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DEVELOPMENT OF PREFABRICATED BUILDING IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK FOR ADDRESSING HOUSING NEEDS IN LIBYA View project
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Abstract. Based on previous studies, prefabricated building usage motivations in the construction
sector differ over time and vary from country to country. To adopt this technology, awareness on
current trends and the latest innovations should be increased by reviewing previous studies. The
objective of this study is to conduct a revision of common motivations and limitations of
prefabricated building in the construction industry taking into consideration the experience gained
and reported by several countries. Results show that the adaptation of prefabricated building mainly
depends on factors such as labor shortage, labor cost, housing demand, building process efficiency,
weather, as well as reduction of waste material and energy consumption. Prefabricated building has
a relatively low uptake in construction industries worldwide despite its inherent economic,
environmental, and social benefits.
Introduction
The use of prefabricated building has changed over time as a result of economic shifts,
population surge, wars, as well as other social and political factors [1]. The destruction that has
been caused by the World War II, created a climate for prefabricated building systems to provide
new housing in countries affected by the war. In the United States (US), for example, scarce skilled
labor and the housing demand resulted in a prefabricated building implementation with a level
similar to those in Europe and Japan. Meanwhile, many former colonies of Europe in Africa and
Asia became independent during postwar years; these countries must immediately acquire and
apply technology to expedite their development [2]. Prefabricated building technology was
transferred from developed countries to many independent countries in the early 1960s. However,
prefabricated building demonstrated limited success in many countries because its reputation was
tarnished by previous design and construction mistakes. Consequently, conventional construction
methods still prevailed in housing construction.
Recently, prefabricated building processes have been enhanced by advances in design,
information technologies, and machineries as well as the current emphasis within the industry to
reduce waste materials, energy consumption, labor requirements, project duration, and costs. These
situations have validated that using prefabricated building is now more practical than ever [3,4].
The governments of many countries began to rethink in adopting prefabricated building during the
late 1990s and 2000s. Such as the United Kingdom (UK), Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and
Australia, which introduced policies to enhance mechanization in their industries through long-term
visions or strategies [5,6,7,8,9]. Significant differences in local emphasis were noted despite several
similarities among these initiatives [10]. To maximize its potential benefit, the construction industry
requires substantial step-by-step advances from other countries as well as efficient processes that
will direct the prefabricated building strategy to achieve its optimal extent. Any advanced study on
building systems and technology should begin by determining the present status [11]. The objective
of this study is to review the recent variable motivations and limitations of using prefabricated
building in the construction industry in different countries. In order to increase awareness on current
trends and the latest innovations, previous studies on adopting prefabricated building technology
should be reviewed.
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Tech Publications, www.ttp.net. (ID: 202.188.89.22-09/09/15,16:33:32)
Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol. 802 669
Research Methodology
This study presents a number of motivations and variation of prefabricated building usage,
originating from a recently carried out overview of published evidence concerning identification of
future trends as an option on adopting such technology. The review had keyword search terms
associated with prefabricated building and its different contexts, via the electronic databases of the
Universiti Sains Malaysia. Excluding duplicates, the search yielded n = 1481 articles including
those related to barriers, challenges and issues in using this technique. Through these articles
researchers selected trends towards using these methods for some countries as well as the obstacles
they face. The researchers independently assessed n = 80 articles for eligibility. Retained articles
included those that have published since 2000. Five countries namely, US, UK, Hong Kong,
Australia, and Malaysia are evidently the biggest contributors of involved articles. Zutshi and Creed
[12] argued that a systematic review accompanied by a meta-analysis is an efficient and highly
controlled approach to summarize the results of numerous studies, and thus, provide reasonable
transparency.
simultaneously boost quality and productivity [32]. Meanwhile, a common denominator among
Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany and Japan, which were high users of prefabricated building,
was the comparatively large use of skillful labor with high wage, this is contrast to the UK and US
that used untrained laborers greatly [33].
Adopting prefabricated building technology is also based on sustainability principles because
consequent pollution and waste are controlled through effective resource utilization and energy
consumption. The Netherlands focused on energy consumption with regard to housing construction
[34]. Hong Kong emphasizes environmental assessment because the construction industry generates
a considerable amount of waste with limited landfill space; this condition has directed the
government to promote prefabricated building to address this problem [35]. The ''Construct for
Excellence Report'' in Hong Kong [7] recognized the necessity of increasing research and
development effort to enable the local industry to adapt advances in processes and technologies
achieved in other countries.
The magnitude of acute housing shortage has become an urgent issue in the speed factor of many
countries such as South Africa [36]. Erecting more apartment buildings with higher quality at a
faster rate is also an important issue among Chinese real estate companies. Vanke, which is the
largest residential real estate developer in Mainland China, has been researching prefabricated
housing since 1999 to resolve the aforementioned issues [37].
Worldwide, the northern European countries have the highest precast levels up to 40-50% [38],
this indicated that the use of prefabricated systems is limited. Public perception toward the
applicability of prefabricated building systems has become an issue since their introduction by
governments in different countries. The low uptake of prefabricated building by the construction
industry is attributed to the aforementioned issue. Motivations and limitations of using prefabricated
building for some countries are shown in Table 1.
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