How to Create an 11-Story Building in Just 15 Days w/ BROAD USA [podcast transcript]

Sunny Wang     

Okay, let's jump in. For the factory-made modular construction BROAD has developed to since 2009, but the Living Building was the first stainless steel construction. The columns and beams are made of stainless-steel channels and square paths, and the floors are composed of BROAD’s original standards called B-Core Slab. So, the whole building, just like Jeremy mentioned, has no concrete at all. Each model we designed for the size of the 40 feet container, which is 40 feet long, eight feet wide, and 10 feet high. So, the reason we designed this is because it can’t be fitting the shipment, which is frustrating, but actually there is no container needed during shipping. It can extend about two times when unfolded outside for installation. So, it's really realizing the low cost and huge size transportation at a worldwide scale.

John McMullen

So, tell me more about B-CORE. How was it developed and how is it manufactured?

Jeremy Zimman

So, our BROAD sustainable building division, Sunny mentioned was founded in 2009. So, we have a lot of experience in prefabricated buildings. We started with carbon steel from our first factory made building, which was in 2010, until about 2017, when we unveiled B-CORE. So, our Chairman, John Ye invented not only the material, but also the ovens’ kilns that we use in our braising process. So, the stainless steel, is braised at 2,012 degrees. That's what gives it the amazing properties of being very light yet very strong. These ovens went through 10 different iterations. So, there's a lot of trial and error along the way. You know, we invested over one and a quarter billion dollars over 12 years to get to where we are today with the B-CORE material in the Living Building product.

John McMullen

The B-CORE product is made up of two sheets of stainless steel with cylinders inside. Is that right?

Jeremy Zimman

Yeah, it's two stainless steel plates with stainless steel tubes in between the two plates. So, between the two plates, that's called a Slab. It's a sandwich structure, very strong, and the thickness of the plates and the slab itself might differ depending on the application if it's a floor slab, or exterior wall, for instance. Then, those stainless steel tubes, the diameter and the density might change as well. What doesn't change is it's always a sandwich structure. Regardless of where in the building is supplied.

John McMullen

So, BROAD’s manufacturing facilities must be immense, especially for this last building you put up it was created from nothing in 15 days and transported on site. Can you tell me about your manufacturing facilities and the types of processes that you use?

Sunny Wang

Sure. We try to standardize from design to installation, including the production. So, in our campus, basically, and China, we try to achieve all auto streamline production mode. This is for the purpose of quality, mass production, and extremely low labor and material cost. So, all these building structures and other designs totally comply with international standards to ensure all the buildings can be officially approved in different countries. So, for the core size of the production, it's very simple and very automatic. For example, for the sheet metal process, when we do the core tube fabrication, copper foil fabrication, we use kind of rubbers, and that would form the core tube assembly slab stacked up. We use automation in an intellectual, manufacturing way. So, for sheet metal processing line, we can produce around 20 square feet per line, but we only need three technicians for each shift. So that's a very efficient production. For the hot air copper braising, which is a very unique, breakthrough technology developed by BROAD. B-CORE that’s copper braising is hot air treatment. We use blowers to blow hot air into the oven at extremely high speeds and to hit the B-CORE slabs evenly. So that's why we can harden that stainless steel to B-CORE slabs. For this production, we can produce over 10,000 square feet a day, but only use one technician for one shift.

John McMullen

That's amazing. Let's switch gears for a second. I also wanted to talk to you about BROAD’s commitment to the environment. As an industry, modular construction I know prides itself on creating less material waste and being more efficient. But since it started, I've read that BROAD has done a remarkable amount of work to become an environmentally friendly company. You mentioned that with talking about stainless steel, but what else can you tell me about the company itself and the efforts that it's made?

Jeremy Zimman

Well, sustainability, environmental protection, saving energy and saving materials is at the core of everything we do. So not to digress too much, but a flagship product abroad in our 33 years of operation 24 years in the US is an absorption chiller, which is a high capacity central hv AC system. So, our system is not electric, and it can be driven by waste or process heat, any kind of thermal heat. So, for customers within a cogeneration facility or micro grid, they can basically get free cooling, nonpolluting. We use a water-based refrigerant, so there's no harm to the ozone layer. So similarly, with B-CORE and Living Building, we approached it from the environmental protection aspect. Because we migrated 100% of the construction to the factory, we have virtually no construction waste. As you know, construction waste in traditional construction can be 25% or more of material that has to be hauled away, which is very expensive, time consuming and consumes landfill so it's not sustainable. The continued heavy use of concrete is not sustainable for the environment either.

John McMullen

So, what suggestions can you offer other manufacturers who are looking to become more conscious of their impact on the environment?

Sunny Wang   

Well, as Chairman of BROAD Group, you mentioned people can find a real approach to sustainable development for higher life quality and a lower impact on the environment. So that's why under the leadership of Mr. John, BROAD continues to perform its mission to put sustainability into action by replacing as many inefficient products and production process as possible. There's new technology and new ways of applying the disruptive technology which can contribute to reduced energy and resource consumption. Sometimes the perception of the modular building has changed from the cost quality to the sustainability factors. So, I hope all the circles of the modular construction take into consideration how to protect the environment, how to protect humankind’s resources, and make this to be decisive factors to popularize of the modular construction.

John McMullen

So, what’s next for BROAD? What are your goals in the next five years? How do you see yourselves growing? How do you hope to apply your B-CORE product?

Jeremy Zimman

That's a very good question. We recently launched the 1,000 City Strategy based on our Living Building. We will build BROAD pavilions in 1,000 cities across the world in the next eight years and 80 BROAD pavilions across the United States. So, a BROAD pavilion is a mixed-use facility, to demonstrate this new technology, and it includes public space, such as an exhibition hall, conference center, other community space, and residential and office space. So, we also want to use this platform to lure talent to join us, and to trigger developers and architects and other stakeholders to join us to enable modular construction to take up to 10% of the whole construction market. So that that's our goal.

John McMullen

Well, it sounds like B-CORE is a fantastic product. If you're hoping to lure architects and engineers over to modular, I think you've got a great piece of bait for your hook, so to speak. So, before we end, I just wanted to thank you both for recently joining the Modular Building Institute. We're excited to have you here. I expect that we will be hearing lots from BROAD in the years ahead.

Jeremy Zimman

Well, thank you again for having us today, John. We're excited and proud to be members of the Modular Building Institute and we look forward to deep engagement with MBI and all of its members.

John McMullen

I hope so, thanks again and congrats again on a great project and for sharing your experiences with us. I appreciate it. My name is John McMullen, and this has been another episode of Inside Modular: The Podcast of Commercial Modular Construction. Until next time.