4 Benefits Of Offsite Construction
For the past century or so, construction projects have largely relied on the same building methods, with construction workers constructing everything piece by piece on site.
Due to huge technological advancements taking place in the 21st century and a swing in commercial building trends, modern construction methods now include offsite construction. This is the manufacture and assembly of construction elements off-site, prior to being put together onsite.
Offsite construction is easy to manage – using specialist construction software which is designed to improve your internal processes, increase productivity and reduce costs. Also termed ‘prefabricated construction’ and ‘modular construction,’ there are plenty of benefits of offsite construction.
1. Construction Wastage
One of the huge benefits of offsite construction is that construction waste is minimised. Construction and demolition are known to be one of the largest waste sources in the world – in fact, in the UK they make up one fifth of waste. In recent years, there’s been a huge push for sustainable building.
Offsite construction is an effective method of reducing waste materials, especially as the required building materials can be more accurately calculated offsite. In addition to this, there’s also a cost certainty – as in a factory setting, mistakes are less likely to be made which leads to a further reduction on construction wastage.
2. Construction Safety
Construction hazards are par for the course in the industry, with onsite health and safety being of the utmost importance. Hazards such as falls from heights and equipment accidents are more likely to occur onsite than offsite in a factory.
Offsite construction is a safer environment for construction workers and is a far more predictable setting for hazards than onsite, which also has variables such as weather and visibility. Construction onsite also disrupts residents living nearby and so offsite manufacturing reduces the level of pollution in built-up areas.
3. Construction Efficiency
Efficient construction is pretty much guaranteed when materials and buildings are constructed off-site. Industrial productivity is slowed down when variables such as adverse weather conditions are introduced into the mix. This complication does not exist in offsite construction, where construction components are assembled inside a factory.
Prefabricated construction has the advantage whereby you can accurately predict the timeframe for production as the constructing takes place in a controlled environment. The process is also the same every time, so the time taken to complete construction is greatly reduced.
4. Construction Sustainability
As mentioned earlier on, sustainable construction (also known as green construction) is huge at the moment and is here to stay. Offsite construction doesn’t require as much heavy machinery and uses up much less energy than traditional methods of construction. In fact, switching to offsite construction can cut greenhouse gas emissions by 17-30%.
Transportation to onsite is greatly reduced, as fewer vehicles are required as the building materials have already been built offsite. Just one of the cost-cutting benefits of offsite construction.
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