Prefabricated modular home

Boxvana modular homes

You might see some unique-looking homes pop up as Chattanooga-headquartered manufacturer MDLR Brands brings its line of customizable modular homes to the area — Boxvana.

CEO Harrison Langley said MDLR was built on the premise of filling the need for residential dwellings at a time when single-family homes are becoming limited.

“ADUs and tiny homes became popular, and we saw that as a great way to get into the market with ADU legislation opening up and the ability to build a lot more homes on single-family lots,” he said.

All Boxvana homes are built at MDLR’s headquarters before being moved and assembled on site

LiteSIP fiberglass panels

These homes are built with MDLR’s LiteSIP composite structural insulation  panels, which are designed to sustain threatening climates + promote temperature controllability and net-zero energy efficiency. 

Structural insulation panels (SIPs) typically comprise a foam core-the most common being expanded and extruded polystyrene (EPs, XPS), polyurethane (Pu) and polyisocyanurate (PIR) - sandwiched between facings of oriented strand board (OsB) made from shredded soft wood and adhesive. Composite SIPs replace the OsB with light weight sheets of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) typically using glass fiber and polyurethane or thermoplastics.

MDLR’s LiteSIP composite panels are made from recycled plastics, on average, 60 PET bottles are used for each square meter of the modular walls.

With these materials, each model features high ceilings + modern touches, like butcher blocks in the kitchens and marble accents in the bathrooms. Customers also work with the team to customize their homes from exterior options to appliances.

Bonus: MDLR uses a giant roller printer to print designs on the panels, offering more unique touches for each home.

This LME-2 home is designed with the LiteSIP paneling + will be one of the units built in Hixson

Costs

Let’s talk about costs. Langley said that the prefabricated style of the homes helps cut costs down overall, during and after the construction process. He also spoke on long-term maintenance costs being lower, like spending the minimum on energy bills with the temperature-controlled design. 

Source: MDLR Brands