Polaris Works Signs Modular Rental Supply Contract with Force Cube... Launching ESG Business in Full Scale

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] Polaris Works (formerly IA Networks), which has entered the modular business, announced on the 22nd that it has signed a lease supply contract for ‘mobile school modulars’ with PosCube, Posco’s first in-house venture company.

Polaris Works will lease PosCube’s mobile school modulars to Yecheon Girls' High School in Yecheon-gun, Gyeongbuk, for the first time. Starting with this, it plans to gradually expand its modular business. The lease period for Yecheon Girls' High School’s modular is a total of 7 months until November 30. The lease fee is approximately 495 million KRW including VAT.

PosCube is the first in-house venture company established by the Posco Group in December 2020. It uniquely holds various patents, core technologies, and business achievements related to factory-manufactured, installable, and movable circular school modulars in Korea. Last year, it successfully completed the project for Korea’s first modular classroom at Gochang High School in Jeonbuk (30 units) and has been progressively reinstalling them at Suwang Elementary School in Sejong (18 units) and Gumi Gyeongbuk Foreign Language High School (8 units).

Mobile school modulars are used as temporary classrooms during remodeling, extension, or reconstruction periods of aging schools. They solve problems of existing container classrooms such as extreme heat, cold, noise, vibration, fine dust, and cramped spaces (floor height 2.1m), providing a safe and comfortable learning environment. They feature high insulation performance, office-level vibration and soundproofing, spacious interior space, and floor heights ranging from 2.7 to 3.6 meters. Their easy on-site installation, dismantling, moving, and reinstallation are major strengths. The recycling rate upon reinstallation exceeds 90%.

A Polaris Works official said, “The mobile school modular business is expected to expand significantly this year through the government’s Green Smart School national project,” adding, “Modulars are innovative eco-friendly products that overcome the limitations of existing containers, with short construction periods and over 90% reuse and re-leasing capability, receiving favorable reviews in various markets such as schools, health centers, and offices.”

He continued, “Starting with Yecheon Girls' High School, we plan to expand the modular leasing business, which will lead to long-term sales and profitability improvement,” and said, “We will secure future growth engines through eco-friendly management suitable for the ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) era.”

The government is conducting the ‘Green Smart School’ project, investing 18.5 trillion KRW by 2025 to remodel old school buildings. It plans to rebuild and remodel 2,835 school buildings (1,400 schools) that are over 40 years old. The budget for temporary classrooms alone is about 1.2 trillion KRW.

Meanwhile, the Polaris Group, consisting of Polaris Works, Polaris Office, and Sewon, has been strengthening ESG management since its launch. At last month’s regular shareholders’ meeting, Polaris Works added the following business purposes for diversification: ▲ modular manufacturing, sales, and leasing ▲ automobile parts manufacturing and trading ▲ smart tuning package and mobility solution business using IoT technology ▲ blockchain platform development and research and development.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.