- / -

abstract: The construction industry is becoming more aware of its impact on the environment. It has become more sensitive to how it operates and how it can reduce the carbon footprint of the construction process. This research identifies the source of and quantities of the carbon emissions created by an operating modular home fabrication plant in producing, transporting and installing modular structures. This study demonstrates how to measure the carbon footprint created in the production of a modular home. It quantifies and reports the results on a home, on a single module and on a per square foot basis. The primary conclusions of this study are: a) electricity was found to be the largest energy source used in this fabrication process; b) the modular fabrication process consumes a significant amount of electrical energy per month; c) production volume has a bearing on the carbon footprint of each home since the carbon footprint for each period is allocated to every home produced in that period; and d) transportation of fabricated modules and set-up add to the carbon footprint. Further, a carbon calculator was produced and is included with the study. The tool calculates the impact of energy consumption on the carbon footprint of a modular factory or a modular home. It may be expanded to other process driven fabrication entities. This research is valuable to developers and builders who wish to measure the carbon impact of a modular new home delivery system. The study also provides a methodology for modular home fabricators to measure the carbon footprint of their factories and factory production. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Construction 2010

This research concerns the in-use performance of light-gauge steel modular construction used for residential purposes. The aim was to investigate ways to reduce the in-use energy consumption of new buildings, while ensuring thermal comfort. Data were collected from two case study buildings in the UK, one in Loughborough and the other in London, using a variety of methods including building measurement, building monitoring, inspections, and a detailed review of the construction documentation. The case study buildings were monitored using EnOcean enabled wireless sensor networks and standalone temperature sensors. Monitoring data included electricity consumption in individual rooms, often by end use, space heating use, internal temperature and relative humidity, and external temperature. Building measurements included blower door tests to measure fabric air leakage rates, infrared thermal imaging to identify fabric defects and weaknesses, and ventilation system flowrate measurements. Inspections and the review of documentation allowed problems with design, manufacture and construction to be identified. A particular concern for thermally lightweight construction is the risk of overheating, therefore overheating analyses were undertaken. The research identified weaknesses in the design, construction and operation of the case study buildings resulting in increased energy use and poor thermal comfort, particularly overheating. The modular construction studied requires specific design changes to improve the fabric and building services, in order to reduce energy use. There are also specific recommendations for quality control on site to ensure critical stages are correctly completed, such as installing rigid insulation. There are also more general recommendations for how a company operates because this can influence performance; there ought to be greater attention to holistic design and greater collaboration with suppliers and contractors to determine robust solutions. Overheating was a problem in the London case study, and more research is required to understand the scale of the problem. Avoidance of overheating must be a focus in the design of new buildings. The findings suggest that once the problems with the design and quality control on site are rectified, offsite modular construction can be used to consistently and reliably provide low energy homes.

Thesis (MTech (Construction Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010 / The construction industry adopts various methods to bring about the required structure. Typically, in every construction project, health and safety of workers will remain a major concern on site due to accidents, fatalities and illnesses which occur regularly. Despite these incidents raising a concern, construction site activities still involve workers in manual handling of heavy material and repetitive body movements which constitute ergonomic problems; The purpose ofthis study is to investigate the potential impacts of prefabrication and pre-assembly on the health and safety of construction workers. The objectives of this study were (l) to examine the health and safety hazards associated with traditional construction methods in South Africa; (2) to investigate the merits of prefabrication and pre-assembly in terms of their impact on overall health and safety improvements when compared with traditional construction methods; and (3) to investigate how construction clients perceive the use of prefabrication and pre-assembly as alternative construction methods that positively impact the overall health and safety of construction workers on site. Literature pertaining to the content of this research was extensively reviewed. An exploratory study was undertaken to examine the merits of prefabrication and pre-assembly in reducing ergonomic challenges associated with traditional construction methods, where construction workers were observed and interviewed. A self-administered questionnaire survey was used for construction clients, designers and contractors. The study revealed that 80% of clients in the sample reported that they preferred traditional construction methods instead of prefabrication. It was also found that clients selected prefabrication and preassembly for other reasons which were not associated with particular improvements ofhealth and safety in construction project. The study found that labour intensive methods also commonly known as traditional construction methods exposed workers to physically demanding activities that posed risks to their health and safety. Reportedly, 76% of workers experienced pain in their waist areas, 70% had pain in their shonlder and 66% had back problems while they were involved in traditional construction. Workers sometimes had to handle heavy material manually, worked at heights and experienced noise caused by heavy construction equipment. However, a case study focused on bricklaying activities and prefabrication insulation wall fixing revealed that prefabrication reduced the exposures of workers to both ergonomic challenges and ergonomic problems. The findings also suggest that traditional construction methods were more hazardous than ones involving prefabrication. Further research is needed to determine whether the use of other forms of prefabricated and preassembled components would reduce ergonomic and health and safety hazards associated with traditional construction methods.

