5 Critical Questions to Ask When Choosing a Modular Wall System

Prefabricated modular wall systems have come a long way over the past five years, but how do you tell which solution will best meet your construction project’s needs? Join Bruce Bickford, STARC's Vice President of Product Development, as he walks you through five direct questions aimed at eliminating guesswork, so you can easily select the best wall system for the task at hand.

Full Webinar Transcript

For those who prefer text, we've included the complete webinar transcript below. Use it to quickly find topics covered in the presentation and reference important details shared by our speakers.

Welcome, everyone. Thank you for joining us for today's webinar, five critical questions to ask when choosing a modular wall system.

My name is John Farrell. I'm senior content manager for Stork Systems, and I'll serve as your moderator for this event.

A couple of housekeeping items before we begin. Today's presentation is being recorded and will be sent to you in a follow-up email.

If you have any questions during this presentation, please type them into the question box in your control panel, and we will save time at the end for, questions.

On that note, our speaker today is Bruce Bickford, vice president of product development at STARC Systems.

Bruce, I'm gonna turn things over to you now to get us started. Welcome.

Hey, everybody. Thanks for joining today.

We're going to spend some time here, talking about, temporary walls and modular wall systems.

Next.

As a leader in temporary containment for renovation construction, we'll talk to a wide variety of customers about their containment needs every day.

There are now an abundance of potential solutions to meet your needs, most having a particular niche or strength in one application or another.

So today, I'm going to talk about some of the basic criteria that may help you select a system.

Question one.

How long are these walls going to be up?

The duration of your project might have an impact on the type of wall system that's best suited for the job.

Longer duration installations may have a different criteria than say a wall that's going to be up for a few days or weeks.

Considerations such as the rigidity or stability of the wall. How does it appear? Does it look safe and provide protection from the construction hazards?

Does it meet fire and life safety codes?

Other considerations such as the rigidity and stability of the wall.

Prefabricated or modular containment walls provide installation efficiency and many benefits compared to temporary drywall construction or putting up poly sheeting such as zip walls.

There are several what we call demountable wall systems, that are specifically pre engineered for the space that you're putting them into, providing a true finished wall appearance and other features, you know, like lots of glass and custom wood grain finishes and things like that. But they all offer limited flexibility for future reconfigurations and certainly are more expensive and, require more lead time.

Next. Question two.

How sensitive is the surrounding space to dust, debris, and noise?

Construction or demolition activities can generate large amounts of dust and debris that may cause effects ranging from just being annoying to life threatening.

Rigid modular wall systems are the best solution for mitigating dust while providing physical security not only for the demolition hazards, but unwarranted access to the construction zone.

They're also designed to provide sound attenuation against construction noise or foul language, which often happens.

They're suitable for any environment in which there are significant risks documents or sensitive equipment, including most health care settings, bio life tech facilities, data centers, hospital surgery centers, and the like.

For highly sensitive areas, modular wall systems typically feature integrated air management features to create negative or positive pressure spaces in order to better control and monitor the dust migration out of the hazardous areas.

Question three, how high does a containment need to go?

We see a lot of demand for what we call tall walls, spaces that are above average normal ceiling heights.

And the containment needs in these tall spaces, you know, which might be high bay manufacturing, airports, lobbies, atriums, these all present specific challenges regarding temporary wall types in terms of stability and installation and construction.

A hard wall may be appropriate for this type of barrier, providing structural stability, airflow management and control, sound attenuation, physical security, thermal isolation, and a finished wall appearance.

Curtains or plastic drapes may be less expensive, but they still may be suitable for short term applications or very tall spaces when you get over thirty feet heading up to fifty, sixty feet.

A big consideration is the ability to support and brace the wall against those static or dynamic loads, which may dictate the type of system selected, especially where pressure differentials or wind loading is found.

A small breeze can impart a huge load on a tall wall that has a big surface area.

Other considerations is what kind of accessories and doors may be offered, to make the wall fully functional in the space.

What's the cost and labor requirements for installation?

