They may come with the sign that strikes fear into the hearts of many men – “some assembly required” – but it has not stopped Blue Planet Buildings carving a niche in the resources sector.

Incitec Pivot has used some of its buildings at three Dyno Nobel sites – the Mt Margaret, Ernest Henry and Lady Loretta mines.

There are other resources industry players, both from mining and oil and gas areas, showing strong interest and even inquiries from construction players.

Blue Planet Buildings uses a solar grid technology to generate power.

It enables each building to generate up to 1.5 kilowatt hours of electricity through solar panels located on its roof.

The building can operate both on and off a power grid.

In remote settings the company provides power pods, which include battery banks, an inverter that converts the solar energy to AC power and a backup generator.

Blue Planet Buildings chief executive officer Mark Ottery said the power pods would be scaled to suit what the customer needed them to do.

“We tend to size the batteries to ensure two to three days of full power,” he said.

That is enough to run the lights, the air conditioning and whatever else the customer wants them to do.

If the site experiences a series of rainy or cloudy days, the backup generator automatically spools up.

It can charge the batteries in about two hours – still better than having a diesel generator running around the clock.

The backup generator can also automatically kick in to boost power to the system if an appliance with a large draw is being used.

The technology originates from the UK and Blue Planet has the exclusive rights to the Australian and New Zealand markets.

It gives mining companies a way to minimise the power draw from their mining accommodation.

The modular buildings are able to operate in all weather and temperature conditions and can withstand category D cyclone conditions.

The wall panels are made of 80mm-thick closed cell polyurethane inject foam panels and the floors are 120mm thick.

Ottery describes it as akin to an esky, meaning reduced stress for the air conditioner.

They lock together automatically, connecting both power and water supplies.

The buildings sit in their own metal frames and can be assembled as multi-level structures, which removes the need for costly metal frames to be brought to site.

The buildings stand on four legs, each of which can be adjusted to make it easy for companies to level the buildings in areas where ground preparation might be difficult.

There is a need for an engineer to advise on the right tie-down structures to ensure they maintain their cyclone rating onsite. This is the same for any structure though.

The buildings can arrive on site flat packed in a shipping container. Four units fit into one container which makes them ideal for small exploration camps.

According to Blue Planet, a unit can be assembled in 45 minutes by two non-skilled labourers.

One of the benefits Incitec Pivot gained from its Blue Planet buildings was that it fit in with its sustainability plans, aimed at improving efficiencies, reducing waste and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

It also fit in with Dyno Nobel’s target of 20% renewable energy usage on all sites by the end of 2012.

Dyno Nobel project manager Jarrod Ketter said the opportunity to use solar power for permanent offices at Dyno depots and Incitec Pivot offices was huge.

“Application is very flexible,” he said.

“They can be used in any remote location.”