Modular Green

By Boyana Peeva
The Valdosta Daily Times

June 13, 2009 03:38 am

— LAKELAND — Green, energy efficient and innovatively designed modular homes are the specialty of Affinity Building Systems, LLC.
Affinity Building Systems started operations on March 31. It is located at 181 Murray Road, and manufactures single and multi-family modular homes — from 1,300 to 6,000 square feet. Its market includes Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and North and South Carolina.
ABS is a family-owned company — the Sessano family has more than 30 years of experience in the development of residential buildings.
The modular homes are built indoors similar to mobile homes. However, the modular homes are built and transported in sections and then joined together by local contractors.
Then, local building inspectors usually check the structure to ensure it meets all the requirements. In addition, the modular homes conform to state, local or regional building codes. Often, they are less expensive per square foot than site-built houses; they can save money on heating and cooling costs, and the modular building process takes less time and is not dependent on the weather.
“A well-built modular home should have the same longevity as its site-built counterpart, increasing in value over time,” according to about.com.
Since the modular homes are built in a factory setting, saving energy and recycling items such as sawdust are more efficient, which leads to lower prices.
“Building green today does not have to cost a lot of money and ABS is building all houses to exceed energy star requirements by a large margin,” according to the company. “As an example, ABS uses spray-foam insulation to seal the wall envelope of the house and this is a major component of green building.”
In addition to the energy efficiency, the company also focuses on innovative designs.
“Our designs perfectly emulate the most complex single-family designs being built today: We have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in special machinery to accomplish building sophisticated roof designs and structures,” said Gary Davidson, ABS general manager.
The company uses materials from local suppliers and warehouses in Georgia such as Universal Forest products in Ashburn and Millwork Sales in Valdosta, Davidson said.
ABS has 25 employees but the plan is to expand to 130 employees or more and reach about 30 million in sales and duplicate the business model in other parts of the South and West, said Davidson. The manufacturing facility covers two-and-a-half acres under roof as the total size of the company is 14 acres.
For more information, call Affinity Building Systems, (229) 482-1200.

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