What other resources or trades may be required for completion?

Can the job be quickly completed in one shift during normal hours?

All good questions.

Question four. What type of space is the barrier protecting?

More than any other factor, the environment to be protected or isolated is a primary consideration when selecting a barrier system.

Renovation of occupied spaces, such as in health care, dictates that containment meet multiple regulatory criteria in order to comply with codes, standards, and policies.

For instance, in health care, we're concerned with infection control, fire and life safety, building codes, and national accreditation standards.

In fact, much of our development and testing relates back to these requirements.

Critical environments typically demand clean and cleanable surfaces that can be disinfected on a daily basis.

The use of hard barriers next slide, John.

The use of hard barriers are highly flexible and adaptable to almost any situation, ensures that the containment can be routinely disinfected, is leak proof, provides the required activity functionality, and allows the occupied space to coexist with the renovation activities.

As mentioned previously, sound attenuation is often a major consideration during construction projects, to isolate staff in these sensitive environments.

Next.

And finally, what kind of image are you trying to project, with this temporary wall?

Presentation made to staff, public, owners, or others is a really important consideration, especially if the project is gonna be of long duration or in a high traffic area.

Temporary walls that look clean, finished, and permanent sends an important message that the occupied space is safe and secure and the project is being managed professionally.

A side benefit of a hard modular wall is the ability to add graphics, selling what's coming, building excitement about the project, and communicating why the disruption is happening.

The owners, contractors, and architects all want a visually appealing project and a clean clean aesthetic during the build. And they want to have zero concern about the impact of the construction activity on normal operations in the facility.

So let's look and see how STARC handles containment and isolation challenges.

STARC is actually an acronym, Simple Telescopic Airtight Reusable Containment.

It's an acronym we came up that really defines what we set out to do with our business.

We wanna be sure that we're simple and quick to install, using innovative solutions to design our products.

We have tremendous durability which leads to reusability and security, for the wall.

It's very important to have a lot of flexibility and adaptability for given installations.

Our system is installed typically, without any prior training, the first time. And we're able to handle almost any situation that you'll encounter. And that's really designed into the system.

We wanna have a clean and cleanable appearance, and we wanna have, what's really something important to us is best in class customer service, something we pride ourselves on.

Here's a sampling of some of the deep relationships that we have, that we formed since launching our first containment system in twenty fourteen.

We've got installations in all fifty states and multiple countries around the world.

We have installations at many of the leading hospital systems and many, if not most, of the national top seventy five contractors involved in healthcare environments and other areas.

And while we started in health care, we have a deep penetration into multiple commercial markets such as airports, data centers, the life sciences area, offices, education, government, and others.

Next.

So today, we offer three premier modular temporary solutions.

LiteBarrier is our lightweight dust barrier option, I like to call it. Much more durable than the available polycarbonate panel systems that are out there.

Looks great and meets all the design criteria that we've been talking about.

Lower upfront costs.

It's fast, easy, and quiet to install by just one person on a normal shift with only one trade. No disruptions to patients, staff, or the facility.

Great for projects that require a quick turnaround and frequent reconfiguration.

Our original, product called RealWall provides both sound attenuation at a higher level, and great stability, reduces renovation noise by up to fifty percent, has a great RealWall finished appearance, unmatched durability and reusability.

We have install customers who have used the panels hundreds of times.

It's also very fast and quiet to install, with very minimal disruption like the like the LiteBarrier.

And we've recently introduced the first modular reusable, which is important, one hour rated fire solution in the market, which we call FireblockWall, providing all the STARC benefits when a rated assembly is required.

It provides the performance of that fire rated assembly with the flexibility to accommodate local variances where permitted, typically by the HJ or or or, inspectors.

It's up to four times faster to install than a traditional drywall. It goes up quickly and quietly with one trade and no dust.

Superior noise blocking with an STC rating of forty.

Same lift and drop connections found on their products. And, again, great durability.

