The need for a smart global sustainable housing solution could be solved by building more modular and other types of prefabricated homes. As building modular prefabricated homes is by far greener, efficient, and cleaner this means that those homes are more sustainable and could change humanity’s ugly relationship with nature.
Modular homes are sustainable since during their production period the process is smarter and more efficient. Those homes and all other types of prefab homes have a greener footprint on our environment thanks to smart resource management, new production systems, better cleaner materials, and in many cases circular building approach.
With so many new advancements it is hard not to see that prefabricated homes will make the housing market way more eco-friendly, both while building, and while serving us humans. Like many other things in life, there are pros and cons to building a prefab house.
I know that all of this sounds like a fairy tale, but let me reassure you, scientists have made plenty of research regarding this very topic and have found that improving building processes, materials production, extraction, recycle, and basic environmental interaction of our homes with nature will dramatically improve global environmental crises situation while improving our very own lives.
With that said, let’s explore some of those tremendous differences from traditional building methods that make prefabricated homes sustainable and by that worth our attention. I will try and keep it as short and informative as possible.
Prefabricated Homes Percent Of Total Housing Stock
To start with, I feel that we should understand what part of the total housing percent does prefabricated homes hold around the world.
In the US prefabricated homes have not taken a large share yet, due to a misconception that those houses are lesser in quality than traditional homes, as for that they hold only 6 percent of total housing stock (17.5 M people).
However, some places have embraced prefab homes such as Scandinavian countries which build 84% of their new homes with prefabricated elements.
In other places, the numbers are growing each year, for example, Germany now builds 20 percent of its houses as prefabs, Japan is very close these days to 20 percent as well and even eastern European countries are already standing on 7.5 percent.
As the world advances and understands the benefits of prefab houses the numbers will grow and we will see more companies and individuals building such homes.
Sustainable Prefab Homes Production
A big part of prefab homes being sustainable is the reduction of their impact during the production period.
Firstly, the production time is shorter and in some cases could be several weeks with an actual time on site of three days. This is, of course, the best case, however, most modular and prefab homes will only take up to 9 months to be completed. This lowers the impact on the environment by at least 50 percent, which puts those houses in a higher level of sustainability than any other traditional home out there.
Secondly, better build quality, meaning a longer life cycle for the house. As most construction activity is performed in controlled environment materials are less likely to be harmed, the installation of many systems is simply easier (such as roof and ceiling insulation), and the quality assessment can be checked more thoroughly during this time.
Thirdly, materials choice is done differently with sustainability, recyclability, and living comfort in mind. As the installation of those materials happens in a controlled environment companies can try and use high-tech materials, new compounds, and other more sensitive materials that in an outdoor environment would not be used.
All those reasons combined create a sustainable building process that both give great environmental value and economic value. The environmental stress is lower during the production of the prefab homes, and the economic environment is much more stable and predictable.
Overall, saving time and money leads to better and more efficient processes which in turn helps us as a society live a more sustainable life and co-exist with nature.
Prefab Homes Sustainability During Their Life
Prefab homes of all types are produced to stand the higher standards available for housing, as mentioned above, new and smart materials with high-end production processes makes them highly efficient during service time.
The first thing that prefabs do very well is insulation, the materials that are used are proven to be efficient in keeping the temperature inside the house both on cold winter days and during the hot summertime.
As a result of this improvement and proper installation in the factory, those homes are very good at lowering the energy required for heating and cooling the house year-round. Meaning, less energy used and less impact on the environment each year for its full life duration, which makes it highly sustainable compared with the traditional approach.
The second issue to be aware of is the design of prefab homes been advanced to suit different climates and places around the globe. Approaches such as “Passive house” and “zero energy homes” have become more and more mainstream particularly in Europe (which is also the leader in the number of prefab houses produced) which makes those houses even more energy-efficient in the long run.
For example, placing the house and its openings (doors, windows, etc.) in the right direction improves airflow, sun exposure, and even natural extreme events mitigation. All those improvements make prefabs sustainable.
The third topic to be aware of is the recycling potential prefab homes have. Due to smart material choice and smart assembly planning the possibility of recycling more materials when disassembling a prefab house is by far better than the traditional approach.
Materials such as wood (in different composites), different metals, and greener insulation materials can be quickly recycled and used again for a new house or in a different market altogether. In any case, the thought during planning and production about recycling makes prefabricated homes such as modular, panelized, kit, container, and other types highly sustainable.
Prefabs Sustainable Relationship With Nature
Lastly, we need to understand that building a prefab house is by far less destructive to its environment for several reasons, which make it highly sustainable.
To start with, prefabricated homes hold little to non, impact on the job site. This is since less space required for storing materials, tracks logistics area, and other organization-related spaces. Which puts less strain on the environment while also creating new local job opportunities.
Additionally, being produced in a factory those homes are built with better use of energy during the process. And while the job site must have an external power source the factory can use alternative electricity systems such as solar and wind.
Moreover, the ability to control waste on the factory is much higher and might even save time labor, and power at the recycling facility as it could be divided on its originating factory.
Apart from those reasons, prefab home factories can also purchase carbon offsets which in some places are even rewarded by doing so, all the while many conservative contractors are not even aware of this possibility.
Those are in my eyes some of the facts which make modular homes sustainable and prefabs as a whole industry much more environmentally sustainable.
To conclude this topic we must agree that prefabricated homes and in particular modular homes are in did sustainable, and should be a bigger part of our future.
As mentioned above the market for prefabs is growing and will only keep this trend, with it the homes will get better the production will be cleaner and our general welfare will improve.
Until we meet again