With the advancement in construction technology, we are now able to construct buildings at a pace that was unimaginable before. The technology that we are referring here is Modular Construction.
Modular construction is a process of constructing parts of a building in a factory, in the form of modules and then, fabricating them on the original site. These modules are constructed in a controlled conditions, keeping in mind the same designing codes that are essential for conventional buildings.
Angus Reed, a real estate baron outlines some important facts about modular construction:
- Reduced cost of construction and flexibility: These buildings are easy to construct at the factory site because of the availability of resources there. And when the modules are brought to the building site, workers just need to join them as pieces of giant legos or pieces of a puzzle.
Because of the ease of construction and the pace at which the modules are constructed in a factory site, on an average, the overall cost of construction is reduced by 9 to 20 percent.
Not only that, they are easy to dismantle too. Many construction modules are made in such a way that they can be dismantled and re-assembled to another location. Because of this option, you can actually move your house/office as per your need!
- High-quality construction: Since the construction is done in a closed environment, it is easy to monitor the quality of each of the components produced in the facility. There are codes that need to be followed for on-site assembly of the modules too. This ensures utmost care is taken to get the best quality construction. It is worth mentioning here that in March 2015, a construction company of China built a 57-story building in just 19 days!
- Energy Efficient: While a building is constructed, a lot of energy is consumed. It has been proved that modular construction technology reduces energy consumption by a whopping 67 percent.
Care is taken not just in the construction of modules, most developers today who are into modular construction are also making their building more energy efficient by using energy efficient glasses, solar panels, water heaters etc.
- Low on maintenance: These buildings are made, keeping in mind the durability that is required. They are made more structurally sturdy and stable. This is the reason why they don’t require much maintenance, other than surface cleaning. It has been proved that modular buildings ca withstand earthquakes of magnitudes up to 9.0 on a Richter Scale without any damage.
- Recyclable: The materials from which the building is constructed are either recycled or recyclable. Materials like metals, glass and wood are mostly recycled in these constructions.
The components of the building can be transported to and used by anyone on some other part of the city. This makes the whole construction customize-able, since the new owner can come and change the settings as per his/her needs. This is good for both the buyer and the seller, since both can shift the components to the new place they are moving to.
Since these buildings are flexible, there is no such thing as demolition. Hence it is easy to dismantle them and rebuild a new one that too very quickly. The dismantled components will be sent for recycling, thus the whole building will be recycled.
Often it happens that people lose their lives during construction of buildings. With modular construction, we can save many lives.
The modular construction technology might have reached a small section of the whole construction industry, but it is growing at a fast pace and is surely a game changer!