Modular Construction: Reinventing the Building Process

The modular construction  market has experienced  a massive surge of growth over the past few years, reaching a value of $76 billion in 2021.

While modular construction  currently represents  a small subset of the $1 trillion construction  industry, the market will only continue to grow as demand increases. More people than ever are turning to prefabrication for its on-site efficiency, improved labor productivity  and safety and lower construction  costs.

In addition to these benefits, modular construction  represents  a huge leap forward in environmental sustainability, including excellent opportunities for more responsible  use of building materials and more eco-friendly designs.

Read on to learn more about the benefits of modular construction  and how it works, or jump to our infographic  to get a visual look at the eco-friendly  features of modular buildings.

What Is Modular Construction?

Modular construction  is a process that involves constructing  prefabricated buildings in off-site factories and transporting  them to a worksite for installation.  While modular structures meet the same building codes and regulations  as traditional  buildings, they consist of smaller prefabricated units, called modules, which are assembled  after arriving at a worksite.

• In the factory, modules are built using assembly line systems and construction technology,  leading to an efficient and standard process. The use of precise modeling and construction  in the factory reduces the need for  change orders and adjustments.
• Before leaving the factory, walls, floors, roofs, doors and windows are built and installed, and wiring, plumbing and ductwork are added. Many modern modular buildings are even outfitted with fixtures and finishes before leaving the factory.
• Once the modules are built, they are transported to the building site on flatbed trucks and assembled in a predetermined order, a process that uses  cranes to set the modules in place onto a preset foundation.
• After the modules are set in place, construction professionals seamlessly fit them together to create a unified building. The resulting structures are often finished  twice as fast as similar buildings on traditional sites.

Types of Modular Buildings

There are two common types of modular buildings: permanent  and relocatable.  While both types consist of prefabricated materials built off-site, they differ in size and application  and each serves a distinct purpose.

Permanent

Permanent  modular construction  (PMC) involves building prefabricated modules off-site, delivering them to the worksite and assembling  them to create a permanent  structure. These buildings are highly customizable  and come in many shapes and sizes. Professionals can use PMC to build anything from single-story  homes to residential  high rises.

Relocatable

Relocatable  modular buildings are unique in that they can be moved from one location to another after the initial installation.  Professionals either partially or fully assemble these structures in an off-site facility, then transport them to the building site. Because relocatable  buildings are cost-efficient  and easy to move or repurpose,  they’re a popular option for construction-site offices, schools, medical facilities and other organizations that need a temporary  structure.

Benefits of Modular Construction

Not only do modular buildings take less time to build, but they also offer many other advantages  to construction  crews, building owners and the environment. These benefits begin in the factory and continue throughout  a building’s lifetime.

1. Decreases Construction Waste

Traditional  building methods generate around 56 million tons of debris every year, while modular construction  uses precise planning and measurements to reduce the risk of mistakes and wasted materials. Multiple modules are also created simultaneously during this process, so any materials that would otherwise be discarded can be reused for other projects in the same facility.

2. Uses Recycled Materials

Modular buildings use a variety of sustainable  materials, many of which are recycled. Repurposed  materials like wood, steel and aluminum can form siding, frames and roofs. Some modular construction  companies  also use innovative  materials like oriented strand board (OSB) made from fast-growing, sustainably  sourced wood. Modular design professionals are getting increasingly  creative with sustainable  materials in their buildings. For example,  Wikkelhouses are made entirely of recycled cardboard and are expected to last for 100 years.

3. Decreases Energy Consumption

Since construction  happens in a controlled factory setting, producing a modular structure uses less energy. During construction, energy usage is optimized using machine learning to create an environmentally sound building process, and shorter construction  times result in lower on-site energy expenditures. Professionals can also install structural insulated panels in modular buildings to better maintain their internal temperature  and reduce the need for heating and air conditioning.

