Prefabrication and modular construction change the way structures are built. This article is part of a series in which we explore how methods address the following issues: eliminate waste, reduce transportation, diminish carbon emissions, streamline processes, speed up the construction cycle, and improve efficiency.
Two trending methods of building sustainable constructions to reduce CO2 emissions are prefabrication and modular construction.
These methods have a promising future thanks to healthy market growth, sustainable practices, and innovative solutions.
The high quality of its offering fuels the growth of the prefabrication and modular construction industry, its ability to survive the supply chain crisis and workforce shortages, and its modularity that helps construct flexible and cheaper solutions quickly.
Innovation is the key word for the prefabrication modular construction businesses they can provide sustainable and quality products by improving efficiency, reducing costs, enhancing clients’ experience, and increasing safety and security.
Modular construction and prefabrication methods offer sustainable building practices incorporated into their process solutions that produce very little waste and generate low pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. They help build great constructions with fewer resources.
According to a study by the University of Cambridge and Edinburgh Napier University, factory-produced homes in prefabrication and modular buildings emit up to 45% less carbon dioxide than traditional construction.
The prefabrications and modular construction methods are gentler on the environment than traditional methods. They require fewer materials deliveries to the site, employ fewer laborers on-site, consume less fossil fuel, protect the surrounding landscape, and lessen site disruptions as they are built quickly.
Both methods manufacture buildings or structures in factories and then deliver them to the site where they will be assembled, and professionally installed.
Are buildings built with these methods of poorer quality than traditional buildings?
No, this is a myth they are made of good quality durable materials and respect the international building codes (IBC). They employ highly qualified and trained staff to assemble the modules on-site. They use automated processes to avoid human errors and costly reworks. They produce less waste than traditional buildings.
Prefabricated buildings and structures may be temporary/portable, or permanent standalone buildings.
Most prefabrication and modular construction are built in factories, and final adjustments are made on-site during installation. It mitigates the risks associated with extreme weather conditions, as modules and structures are fabricated in a climate-controlled environment.
The global modular construction market size was valued at $112.2 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow to $177.95 billion by 2031.
Modular buildings in comparison to traditional constructions are built more quickly and flexibly.
It is forecasted that spending on R&D for cutting-edge building solutions, following incentives from many governments worldwide, will boost the modular construction market share. The programs are driving changes that lessen construction waste and support green buildings.
As an example, let's look at the government of Singapore.
The program depends upon prefabricated prefinished volumetric construction (PPVC) elements. PPVC is a construction method that encapsulates 3-dimensional modules, internal finishes, fixtures, and fittings, in an off-site fabrication facility, before it is delivered and installed on-site.
The Singapore government also incentivizes businesses to standardize new building techniques.
The funding of strategic project pre-planning puts a lot of pressure on starting to construct the assets quickly, so businesses are performing project stage planning at a very late stage resulting in the modular construction market growth being badly impacted, as owners have already decided to use traditional construction methods.
Another hindrance followed the total shutdown of the COVID-19 pandemic, which introduced volatility and uncertainty in the construction industry market, badly impacting the prefabrication and modular construction segment, due to a decline in new residential and non-residential constructions. The major countries affected were India, China, the U.S., Italy, Israel, and the U.K.
The market is segmented into permanent modular construction (PMC) and relocatable modular construction.
PMC represents the highest market share and is the fastest-growing industry segment. The PMC modules can be fitted to existing buildings and provide time and cost-efficient turn-key solutions.
The materials used in the market are concrete, steel, and wood. In 2023, concrete was the largest materials segment due to the increasing demand for concrete materials, to build road and highway infrastructures.
Start-ups in emerging countries are growing fast, resulting in the progress of the commercial sector. They are mainly used in the following segments :
Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing region over the projected period. The regional market is anticipated to be driven by expanding building activity due to increased demand from the residential and commercial sectors.
Prefabrication and modular construction are popular worldwide, allowing high quality and leading to increased market acceptance, as they serve remote locations, generate very little waste, and have a flexible process.
