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Smart Green Prefabrication: Sustainability Performances of Industrialized Building Technologies

Author

Listed:
  • Paola Gallo

    (Department of Architecture, Università degli Studi di Firenze, 50122 Florence, Italy)

  • Rosa Romano

    (Department of Architecture, Università degli Studi di Firenze, 50122 Florence, Italy)

  • Elisa Belardi

    (Department of Architecture, Università degli Studi di Firenze, 50122 Florence, Italy)

Abstract

There is an urgent need to increase the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of buildings. Indeed, construction has one of the lowest rates of sustainability among productive sectors, associated with high energy demand and pollutant emissions, frequent cost increase and time delays, and poor and unsafe working conditions. Building prefabrication is a construction technique that can enhance the sustainability of buildings, in terms of predictability, product and process quality, and increased safety for workers. Recently, new approaches and concepts such as Industry 4.0 (Construction 4.0) and circularity of resources emerged in the field of prefabrication to potentiate the benefits of off-site construction. In this scenario, the scope of the work is to analyze the state of the art in the field of prefabricated building technologies in the light of these innovations and to evaluate their performances from a sustainability perspective. The work has been developed in two phases: (1) analysis of 13 case studies of prefabricated technologies in Europe; (2) comparative assessment of their sustainability performances according to 21 qualitative parameters. Based on the results of the work, a set of guidelines is proposed as the outcome, i.e., suggested strategies and approaches for designers and industry professionals that can be used to enhance the sustainability of prefabrication.

Suggested Citation

  • Paola Gallo & Rosa Romano & Elisa Belardi, 2021. "Smart Green Prefabrication: Sustainability Performances of Industrialized Building Technologies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-31, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:9:p:4701-:d:541550
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jingchun Shen & Benedetta Copertaro & Xingxing Zhang & Johannes Koke & Peter Kaufmann & Stefan Krause, 2019. "Exploring the Potential of Climate-Adaptive Container Building Design under Future Climates Scenarios in Three Different Climate Zones," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, December.
    2. Fred Edmond Boafo & Jin-Hee Kim & Jun-Tae Kim, 2016. "Performance of Modular Prefabricated Architecture: Case Study-Based Review and Future Pathways," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-16, June.
    3. Yongsheng Jiang & Dong Zhao & Dedong Wang & Yudong Xing, 2019. "Sustainable Performance of Buildings through Modular Prefabrication in the Construction Phase: A Comparative Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-15, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Fernanda Saidelles Bataglin & Daniela Dietz Viana & Carlos Torres Formoso, 2022. "Design Principles and Prescriptions for Planning and Controlling Engineer-to-Order Industrialized Building Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-22, December.
    2. Zhanyong Jin & Shuang Xia & Huanhuan Cao & Xiaohan Geng & Zimeng Cheng & Hongbo Sun & Menglin Jia & Qingyue Liu & Jie Sun, 2022. "Evaluation and Optimization of Sustainable Development Level of Construction Industrialization: Case Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-19, July.
    3. Al-Hussein M. H. Al-Aidrous & Nasir Shafiq & Yasser Yahya Al-Ashmori & Al-Baraa Abdulrahman Al-Mekhlafi & Abdullah O. Baarimah, 2022. "Essential Factors Enhancing Industrialized Building Implementation in Malaysian Residential Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-18, September.

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