And, of course, all our products exceed the infection control standard, ICRA class five, and pass the fire and smoke test standards of ASTM EA four class a. And we do test all of our products in a furnace, to those standards.

And FireblockWall, has been tested and listed, through Intertek, for ASTM e one one nine, which feeds into NFPA two forty one and NFPA one zero one as a one r rated barrier.

Here's a cutaway view of, how our panels are manufactured.

LiteBarrier is a telescoping panel with an anodized aluminum frame and a bonded FRP panel, producing a lightweight but stiff and very durable panel that's easy to handle and is virtually indestructible.

It's about half the weight of RealWall.

The RealWall panel is a telescoping panel that also utilizes an anodized aluminum perimeter frame. In this time, it has a panel lamination of white painted aluminum skin on the outside or the or the patient side or the staff side.

A one inch polyiso foam core for reducing noise and providing some thermal insulation, and a galvanized steel skin facing the construction site for durability and scratch resistance.

The RealWall system is extremely durable, adaptable, and again, it's great milking.

FireblockWall is an adaptable height system that's constructed of a multilayer system with that white powder coated steel on the occupied side, a four inch proprietary core assembly, for the thermal protection, and a galvanized steel back facing the construction site.

Again, durable, noise blocking, and engineered, of course, for that one hour rated performance.

Next.

All of our systems have the same lift and drop connection for a fast easy installation.

We don't have any external hardware or or attachments to connect panels.

Once the panels are connected, there's an instant airtight connection between them, with that tongue and groove detail and integrated connection hardware.

They can't come loose over time. And during assembly, only one tool is required, a simple t wrench that's used to telescope the panels up to the ceiling.

Next.

So here's a quick video showing RealWall, how it is put up. And, so we have a basic panel, that we're gonna telescope up to the ceiling. There's that t wrench in our height locks. You loosen those up and simply lift the panel up compressing it against the grid, tighten up the height locks, and the panel is secure. We'll go back later and add grid clips, to anchor it to the grid.

Next panel is brought in and aligned with the front, lift and drop about an inch, and then telescope it up to the ceiling.

So all of our panels work that way. And very simply, you can see how we build a simple, on the floor assembly and then raise all the panels up and anchor them, offering a lot of bracing options, and other details as needed.

So next, we've talked about some of those key questions on how we select a system for your project. And now we're going to take a look at some examples of how these systems are paying off in customer sites.

Here's a RealWall installation in a surgery unit. You can see the bright clean appearance.

Sometimes the staff thinks the projects are completed or and certainly comment on how much the wells have helped in reducing the disruption.

They also like to use the walls as a big whiteboard, which works out pretty well.

But they looked really good, and, they're very effective at the containment and isolation.

Another RealWall installation at a very public space.

This is a providing protection and containment around the addition of a pharmacy in the main lobby of a major medical center. The owners use graphics, on the panels to create that coming soon message.

Here's an example of a RealWall being used in an office environment. This is an insurance company in Massachusetts where they were removing the exterior window wall, and needed not only containment for the construction activity, but to serve as a weather barrier, protection from the external environment.

A lot of health care environments require anti rums as part of infection control requirements.

These provide a space for staging equipment, donning and doffing coveralls and booties, and connecting a negative air machine for cascading airflow into the construction space.

Customers can typically build these anterooms of this size in an hour.

We also offer a ceiling system that can be combined with this. In this particular case, you have that domed lighting area so the ceiling would isolate the anteroom in that situation.

Next.

Here's a recent installation at a TSA checkpoint in Jacksonville.

These modular contemporary walls were being used in this multi phase project to totally rebuild the checkpoint.

The system was selected for its visual appeal as well as providing the level of physical security the TSA required for this area, as well as for the speed and efficiency of installation over conventional methods.

The facility owners really loved it, STARC, and, partially, they were impressed with the flexibility of the systems and they were very impressed with our sales team and our customer service, in bringing down demonstrations and convincing them that it was the right answer.

Next.

Our LiteBarrier system offers a way to build containment quickly, providing a robust leak tight environment.

