So many factors suggest a promising future for modular home construction in North America.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an urgent need for affordable housing, a shortage of skilled labour and the potential to optimize building process efficiencies in order to achieve higher profits.<\/p>\n
Yet modular solutions in North America lag far behind many other countries.<\/p>\n
Over 80 per cent of single family homes in Sweden and 28 per cent in Japan have used modular processes<\/a>. Yet today, less than one per cent of Canadians live in modular homes. In fact, the Modular Building Institute estimates<\/a> modular construction accounted for just over six per cent of total square footage for all new North American construction in 2022.<\/p>\n Change away from past processes is not well accepted in construction. This resistance to change is linked to the well-documented lack of industry productivity over past decades.<\/p>\n Modular construction encompasses many different processes.<\/p>\n In its simplest form, modularization means fabrication by workers in a factory environment instead of cutting and hammering onsite. This could involve the production of basic pre-made components like trusses, I-joints or insulated panels.<\/p>\n The next level of modularization involves the manufacture of complete wall panels and floor or roof cassettes that are transported to the site and assembled. This is often called \u201cpanelization.\u201d<\/p>\n Various levels of automation might be utilized in the process.<\/p>\n Then there is volumetric construction, when 80 to 95 per cent of construction and assembly occurs off-site in a factory setting. Modules such as bathroom pods, or even complete apartment units, hotel rooms, or sub-modules for homes, are delivered to the jobsite and craned into position.<\/p>\n While modular technology may be the key to solving many of the industry\u2019s existential problems, no form of construction is easy. Modular construction has specific challenges that have often proven difficult to overcome. Several high-profile modular builders have gone bankrupt, leaving behind creditors, disillusioned investors and several thousand unemployed workers.<\/p>\n Common threads to failure include an excessive burn rate of start-up cash due to high overhead costs, coupled with the inability to draw in fresh capital despite strong sales. Distances between the manufacturing facility and the project site can create supply chain procurement and delivery challenges. This can add significant costs.<\/p>\n Other common issues include local building code and planning idiosyncrasies. These can result in delays that can interrupt production. The challenges of developing and maintaining a constant production flow can ripple into difficulties of establishing reliable supply lines. The recent uptick in inflation hasn\u2019t helped either.<\/p>\n Most of the highest profile modular business failures have been homebuilders, suggesting a clue to the problem.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019ve got a big set-up and a big factory, you want the same or similar house types, because every time you produce a panel you have to change the rig and all the set-up. You want to change that as seldom as possible to actually get the efficiencies,\u201d Manny Atkinson, a director at BTP architects, told building.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n