Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
The building construction industry serves an important role in working towards at least 10 of the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), making sustainability considerations crucial. Alternative construction methods such as prefabrication have been sought to improve sustainability. In Australia, the prefabricated building industry is still relatively immature, primarily targeting either rural/remote constructions or large repeatable commercial designs. There has been little exploration of sustainability or quantifiable data to assess the state of the industry. This paper reviews global understandings of sustainability in prefabricated construction and presents results from the first stage of an exploration into the issue in Australia. This work has been conducted as part of the Australian Manufacturing Growth Centre’s ‘Prefabrication Innovation Hub’. Drawing on insights from 21 stakeholders from the prefabrication industry, it presents a snapshot of current approaches to, and consideration of, environmental, economic and social sustainability within Australian prefabricated building construction. The paper discusses key challenges currently faced, as well as the areas that provide most opportunity for constructive change. Findings show that whilst sustainability considerations are currently limited, there is an awareness that environmental impacts may be a strength of the industry and there is strong potential to explore the processes being undertaken and identify quantifiable measures of sustainability. Although the prefabrication industry in Australia is still developing, it is likely that in the near future the industry will be faced with choices to adopt more sustainable processes as more advanced manufacturing processes are incorporated into industry practice. • Australian prefabricated construction sustainability awareness focuses on environment. • Sustainability challenges and opportunities exist across all life-cycle stages. • Quantitative evidence needed to support prefabricated industry sustainability claims.
Daly et al. (Tue,) studied this question.