And it also has a great appearance, very similar drywall, excuse me, to RealWall.

And it provides a dust barrier.

In this case, a major national contractor working in Boston was renovating the Northeastern University library on multiple levels in a phased plan.

They were used to using RealWall in other areas, but in this case, they just needed a dust barrier in a nonoccupied area and so chose LiteBarrier because it was more cost effective and faster.

With our focus on product support and maintaining our outstanding customer satisfaction ratings with all of our products, we spent a ton of resources supporting customers to make them successful from the very first and every additional installation.

Initial selection discussions to advance design planning, we provide you with the tools to install your containment simply and efficiently.

Our consistent growth of the business and regular feedback we get from our customers certainly confirms our strategies.

So I hope this, has been helpful and informative, for you in helping to select a system.

And, I'll turn it over to John now for some of your questions.

Thank you, Bruce. We'll go ahead and take some questions from the audience now. Just as a reminder, if you could please type your questions into the question box in your control panel, that'll help expedite expedite things on our end.

Let's see. It does look like we have a few questions coming in here.

Bruce, number one, cost savings and labor.

On average, how many reuses are are you seeing on modular wall systems?

Yeah.

As I mentioned, we get, the systems are extremely durable, and and reusable, obviously. And that's one of the, obviously, the paybacks that we get, from the system. As I mentioned, we have customers who have used them hundreds of times, but on average, you know, from our surveys, we find that people, you know, between twenty and fifty times is very common, for the products, and it gets, you know, through multi phased single jobs or for moving from one job to another.

We have many, customers who work in facilities where the the panels, move from job to job to job. They never leave the building. They're constantly being moved to the next project, and over years. So and we've got a sizable number of customers who have used them more than fifty times, and, and the balance less than twenty.

Great. Bruce, as a reminder, if you want, you can go ahead and flip on your camera, just to personalize it a bit for the audience.

In the meantime, our next question is, for STARC Systems, is there an option to rent or is it purchase only?

Yep. We do rent. We have multiple partners across the country, including Sunbelt Rentals, which is has product available virtually anywhere in the country, and smaller partners, who are in specific locations, offering complete, you know, inventory, installation or removal services, mobilization, and and ongoing maintenance.

K. Here's an ICRA two point o question.

Let's see. Under ICRA two point o, class five recommends, or excuse me. Regards to the use of anterooms.

How does STARC achieve this requirement?

Yeah. As I showed in that slide, an anteroom provides, that capability, which is now a requirement, for that category five.

You know, again, providing that extra layer of insulation.

And so we're able to, again, build those rooms both on existing walls or even on as piggybacked on our normal wall system as an additional separation.

And, the specific requirements are not only to have the anteroom, but to have cascading airflow, as I mentioned, where that construction space would have a higher level of negative pressure than the anteroom, but the anteroom would feed into, the main space.

Very good. And here's a question about the fire block cap.

You mentioned a ceiling.

How does that attach to fire, excuse me, FireblockWall, and how does that affect sound, attenuation?

Yeah. So FireblockWall, we didn't show it, but it it does have a cap system, and it does allow, the creation of a fully enclosed water hour rated barrier against an existing wall, which means you don't need to touch the ceiling, and it has it's now a, again, fully rated, has has a full sound attenuation, throughout that whole enclosure.

And, also mentioned that, you know, we people do purchase FireblockWall, for just the sound attenuation. Again, it provides and, again, in a highly sensitive area can provide a very high level of sound attenuation very quickly. We can put up an enclosure including the cap, in just a couple of hours and, very again, in a clean environment, no dust, no disruption, providing that, very high level of sound attenuation.

Okay.

Is there planning guidance on preparing for a fire marshal inspection? Since fire inspectors vary dramatically, what is the best argument for not moving spring, excuse me, sprinkler heads?

Yeah.

So the the the typical, process in specifying FireblockWall includes a project review, by regulatory body. And, you know, in in various locations, it it's different, of course. Probably the greatest regulatory environment is in California where they have a very formalized, review process. And the in that case, the FireblockWall is put on a demolition plan and then, sent to, the regulators for approval.

