Shelter Industries Custom Modular Housing

MAY 2009 — Greensmart Manufacturing Ltd. and Shelter Industries Inc. announced that they have merged ownership of their companies under Greensmart Shelters Inc.  Although Greensmart Shelters Inc. is the new holding company, the two existing companies will continue to operate separately, yet partner together on a number of initiatives.  Their first joint venture project was to provide 202 LEED Silver certified modular classrooms for Bird-Graham’s Alberta Schools P3 project.

By having merged together, Greensmart Shelters’ factories have increased their production capability, improved operational efficiencies, added to their “green” product line, augmented their management and operational expertise, and generally have increased their competitiveness in the Northwest marketplace.

Harold Clifford, Chief Operating Officer of Greensmart Shelters Inc. and President of Shelter Industries, says “We decided to partner with Greensmart Manufacturing because they offered a new eco-friendly product line with their Structurally Insulated Panels (SIP), plus they provided us with additional manufacturing capability in the Northwest, making us much more competitive in Northern markets.”

Greensmart Manufacturing was equally interested in partnering with Shelter Industries. Greensmart Shelters Inc. President & Chief Executive Officer, Alex Wik affirms, “We developed a leading-edge, energy-efficient building product that is primed to transform the marketplace, but we didn’t have the necessary human resources and operational expertise to fully realize our potential.  Now, with the management group at Shelter Industries on our team, we have the skills to lead the industry.”

Today, Greensmart Shelters Inc. has 185,000 square feet of interior manufacturing facilities, with a staff ranging from 200 to 250 employees, and the increased ability to produce 1200 pre-built units per year.  (An associated manufacturing plant in Asia gives the group an additional 1000 unit production capability).

The new company’s product lines include:

* Structurally Insulated Panels (SIP) for construction contractors and developers. These labour-saving panels are typically pre-built for insulated walls, roofs, foundation walls, and floors. Constructed with expanded polystyrene (EPS) rigid foam insulation, sandwiched between two oversized structural skins of oriented strand board (OSB), these high-performance panels are more energy efficient, cost effective and stronger than typical wood-frame construction.  These pre-built panels are used in all types of site-built construction, such as residential and commercial buildings.  They are also used in the construction of pre-built modular units.  The primary advantage of SIP panels is labour savings and energy savings of about 50% over typical wood-frame construction.

* Pre-built Modular Units for permanent or temporary needs.  Pre-built modular units can be used, like building blocks, to create expansive permanent buildings, such as a multi-level residential building, a school with a full-sized gymnasium, or even a remote community complex. They can also be used for more temporary applications, such as site offices, school portables, and workforce housing.  Built indoors to stringent standards, pre-built modular units are typically higher in quality than most site-built structures.  The primary advantage of pre-built modular units is speed and flexibility.

Greensmart Shelters COO, Harold Clifford says, “We are very excited about the future of this new company.  With manufacturing capability in the south and in the north, we can be much more competitive.  And with a larger capacity, we can take on all types of large projects, like 500-person workforce housing camps.”

Greensmart Shelters President & CEO, Alex Wik adds, “With state-of-the-art, energy efficient technologies, we can provide structurally superior buildings to meet immediate needs at competitive rates. This superior quality, combined with our new joint capabilities, has given us a competitive edge that helped us win the bid for the Alberta Schools P3 project.  We look forward to working with the Shelter team to produce 202 LEED Silver certified modular units.”

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