This report aims to serve as a logistical foundation for Husmuttern AB. This logistic foundation is defined by a transport solution, a loading solution that is associated with the transport, and a stock proposal for the elements. Husmuttern AB is a newly started company that has developed a new concept of modular housing, which will be built by order.The modular houses will be built by assembling prefabricated parts such as ceilings, walls, foundations and other elements. The advantage of building houses with prefabricated pieces is that the pieces themselves can hold a higher quality when prefabricated, than the pieces fabricated on the construction site, which results in a house that is built in a short matter of time, with high quality. Most of the elements will be prefabricated at Husmuttern’s micro factories.To make the prefabrication, construction and assembly of the houses possible, it is required that there is an efficient transport solution that transports all the necessary goods from retailers to the warehouse, micro-factory and construction site. The purpose of this work is to propose a suitable and efficient transport solution based on the weight and dimensions of the elements that have to be transported.This report is presenting solutions for these problems, where the solutions are assured by calculations that proves that the suggested transport is capable to deliver all necessary elements, and able of loading and unloading all the elements based on their weight and dimensions. A clear proposal on the stock solution for all elements is also presented in the report.The result of this work is considered as successful, due to the ensured transport method, loading method, and the suggested stock and transport partner. Thanks to these fundamental results, a foundation to the logistic solution is created and it is now possible to further develop the logistics, in order to achieve a complete logistics solution for Husmuttern AB.

The object of this thesis is to analyze the marketing communication within the field of prefabricated wooden houses. Through personal interviews with selected companies from Southern Bohemia, insight will be provided on how the aforementioned companies communicate with their respektive customers. Through competitive analysis of these findings, a comparison and conclusionary statement will be drawn by the tools of marketing communication that are typical for this type of segment. An integral part of the thesis will also use the synthesis of scientific literature in order to compare marketing communication tools used in practice with recommended literary references. Presented results can serve as a guide for companies striving for awareness of their strenghts and weaknesses within the field of marketing communications.

The master thesis deals with structural analyzing of timber house structure. In the thesis, two variants are discussed with detailed focus on one of them. The chosen variant is made up by platform frame system. This system is getting more popular in the Czech Republic.

No description available.

No description available.

Den här rapporten är en sammanställning av ett gestaltningsarbete där ett bostadshus i 5 våningar projekterats fram. Huset i fråga har anpassats till att kunna byggas med prefabricerade volymelement och enbart i stommaterialet trä. Prefabricerade volymelement är färdigbyggda rumsenheter, tillverkade på fabrik. Dessa kan vara så pass färdigställda att de levereras till en byggarbetsplats med färdig fasad och fast inredning. Eftersom arbetet baserats på volymelementsbyggande, har projektering skett efter de villkor och den byggteknik som då tillämpas. Ett praktiskt exempel som påverkat lägenhetsutformningen är transportkraven vad gäller lastbredd och lasthöjd. Detta har i sin tur påverkat hur stora volymelementen får vara och som en följd lägenheternas utformning. Rapporten behandlar teorin bakom industriellt byggande i trä, men framförallt de praktiska utmaningar samt möjligheter som uppstått som en konsekvens av att bostadsprojektet designats enligt en modulprincip. / This report is a compilation of the planning of a 5-storey residential building. The building in question has been designed to be built entirely in a wooden frame mainly consisting of a modular building system. Modules also referred to as prefabricated volume elements are room units that have been constructed through industrial means. These room units can be developed enough to be delivered with complete facades or even fixtures. Since the planning of the residential building has been made based on a modular building system, adaptations to the project has had to been made as to accommodate necessary requirements. A practical example of this is how the apartment plan has been affected based on laws concerning the maximum amount of allowed width/height during transportation on public roads. These laws control the size of how big volume elements can become and as a result the apartment layout. The report consists of a study into the area of industrial wood construction, but foremost it treats the practical challenges and possibilities that have surfaced as a consequence of planning residential housing based on a modular basis.