4. Reduces Emissions

A United Nations report from 2017 found that 39% of global carbon emissions result from the construction  field, much of which results from inefficient material and labor transportation. By reducing trips to and from the

job site and optimizing  module delivery, modular construction  can  reduce total deliveries to building sites by 90%, which greatly reduces total emissions.  Additionally,  many modular buildings are equipped with solar panels to lower carbon emissions for the lifetime of the building. A simple solar setup can prevent 2.5 tons of carbon emissions annually.

5. Features Green Fixtures and Finishes

Modern modular designs include a slew of eco-focused  features, like dimmable LED lighting, solar water heaters, occupancy  sensors, batteries for energy storage, triple-paned  windows and electric carports. Innovative companies  like  Plant Prefab put environmentally sustainable  features first, using materials with no volatile organic compounds  (VOCs) and natural airflow technology  to create healthier designs for humans and the planet.

6. Built To Last — And Be Reused

Modular building designs have a distinct advantage when it comes to resilience and long life spans, but this can also be true of many traditional  buildings. Unique to modular buildings is the ease with which they can be disassembled — to be either reused in other locations and configurations or recycled for new projects. When considering  long-term sustainability, reusable modular buildings help reduce debris generated by demolition, which accounts for more than 500 million tons of waste each year.

7. Improves Worker Safety

Because much of the building process takes place indoors in a controlled environment, modular construction  greatly reduces the risk of falls and other work-related  injuries. This is an important advantage in an industry plagued by high work injury and mortality rates. Less on-site work protects workers from dangerous weather conditions,  eliminates hazards and lowers the risk of fatigue.

8. Lowers Project Costs

Shorter construction  times, fewer transportation and labor costs and less expensive materials make modular construction  more cost-effective than traditional  building methods. As technology continues to advance and the process becomes more efficient, project owners may even see further opportunities to reduce costs in the future.

What Are the Drawbacks?

While modular construction  offers many benefits, it isn’t without its drawbacks.  It’s important for anyone considering  this building method to consider the following challenges carefully.

1. Risk of Damage During Transport

Because modules — and sometimes  entire structures — are built off-site, there is a heightened  risk of damage as they are transported  to the construction  site. Project owners must carefully choose a trustworthy  rigging company to help reduce the risk and avoid project delays caused by damaged modules.

2. Limited Design Options

Modular buildings are fast and efficient to build, but they often have fewer customization options than traditional  structures.  Construction  professionals stack repetitive and uniform modules to build structures like apartment  buildings, hotels and homes. Creating more unique modules would require much more time, money and resources, eliminating  many of the benefits of modular construction.

3. High Upfront Costs

Because modular construction  comes with many upfront material and labor costs, project owners must be prepared to pay more upfront for a modular building than they would for a traditional  one. An accelerated  payment timeline can make working with investors who aren’t used to the process more difficult and leave less room for error.

4. Fewer Suppliers

Working with fewer suppliers may sound like a good thing, but it can place more pressure on the buyer to choose a trustworthy  company. One building project may only require one modular manufacturer, and there aren’t always many options to choose from in the still-growing  market. Because so much of a project’s budget goes to one supplier, it’s vital that buyers carefully examine all of their options and follow up as the project progresses.

The Future of Modular Construction

Thanks to growing demand in health care, affordable housing, and many commercial industries,  the global modular construction market will experience a 6.4%  annual growth rate over the next six years.

Prefabrication allows for quicker and more cost-effective building processes, which could help alleviate the current affordable housing crisis. The efficiency of modular construction could be necessary as construction sites adapt to industry changes in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Modular construction technology is a powerful remedy for many challenges facing today’s construction industry, like high costs and labor shortages. Importantly,  though, modular construction also has a beneficial effect on the environmental impacts of construction and encourages building designs that utilize green energy for a more sustainable future.

Overall, modular construction technology could be a vital source of change in the industry — especially for our impact on the planet — in the coming years. To learn more about the environmental benefits of modular construction, check out the infographic below.