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The use of modular construction systems for residential purposes currently represents a very small proportion of all housing construction. The focus of these systems is on niche markets typified as cheap alternatives, homeowner involvement in construction or adaptations to construction constraints (build time availability, site access, etc.). Governments, regulatory bodies and industrial members are progressively moving towards increased environmentally sustainable practice. This progression is evidenced by the development of design and construction rating tools and the introduction of statutes and regulations governing construction and design. This work investigates the improvement of residential construction practice in terms of environmental sustainability outcomes through the use of modular housing systems. Two key aspects of environmental sustainability identified are embodied energy and material waste reduction. A modular system has been investigated because methods and procedures that directly relate to these two areas are well addressed by such systems. In order to validate the potential of modular systems in this environmental regard, three main areas have been addressed. The first is the ability for modular systems to generate the type of floor plans currently offered by Australian high-volume builders. Second, the environmental improvement potential offered by modular systems is addressed. Lastly are the issues of structural performance and the means of the tailoring of prefabricated modular systems to residential construction standards. Through the treatment of these three areas, potential benefits of modular systems are identified, with future work necessary to implement such benefits highlighted. The need for such improvements is noted, and a framework for evaluating future developments in this area of research is presented.

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Concrete panel system is a common way of developing housing. From the beginning of its history, it was a good solution for a pressing need for efficient, affordable, and mass-produced housing to accommodate the growing population and address the shortage of dwellings. However, some of them also faced typical problems of limited flexibility and a lack of architectural diversity and uniqueness within the housing development. Today’s more and more housing projects try to develop a diversified apartment types within, to meet different housing needs allowing for a more inclusive and accessible housing market. My project try to fulfill the need of diversified apartment type on a residential area and based on mature developed concrete panel construction systems that have many advantages, with co-living and private living mode coexisting. In order to make this project more practical, the idea is firstly try to systematically develop different apartments by repetitive units and prefabricated components, using as less as them, then try to applied this to a real site with practical limitations and real needs.

El presente trabajo de investigación denominado “Propuesta de Mejora en la Planificación de Obra del Programa Nacional de Vivienda Rural (PNVR) Aplicando Pull Planning” se ha desarrollado en atención a la problemática para cumplir con los cronogramas de entrega de viviendas proyectadas según convenios desarrollados en zonas de pobreza y extrema pobreza del territorio nacional. Si bien es cierto, se ha venido construyendo módulos habitacionales con éxito desde la creación del PNVR en 2012, la eficiencia en la entrega no ha sido la esperada, generándose retraso e inconformidad por parte de los beneficiarios del programa. El PNVR nació a raíz de la necesidad de mejorar la calidad de vida de la población anteriormente descrita y lograr un acercamiento a los servicios básicos e inclusión social de las poblaciones con mayor dificultad para el desarrollo. El presente trabajo de investigación busca aportar en la mejora de la planificación del cronograma de obra, detectando restricciones en el proceso y proponiendo oportunidades de mejora para la continuidad del programa que beneficia a gran parte de la población nacional. / The present research work described "Proposal for Improvement in Work Planning of the National Rural Housing Program (PNVR) Applying Pull Planning" has been developed in response to the problem to meet the schedules of delivery of housing projected according to agreements developed in areas of poverty and extreme poverty of the national territory. Although it is true, we have been successfully building housing modules since the creation of the PNVR in 2012, the delivery efficiency has not been as expected, generating delay and disagreement on the part of the program beneficiaries. The PNVR was born as a result of the need to improve the quality of life of the population described above and achieve an approach to basic services and social inclusion of populations with greater difficulty for development. This thesis seeks to contribute to the improvement of the work schedule planning, detect restrictions in the process and propose improvement opportunities for the continuity of the program that benefits a large part of the national population. / Trabajo de investigación

A problem with the construction line of business versus the environment is that there are not that much knowledge and rules around the carbon dioxide emissions that several construction projects releases. A lot of companies that we contacted didn´t have the knowledge about the carbon dioxide that releases from the construction projects that they´ve built. This is understandable because it is a very difficult calculation to do, it requires very advanced tools and knowledge around the subject to make detailed calculations. With this master thesis, we want to compare prefabricated buildings with different materials from an environmental perspective with a focus on the carbon dioxide. The different materials we are comparing are steel and tree.   The purpose with this master thesis is to create a basis for Riki AB so that they will have a better sight on the environmental impact from their steel prefabrications which is shipped from China and this will be done with a comparison between a Swedish traditional half prefabricated apartment building.   The first step for the thesis has been a literature study and interviews about the subject. The obtained literature study consists of rapports, relatable thesis, analysis and digital internet sources. The interviews were implemented with companies which were knowledgeable of prefabrication and materials, this was done to get a deeper understanding of the materials effects of the environment.   The result of this examination results that the prefabricated apartment buildings made of steel from China has a larger carbon dioxide emission compared to the Swedish half prefabricated apartment buildings made of tree.

