With increasing environmental awareness among governments and businesses, green building practices are more popular than ever. Modular construction can make the construction sector more sustainable, using materials more efficiently and minimizing waste.
How Modular Construction Reduces Waste
Around 40% of waste deposited in landfills comes from construction and many companies are working hard to develop methods that reduce or reuse waste. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that new commercial construction generates about 3.9 pounds of waste per square foot. The US EPA has also calculated that 88 million tons of construction and demolition waste are added to landfills annually, despite progress toward sustainability.
Consider that this data is just for construction, and there are other industries filling landfills every day. This has led many organizations to the zero waste movement. When describing zero waste, it is not just referring to landfill waste; The concept involves internal changes that eliminate waste throughout the supply chain.
The modular construction industry has taken the lead in reducing waste. It has been proven that modular construction can reduce waste by up to 90%, thanks to offsite construction.
Benefits of Off-Site Construction
Modular construction can have positive impacts on construction waste management, reducing environmental impact and conserving resources.
Waste Control
The individual modules are produced in factory configuration, which allows better inventory control. Leftover materials are recycled for future projects, reducing construction waste going to landfills. The materials are protected from moisture and weather conditions, and the risk of theft is greatly reduced.
Construction Quality
The majority of a modular structure is completed in a controlled factory environment, using dry materials to prevent moisture retention. This improves construction quality while preventing problems like moisture damage and mold infestation.
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Modular buildings are reusable
Modular buildings can serve multiple purposes during their useful life and can be deconstructed without generating demolition waste.
Recycle and Reuse
An important advantage of modular structures is that they can be disassembled, relocated and reused with minimal modifications. As a result, modular construction allows for double waste reductions.
- First, the amount of waste is initially minimized with controlled modular construction methods.
- Furthermore, by reusing modules, the need for new materials is reduced. This also minimizes the amount of energy required for new construction.
Greater adaptability
Modular construction allows for modifications or alterations to existing buildings, with minimal disruption to adjacent buildings or sites. In conventional constructions, renovations produce a large amount of waste that is difficult to reuse.
Other Sustainability Benefits of Modular Construction
In addition to reducing construction and demolition waste, modular buildings support other green building practices.
Reduced site disturbance
Since most of the construction process takes place off-site, there is less impact on the project's surroundings. Modular construction reduces the amount of vehicles and heavy equipment needed on site, which translates into reduced pollution and fewer site disruptions.
Energy efficiency
Modular construction also offers an opportunity to incorporate energy efficiency measures directly into modules. Following are some examples:
- Energy-efficient windows with low-emissivity coating.
- LED lighting with occupancy sensors
- High-efficiency HVAC systems
Conclusion
In a world with growing concern for the environment, industries are developing methods to reduce their footprint on Earth. Given that the construction industry is responsible for 40% of landfill use, waste reduction measures are a high priority. Modular construction plays an important role in making the construction sector more sustainable.
Modular construction reduces waste thanks to a controlled environment. The method also provides efficient, versatile and high-performance buildings that can be reused multiple times. Other ecological benefits of modular construction are conservation of raw materials, reduced site disturbance and waste contamination, and less pollution from vehicles and heavy equipment.
