George Mongell boards a red-eye flight from southern California to Washington, D.C., but he doesn't dread the upcoming hours flying through darkness. He looks forward to it. "I'm not one to sleep on planes, even red-eyes," he says. "That time is when I do some of my best work." The East Coast-based attorney should know because it's not his first cross-country flight. His work has taken him to most states in the U.S., as he represents a wide array of clients, regarding green practices in particular.
With city lights twinkling below him, he takes a moment to recall some sightseeing he took in during the trip-touring a Hollywood studio and set. He had the chance to see the usual stuff, plus look at one of the trailers housing an actor during shoot downtime. Flying home, he can't stop thinking about that trailer. He'd practically been able to touch both walls no matter where he stood inside. And, at just over six feet tall, he'd nearly hit his head on the ceiling. Not very glamorous.
His interest in the trailer's condition stems, in part, from his days studying public policy and management at Carnegie Mellon's Heinz College. Since earning his degree in 2004, he has considered himself a strong advocate for consumer protection from unsafe conditions in the home, the workplace, and public places.
At flight's end, thoughts about the cramped trailer are still with him. If this is the state of Hollywood trailers, he wonders about the quality of trailers used by schools and emergency medical operations. Could those trailers be that bad, too? Back home, he begins his research to find out. Mongell spends weeks looking closely at movie sets, disaster relief sites, and temporary offices. What he finds startles him. "Most of the individuals in trailers, regardless of the industry, are exposed to [elements] that are harmful and may even cause cancer in the long run," says Mongell, citing, among other problems, the high levels of formaldehyde found in many modular structures.
His findings led to the founding of Terradime Modular, a research development enterprise focused on efficient innovations. Mongell is the founder and CEO; Azizan Abdul-Aziz (A'90), Christian Wagner (A'90), and Jason May (A'10) helped lead the design efforts; and Mark Paat (A'96) is the chief marketing officer. After nearly two years of hard work, the team unveiled the Ecoplex last fall in Washington D.C. It's a patent-pending, modular trailer that features comfortable living space, "superior" indoor air quality, and energy conservation features-with an aim to "eradicate the 'toxic boxes' that saturate the market," says Mongell. "And it's made purely of healthy materials, so it won't leak toxins into a landfill."
He says he can't be more proud of how the Ecoplex turned out and believes it's ideal for disaster relief, mobile offices, medical clinics, schools, and the entertainment and construction industries. The plan is for the Ecoplex to go on sale this year with prices starting from approximately $30,000.