Modular housing is an important segment of the factory-built housing industry, in the Mid-Atlantic. In 1998, a study was conducted to assess the structural needs and requirements of this industry. This study addressed three questions. (1) What is the current and future state of the industry? (2) What structural material trends are present between 1992 - 2000? (3) What opportunities exist for product substitution and development of new structural materials? This study found that the modular housing industry in the Mid-Atlantic region is growing. The greatest barrier to market expansion is transportation costs. Expansion is expected in the South and Midwest regions of the US. Most competition comes from site-built and manufactured homebuilders. To stay competitive, respondents plan to increase customization options and home size. The need for cost effective, quality structural materials is a growing concern. Softwood dimensional lumber has been decreasing since 1992 and is expected continue to decrease through 2000. Decreases are due to design changes and quality concerns. The use of engineered lumber has increased in order to compensate for decreases in dimensional lumber necessary to meet the structural needs of the industry. Using factor analysis and perceptual mapping techniques, dimensional lumber was not perceived to be as suited for structural building applications as engineered lumber. However, respondents felt that engineered lumber tended to be more expensive. Perceptual mapping also identified gaps between the ideal needs of building applications and the ability of current materials to meet those needs. Opportunities for new product development exist where gaps occurred. / Master of Science

This study delves into the development of a long-term, sustainable housing solution to address the challenges faced during crisis when people are in immediate need of an accommodation. While temporary tents have been traditionally employed as shelters, their inefficiency in colder climates and lack of sustainability necessitate the exploration of alternative options. The proposed solution focuses on the construction of permanent houses equipped with proper insulated floorings, walls, and roofs.  Several crucial factors are taken into consideration throughout this study, including resistance to biological decomposition, exposure to precipitation, breathability, U-value per thickness, storage capabilities, and environmental impact. Therefore, studies and simulations are conducted to evaluate the viability of two organic insulation materials, with the objective of identifying the most suitable option for the project. In the next step energy simulations are conducted using the VIP software, enabling an accurate assessment of the concept building's energy efficiency. Moreover, a detailed model of the housing prototype is constructed using Revit and rendered using Twinmotion, facilitating a comprehensive visualization of the final design. Additionally, the transportation of the developed housing units was investigated and an efficient storage concept for standard shipping container was developed and modelled in SketchUp. With this study a sustainable, lightweight, flexible, adaptable, and easily transportable housing solution that can be constructed without reliance on external forces is to develop. By emphasizing sustainability and resilience, this study provides dignified and long-lasting housing for individuals and communities in need, effectively bridging the gap between temporary shelters and permanent housing structures. The findings and insights obtained from this study contribute to the broader body of knowledge in the field, fostering future advancements in crisis housing and promoting sustainable development practices.

If we look at the construction industry, particularly the modular single-family construction industry, we often see that the design stage is distinctly separate from the construction and fabrication stages. This separation has been occurring for some time now, however, there is often a noticeable lack of understanding of the constraints in linking architectural design to modular construction for single-family housing. In addition, no framework exists which seeks to support overcoming these constraints for the architectural design process while simultaneously bringing knowledge of fabrication, materials selection, and modular construction to the early stage of design. Also, there is a lack of knowledge of fabrication and modular construction constraints by many architects. This research intended to focus upon mapping the design and manufacturing processes for a specific scale of projects: residential single-family units. The research also aimed to understand the relationships among design, the role of emerging technologies, and manufacturing within the modular home construction industry in order to develop a design process that is based upon mass customization, rather than mass production. Thus, qualitative research methods based upon a grounded theory approach were used for evaluating, capturing, and structuring knowledge. To achieve the greatest possible amount of useful information, case studies of on-site visits to manufactured housing production facilities and structured, in-depth, open-ended interviews of architects, engineers, production managers, business managers, and other knowledge-holders within the manufactured modular housing industry were performed. The aim of this research was to map the design and modular homes manufacturing processes in an effort to better understand the relationships between these two domains. The Integration Definition (IDEF0) for Function Modeling was used as a graphical presentation technique. The goal of using such a graphical technique was, first, to understand and analyze the functions of the existing "As-is" design-manufacture communication process; and second, to enhance and improve the communication and productivity performances among people working in the design, manufacturing, and production sectors. Using this graphical modeling method assisted with mapping the design and modular manufacturing processes, including organizations, teams, decisions, actions, and activities. Through this mapping process, strategies to improve the emergent relationships were proposed as a new "To-be" design and manufacturing framework for modular single-family housing projects. / Ph. D.

