Industrialised housing, driving change in real estate
Industrialized housing is the future of construction. However, as a type of home, it isn’t something new at all. In countries such as Sweden, Finland, the UK and Germany they’ve been building this type of construction since the 1970s. When it comes to Spain, although it might still be at the early development stages, it is viewed as one of the driving changes in real estate. And this isn’t just for new builds. It also includes regeneration and refurbishment in cities.
What is industrialized housing and how is it different from other types of construction?
Before listing its benefits, it’s worth spending some time on fundamental questions: What do we mean when we talk about industrialized housing? What’s the main difference between manufactured homes or other traditional types of construction?
Industrialized housing lies half way between the two. To build it, the building is divided into modules that are manufactured in an industrial warehouse and, once completed and moved to the site (previously prepared with foundations), are put together like pieces of Lego.
This type of construction brings together the best characteristics of manufactured housing and traditional homes. On the one hand, it avoids some of the errors that crop up in traditional construction – poorly qualified employees on site and as a result, finishes that are less than perfect; weather conditions that can hold up the schedule for completion; or final estimates that are considerably higher than the initial quotes. And on the other, industrialized housing allows a wide range of designs and finishes than manufactured homes and it eliminates size limitations.
Advantages of industrialized housing: time savings and energy efficiency
Apart from skyscrapers and big engineering works, when it comes to automation and dependence on high labor, the construction sector is one of those that has made the least progress over the last few centuries. The results are obvious: disparate quality and limited energy and environmental efficiency.
Because it changes the sequence of the construction process, the manufacturing system for industrialized housing has multiple advantages; it takes half as much time as traditional construction; it improves finishes because it uses specialized labor; it avoids the usual excess costs; and it offers incomparable energy efficiency.
Sustainability and fewer emissions
Offsite homes are sustainable once they’re erected, but they also are during their construction. The process reduces waste to the minimum. According the report Sustainable Industrialized Housing, offsite homes reduce CO2 emissions by 60% in their construction and by 30% in their use. They also reduce the use of water during their manufacture and maintenance and allow for a high incidence of recycling and reutilization of their materials.
Not for nothing is it the benchmark of ‘passive housing’ (that uses hardly any energy) where all efforts for total decarbonization should be leading us.
The present and future of industrialized housing in Spain
Some people when they talk about industrialized housing claim to be talking about homes of the future. And if we look at the market, it’s true to say that more and more property developers are committing to this type of construction.
There are already more than half a million Spanish companies working in the industrialized and modular housing sector, through the manufacture of components, the building process and the sales of homes. And if we look at how the sector sings the praises of a system that is even contemplating developing high-rises, it seems clear that it will continue to grow.
Although it’s too soon to ascertain that offsite housing will take over from traditional homes completely in the future, the sector is unanimous on the benefits: better quality in half the time, greater control over costs for the developer and environmental responsibility in tune with the times.
Synesi analysis: looking ahead to specialization
As the sector develops, specialization can be expected. That is to say that there will be companies who focus on industrial construction of roofs and terraces while others do the same for partition or external walls, for example.
With regards to the last point, it would be a good thing if the industry defined standards during this stage. This would mean that although companies specialize in different parts of a home, all the development would be completely compatible.
Now is the ideal time to develop these standards: we are the very beginning of this change in construction methods. If different manufacturers could install their components in the same home it would boost the advantages of industrialized housing.
It’s also worth considering that in the future, the just in time philosophy, that has done so much for the car industry, could be applied to this type of construction. It would mean significant savings on costs.
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