Cost-effective prefabrication and modular construction need technologies to ensure uniform quality. It has significantly increased the demand for using these methods, facilitating the creation of new jobs, more quality cheap housing solutions, less fossil fuel energy consumed, a higher level of clean water provided, the construction of better transportation infrastructure, and improvements in social and health services.
The growth of prefabrication and modular constructions is driven by urbanization & industrialization in developing countries, a growing worldwide population, and government initiatives, around the world, to increase new houses to accommodate population growth.
Unfortunately, the prefabrication and modular constructions are not popular in regions prone to earthquakes, due to their unproven reliability. As a result, the market development of modular construction is not growing as fast as it could.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, construction, manufacturing, hotel, and tourism industries were affected, reducing the prefabrication and modular construction market. Fortunately, construction companies are now operating at full capacity, which helped the prefabrication and modular construction market to grow again.
Permanent prefabrication and modular constructions have registered the highest revenue, and re-locatable constructions are expected to grow at a high rate.
Permanent modular houses are inexpensive and simple to build. They cover a range of designs and patterns including duplex and multistorey apartments aesthetically built with CorTen steel and anticorrosive paint coating.
The increasing trend of green buildings and new infrastructures across developed countries, such as the U.S., the UK, France, and Germany, is forecasted to create worthwhile opportunities for the expansion of the permanent modular construction industry thanks to initiatives like:
For example, the company BIG and Lejerbo were honored by the Danish Association of Architects with the Lille Arne Award for prioritizing the spatial qualities of the residences and the building strategy on a strict affordable housing budget, using prefabrication and modular construction methods. BIG's founding partner, Bjarke Ingels said:
Affordable housing is an architectural challenge due to the necessary budget restrictions. We have attempted to mobilize modular construction with modest materials to create generous living spaces at the urban and residential scale. The prefabricated elements are stacked to allow every second module an extra meter of room height, making the kitchen-living areas unusually spacious. By gently adjusting the modules, the living areas open more towards the courtyard while curving the linear block away from the street to expand the sidewalk into a public square. Economical constraints often lead to scarcity—at Dortheavej, we created added value for the individual and the community.
Major companies in the market offer new quality products and better services to customers in the modular construction market. They are:
Prefabrication and Modular concepts are used in many types of construction projects, like houses, residential communities like hotels and hospitals
In prefabrication and modular construction, the supply chain reactions are more predictable than in traditional construction, as the process is centralized and uses standard materials. needs fewer materials and produces less waste.
In the construction industry labor shortage has long been a trend, but not as bad in the prefabrication and modular construction industry. The methods enable new employees to be easily trained on assembling standard modules. When trained they become efficient very quickly.
Prefabrication and modular construction projects deliver mobility as they can easily be movable, agile, cost-effective, and sustainable.
Prefabrication and modular constructions are very good at responding to changes in the construction industry as they provide high-quality and affordable options.
The popularity of prefabrication and modular construction will accelerate when heating ventilation and air conditioning systems will become standard in regions that experience extreme cold and hot conditions, and constructions are more reliable in places vulnerable to earthquakes.
Developers and contractors can recommend moving to prefabrication and modular construction when it is appropriate, so they can:
Driving Vision's technology appraisal looks at the best way to insert new technology in your workflows and how to move your organization to cloud computing so you can open up new possibilities for your daily planning tasks and make sure your data never leaves the optimally secured data center.
A Driving Vision expert will conduct the interviews online and discuss the issues and our findings in the report. Together we will decide the best way to implement the solutions at your pace and according to your budget.
Implementing BIM can be daunting, but Driving Vision is here to help you at the pace you are comfortable with. Get started by getting in touch now
You minimise the level of investment required to implement BIM as we share the Research and Development costs with other client
You increase your revenue by staying ahead of the competition as BIM best practices allows you to win bigger and more rewarding projects.
You reduce your costs, more than our fees cost you, by decreasing potential litigations, rework, and errors and omissions