The United States (U.S.) faces significant housing challenges, including a shortage of affordable housing and high rates of homelessness. This, combined with the pursuit of sustainable and resilient communities, has positioned Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) modular structures as a promising alternative due to their environmental, mechanical, and prefabrication advantages. However, a comprehensive study of their seismic performance and risk across the U.S. is needed to establish CLT modular construction as a resilient housing option. Therefore, this thesis assesses the seismic risk and performance of five modular CLT houses, studying (i) the variability of their collapse fragility curves across the U.S., (ii) the conditional probability of collapse under Maximum Considered Earthquake (MCE) intensities, and (iii) the unconditional probabilities of experiencing non-structural damage and collapse within 50 years for ten representative locations. The houses use the latest platform-constructed CLT shear wall lateral-force resisting system included in ASCE 7-22 (2022) and were designed using prescriptive code-based methods to represent a feasible construction alternative. The analyses were conducted under the performance-based earthquake engineering framework. Ground motion data sets were established for three seismic regions: (1) Western U.S. with forward-directivity pulses, (2) Western U.S. without forward-directivity pulses, and (3) Central and Eastern U.S. Numerical models for each house were developed and calibrated using OpenSees to perform nonlinear static and time history analyses. The Multiple Stripe Analysis procedure was used to derive the conditional probability of collapse fragility curves and interstory drift distributions, which, along with generic damage fragilities and seismic hazard curves, estimated the probabilities of non-structural damage and collapse within 50 years at representative locations. The results indicate that differences in ground motion characteristics, including pulse-like motions, do not significantly impact the collapse fragility curves. All houses satisfy the ASCE 7-22 (2022) target of a 10% conditional probability of collapse at MCE intensity. Expected non-structural damage is within acceptable limits compared to common performance objectives. Increasing house strength does not significantly enhance performance in non-structural damage states, as performance is primarily influenced by the hazard curve of the location. The unconditional probability of collapse within 50 years remains conservatively low, satisfying the ASCE 7-22 (2022) performance objective of a 1% probability of collapse within 50 years. In summary, the consistent behavior, low collapse risk, acceptable non-structural damage levels, and potential improvements through performance-based design make modular CLT houses a reliable, resilient, and high-performance seismic housing alternative in the U.S. / Master of Science / The United States (U.S.) faces significant housing challenges, including a shortage of affordable housing and high rates of homelessness. These, along with the pursuit of sustainability and resilience against natural disasters in communities, positioned modular Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) structures as a promising alternative. CLT consists of wood panels that are environmentally friendly, strong, and suitable for prefabrication. They enable prefabrication in parts (modules) of entire homes that can be easily assembled at construction sites. Understanding their behavior during seismic events is crucial to determine whether they can resist collapse and minimize damage that causes economic losses. Ground motions in the Western U.S. differ from those in the Central and Eastern U.S., affecting structures in distinct ways. To assess these effects, computer simulations are used to calculate and compare the probability of modular CLT houses collapsing in these regions. Additionally, the study estimates the probability of these houses experiencing damage and collapse in 50 years when constructed at ten different locations. The results show the houses perform satisfactorily and consistently under seismic events and can constitute a viable alternative for housing in the U.S. Differences in earthquake characteristics across the country do not significantly affect the safety of CLT modular houses. They meet and often exceed the safety standards set by building codes for collapse under seismic events. Additionally, any expected damage is also within acceptable limits. This makes them a high-quality alternative for earthquake-resistant housing.