Prefabrication and modular factory-built housing are on the rise in many parts of the world. Ontario is currently undergoing a housing supply crisis and we should be ready to embrace these innovative ways of building.
We are in desperate need of new housing and building more prefab and modular units is one way of solving this problem. By moving in this direction, developers can:
- Significantly reduce construction costs
- Improve quality and productivity
- Reduce waste
- Make worksites safer
Storeys states that countries like Sweden and Japan are more advanced than us on the modular and prefab front. They have adopted off-site construction to tackle their housing crisis with amazing results.
In Sweden, 84% of the country's housing construction market share is prefabricated in the shop and then assembled on-site. The country is widely regarded as the global leader in off-site modular construction.
A country-wide, performance-based code has been adopted in Sweden that makes it easier for factories to build homes. The new rules make the specs the same for every municipality. They can choose whatever structural system makes sense for their operation, as long as it passes a code check.
If we make use of modern manufacturing and building techniques that allow homes to be built faster and with fewer workers, it would boost our housing supply.
One of the unique ventures highlighted at the annual conference of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat in Chicago was a 50 storey modular housing project built in the U.K. by Vision Modular Systems, which manufactures modules for the construction industry in a controlled assembly-line environment. In the factory, automated production lines transfer the modules through the manufacturing process where internal and some external finishes are applied before the units are shipped. The modules have structural steel frames and solid concrete floors.
"It's like an orchestra. The home is built pretty much all at the same time. Framing, windows and roofing - all of that can be done simultaneously in a manufactured prefab home."
Designer at Royal Homes in Ontario | Adam Dumond
High-rise buildings using Vision modules have a reinforced concrete core. The factory-built modules are lifted into place by cranes and seamed together.
Modular construction makes economic sense and also has a positive impact on work schedules and budgets, resulting in improved safety performance. They can also be erected and enclosed quickly with little waste.
With Ontario facing a serious shortage of housing, along with the prospect of many workers retiring in the next few years, it is imperative that we find new ways to build homes and condo towers quicker.