When you're talking about things like sprinklers, obviously, that can have an impact on terms of the, what I talked about, some of the variances that are permissible.

Sprinklers can sometimes help with exceptional conditions where you can't get above the ceiling, or, you know, other situations where you can reduce the impact of the temporary walls on the space.

So, again, sprinklers, do have an impact. Nominally, we don't require sprinkler coverage with the use of FireblockWall because, again, that's a it is a independent one hour rated barrier, that does not require sprinkler coverage.

Okay.

Combining two questions here from John.

Is your system approved by DASNY, d a s n y?

And is it approved for DASNY psychiatric facilities?

It is not.

Honestly, I I have not heard that term, but, we can certainly look look into it.

Okay. Question from Diarmo. Do you customize the panels, for example, color?

Yes. We can.

We typically recommend, actually to work with a local, graphics house. Typically people that do vinyl graphics, and, they would come in and these readily applied to these panels.

It's really easy that it's a clean panel to work with, and it's very simple to put those applied graphics on them. We've had customers who have, actually, you know, covered the entire wall system up with vinyl or they'll just stay within the frame, covering up the white surfaces. So we do not do that in the factory, but it's done by, an outside independent company.

Great. Just to clarify, Bruce, DASNEY is dormitory state of New York, according to John. So Alright.

Let's see. A couple of other questions here. Do you have training videos that show how to install the system?

We do.

The website, has resource a resource page and on there is videos and we have, individual what I'll call individual task videos divided by product. So there'll be a short segment talking about how to do the lift and drop, a short segment on how to install a door, short segment on how to attach a grid clip, things like that. So, yep.

Okay.

We're part of our we also have extensive extensive documentation, resources as well, to go with that.

Great.

And let's see. This is a combined question. How do we get an initial quote? Do you have build out starter kits, or do we pick what we would want?

Yep. So, be happy to, you know, to reach out to our sales team, and, they'll be connect with you very quickly and can help you plan out your, requirements.

And, I'm sorry, John. What was the second part of that?

Do you have built out starter kits, or do we pick what we want?

Yeah.

It's kind of funny because, actually, when we started the business, we were selling starter kits, you know, giving people twenty five feet of wall and a door and a couple of corners and and to do that, and that's certainly available today.

But more typically, we're kinda getting in in a conversation with you about, you know, a specific alarm requirement, which could include, you know, a generalized package of of materials that you can use as you need to. And that's quite often the case, say, for a maintenance department where they wanna have just enough material on hand to to handle little projects, but not any particular requirement.

So, yes, we can do that.

Excellent.

Well, that's looks, actually, I'm sorry. Are the panels shipped on oblong pallets, and how are they protected from carrier damage considering LiteBarrier?

We invest a huge amount of time and effort in, in the quality of shipping and packaging.

So we have a dedicated, system that we use either on a shipping cart, or transport cart, we call it, which is a cart that you can use to move materials around the facility.

So quite simply in that case, the, the cart is packaged up with all the panels, and then we put blocking around the wheels and a cardboard wrapper on it. So when it comes to you, you just pull off and recycle the wrapper, knock off the blocks, and you wheel it away.

We also alternatively offer a very robust shipping skid, where the panels are stacked on edge upright, and then that same cardboard wrapper goes on it. And we also are very selective about our carriers, and how we move and and and have those items shipped. We've got a lot of experience with preventing damage.

So, yeah.

Great.

Well, Bruce, that appears to be the last question.

I wanna thank you for your participation here today. It was great hearing, all your insights on modular wall systems. And I want to thank all the attendees for joining us today as well and for submitting so many great questions.

As a reminder, a recording from today's webinar will be available soon and we'll be sure to sorry.

For more information be sure to check the STARC Systems blog on a wide variety of topics related to healthcare and commercial construction.

Thank you again for joining us today. We appreciate you being here and hope you have a great day.

Thanks everybody.