Modular Building – Could this be the Future of Construction?
Over recent years, the construction industry has come up against increasing challenges, including a declining workforce, a housing shortage and issues of sustainability.
This has led many construction companies to review their building practices and, in some cases, adopt modern construction methods to help increase their output.
One such method rising in popularity is that of modular building.
What is Modular Building?
Modular building is a type of construction that uses a factory-style environment to assemble the parts of a building off-site.
Once these ‘modules’ are assembled, they can be transported to site and connected together. They will often be attached to a podium or frame that has been built in the traditional way.
What are the Benefits of Modular Building?
The five main advantages to modular building that are having an impact on its increasing popularity are:
1. Faster to build – modular construction can lead to a reduction in build time of anywhere between 30-50%. Manya Kotian in The Constructor, says, ‘The conventional construction method is often met with cost and time overruns.’ But modular building benefits from the efficiency of the factory process, the ability to construct multiple modules simultaneously and the reduced impact of weather on build progress.
2. Higher degree of accuracy – the factory environment allows for a greater degree of quality control, when compared with what is possible on site. The machines used to construct the modules are also able, through enhanced precision and accuracy, to create homes that are more energy efficient.
3. Improved cash-flow – though the cost of its overall construction may not be cheaper, a modular building is produced in a shorter timeframe than a traditional property. This means that each modular home is available to purchase sooner than it would be if it were traditionally built (bringing finances in to the homebuilder sooner) and that more homes can be produced in the same time-frame, when using these methods, meaning more homes to sell (again, bringing in more finances to the homebuilder).
4. More environmentally friendly – modular building can deliver greener buildings, through its precision engineering, but this building method also results in reduced levels of site traffic and deliveries, and a consequential drop in fossil fuel-powered machinery on-site.
5. Increased safety during construction – as a significant portion of construction takes place within a factory, which will typically be a heavily monitored, clean, controlled and well-lit environment, involving less manual labour, modular construction should be significantly safer than traditional methods of construction.
What are the Challenges in Modular Building?
Though the benefits of modular construction are extensive, nothing comes without its challenges and for this particular building method, these issues arise largely from its relative youth.
For instance, one significant challenge with modular construction is the agreement of ownership. When large volumes of materials or modules are being stored off-site, or being transported large distances to get to site, at which point does ownership transfer from the modular manufacturer to the developer?
Another problem can occur if there is a desire to move between modular manufacturers, as there is currently such a large amount of variation in systems and data being used across the industry.
Additionally, the nature of modular building requires the design to be finalised far sooner than it would have to be, were the construction traditional. This is because the foundations and superstructure being created on-site must be compatible with the modules being built in the factory.
Many of these issues will be evened out as the sector gains in popularity and becomes more widely spread and regulated by comparable systems and processes.
However, as the Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research (CCHPR) found, ‘Overcoming the belief that modular houses are inferior to traditional houses is one a major challenge facing the construction sector today.’
But buyers in the UK could be won over, argues CCHPR: ‘Tackling this challenge will require the sector to increase quality standards and ensure that modular buildings are aesthetically pleasing.’ They also suggest a move towards customisation, providing more consumer choice in design optionality, as, ‘This has potential for creating a new construction economy around the custom-built market.’
Is Modular Building the Future of Construction?
So, with all this in mind, could modular construction be the dominant building method in the coming years?
The environmental benefits of modular construction are part of the reason why this building method is gaining popularity amongst building professionals, and this is an issue that isn’t going anywhere.
Also, in 2020, Julia Kenny, Associate at Gallagher Construction reported that, ‘Investment by entities such as Goldman Sachs, who have put GBP75m into becoming the majority shareholder of modular construction specialist TopHat, has accelerated the growth and exposure in recent years in the UK, and looks set to bring it into the mainstream.’
And, as reported in The Constructor, ‘Multiple reports state that significant growth is expected in the modular industry in the coming years. It has been forecasted that the market size would grow up to $107.9 billion in 2025 and $130 billion in 2030.’
With the traditional construction industry already worth figures that reach into the trillions, it might be some time before modular construction becomes the dominant building method. But with significant benefits that address modern societal and economical issues, we are sure to see this sector grow and grow for many years to come.