FLEX

Livingstone, whose previous career was a chartered professional accountant, had a deeply personal motivation to found FLEX. During a conversation with her son, he told her he was struggling to purchase a house and had concerns about starting a family of his own.

“Because why would you bring a child into this world, and I'll never be able to afford a house?” Livingstone recalled her son saying.

That galvanized her into action, researching potential solutions to bring down the cost of housing via mass production. The FLEX team has developed a process centred around factory-made wall panels. Consisting of a fiberglass face sheet and a recycled plastic foam core, the panels are intended to be easy to install with no specialized tools or training needed.

The panels are made by Composite Panel Technologies, a company also based in Kelowna that manufactures lightweight structures for transportation and other industries.

Videos published by FLEX show that once a foundational frame is set, panels slide in and elements can then be bolted down with a drill and secured with an Allen key.

This simple method can, if more fully developed, help alleviate some of the causes of high housing costs in Canada, she believes.

A shortage of trained construction workers has been identified as one critical obstacle. Installing FLEX panels requires minimal expertise in construction, helping to address the construction labour issue as well as significantly lowering costs.

Prefabricated building parts are also manufactured cost effectively, with a report by CSA Group finding almost half of North American general contractors who used modular components reported savings of at least 10 per cent.

The prototype, which was constructed on federal land west of Ottawa, was assembled in only eight days — much faster when compared to traditional construction methods. CSA Group said modular construction projects can be completed 25 to 50 per cent faster than traditional building.

Sustainable wall panels

Another benefit of FLEX is environmental sustainability.

There is no wood, steel or cement in FLEX’s parts, Livingstone explained, so no trees need to be cut, and it avoids carbon-intensive materials (steel and concrete). The company instead uses durable fibreglass enhanced with graphene and plastic foam made in the Brampton, Ont. factory of Luxembourg-based Armacell, which recycles beverage bottles into insulation.

Each panel, FLEX says, saves over 17 kilograms of carbon dioxide.

The panels are reusable and flexible enough to build another structure and avoid the need for more building materials, furthering the sustainability potential.

Prefabricated parts are also known to cut the waste from manufacturing building materials compared to on-site preparation, thanks to the factory setting and greater control over production.

CSA Group said modular construction can cut waste by up to 46 per cent and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 22 per cent.

From a pilot to other potential uses

Located on the grounds of the former Killaloe airport in Eastern Ontario, the field test will support the agency’s search for structures that can be built quickly and support uses such as emergency response and storage. Such a feature would be highly valuable in remote locations where construction is often arduous and time-consuming.

FLEX could also be considered for other types of buildings: a "Tiny Home", retail kiosks, storage sheds, housing a generator, or as a home studio.

To meet her goal of FLEX's panels being used in the residential sector, Livingstone said the company needs to meet two conditions: the sufficient volume through mass manufacturing that lowers costs, and building codes that allow these materials to be used in larger structures.

Livingstone said she wants to advocate for greater awareness of prefabricated construction so her ambition can be met. Even a common, unexciting material like drywall was not immediately accepted when it was first released, she said, which illustrates the time it takes for mass adoption in construction.

“I'm just moving the dial a little by doing a design. And it takes a while to accept new things.”