As construction costs increase, developers are investing in prefabrication and modular construction for cost-effective ways to advance multifamily and other commercial developments. In fact, modular construction is estimated to double in size over the next 5 years. We asked our friend and colleague Cathy Schmidt, CEO at Fullerton Building Systems, to provide her thoughts on the advantages of (and changes in) prefabricated buildings related to commercial construction.
With the rise in construction cost, the never-ending quest for efficiency—both time and money—is more important than ever. We’ve seen this recently with multifamily construction in the Twin Cities taking advantage of modular construction. Buildings of all sizes and types are taking advantage of the benefits of this process.
What do you think of when you hear the term “prefabricated”? Do mobile homes come to mind or (this goes way back) the Sears catalog when you could buy a home from a catalog that would be manufactured and shipped to your plot of land and assembled, ready to occupy? There are many definitions of prefabricated construction or prefabricated buildings, but it is safe to say that we have come a long way from the time of cookie-cutter, cheaply made homes to the modern-day version of prefabricated construction for commercial buildings.
As we continue to experience labor shortages, long lead times for materials and a desire to construct buildings as quickly as possible, prefabricated construction is a great solution to these challenges we face. In addition, there are some benefits to building off-site that can’t be replicated as easily when building on-site.
What is prefabricated construction?
Today’s definition of prefabricated construction is creating building components off-site, usually in a factory or manufacturing setting, and then delivering and assembling these components on the job site. Within this broad definition, there are subsets of how companies in this space deliver their solution. These include:
Framing-only for the exterior shell of a building
Exterior shell with exterior finishes
Components assembled in a box in the factory (modular construction)
Pre-cast concrete tilt-up panels
There are many advantages of prefabricated construction, chief among them is the speed at which the building panels are erected; often done in a fraction of the time traditional construction would take. This reduces overall construction costs on site and means the building is complete and open much sooner. Additional benefits include:
Higher quality control. With several trades encompassed in a prefabricated building package, the overall coordination of the building process can be much smoother off-site.
Less environmental hazards. The climate-controlled factory environment for the workers producing these buildings is a more attractive work setting than building from scratch on a job site. With off-site production, there is also less risk of environmental hazards such as moisture, dirt, weather-related implications or ground conditions.
Green construction. Prefabricated buildings can be eco-friendly in both the short- and long-term. There is less waste and many of the extra materials can be recycled versus going into a landfill as they would if they were being built on-site.
As we all continue to navigate rising costs in construction, consider the possibilities in prefabricated construction for your next build project. It just might be the route you need to save time, money and lower your carbon footprint.
Cathy Schmidt is CEO at Fullerton Building Systems. Fullerton Building Systems provides high-quality finished exterior building shell packages. Their innovative process and convenient exterior building shell packages speed up construction schedules, help control project costs, labor shortages and onsite safety risks, all while enabling customers to open buildings faster and begin making money sooner. To learn more about how prefabricated construction may work for your next project, email info@fullertonbuildingsystems.com.
