Building Science is advancing all the
time. Because of new construction
materials and new building methods that are being introduced every year,
the building science experts have to keep up and help out designers with
effective means of building new construction. Making sure the occupants
are healthy and safe from polluted air
and making sure they are comfortable are their number one priorities. The
relationships to electrical and mechanical systems of building science,
including the building envelope, indoor air, moisture dynamics, ventilation,
and thermal insulation have to be taken seriously. It is becoming clear that building
designers must have some knowledge of building science and the performance of the building
enclosure in order to design better building enclosures and better buildings.
In this sense prefab construction is most attractive method. Prefabricated building is a type of building that consists
of several factory-built components or units that are assembled on-site to complete the unit.
Prefabricated
construction
Buildings have been built in one place
and reassembled in another throughout history. Possibly the first advertised prefab house
was the Manning Portable Cottage. A London carpenter, Henry Manning, constructed a house
that was built in components, then shipped and assembled by British emigrants.
A few still stand in Australia (South Australian Record, 1837). One such is the Friends Meeting House, Adelaide. The peak year for the
importation of portable buildings to Australia was 1853, when several hundred arrived. These have been identified as coming
from Liverpool, Boston and Singapore (with Chinese instructions for re-assembly). In Barbados the Chattel house was
a form of prefabricated building which was
developed by emancipated slaves who had limited rights to build up on land
they did not own. As the buildings were moveable they were
legally regarded as chattels.
They're a 21st century super power
with super computers and a super economy that's the envy of the world.,China
can claim another title - the fastest builders on the planet
after putting up a 30-storey
183,000-square-foot hotel in just
360 hours(15 days). A construction crew
in the south-central Chinese city of Changsha completed this remarkable achievement with no injuries to any worker.
Pre-fabricated construction is not
entirely new to the Indian construction space. Office and commercial buildings have
been using prefab wall panels, ceiling panels, plasterboards and flooring
systems to create interiors of offices and other places
such as hospitals.
Buying a ready-made
modular kitchen or bathroom is now par for
the course for a number
of Indians. But what if
you could go to a store, buy a house and get it assembled
on your plot?
With pre-fabricated, or prefab,
technology becoming popular, this might become a reality in a few years.
Low
Price-Long life
Prefab technologies can be used to
build homes quickly and cost-effectively, especially as traditional
construction costs continue to rise. As
the cost of borrowing is steep
and developers are facing a liquidity crunch, time means money. Modular
construction is faster and adds to the revenue stream of builders.
Prefab technology involves use of factory-manufactured
components in buildings. Some commonly used prefab materials include steel frames
for structures, panels made of wood,
cement, gypsum and other materials for floors,
walls and ceilings, factory-made doors, windows and ventilators.
In large construction projects, various modules of the structure are cast off-site in factories
and then assembled on the site. In the process, prefab materials such as wall and
terrace blocks, wall panels, steel frames and plaster
boards are used along with innovations such as the
dry-wall technique. In prefab technology, the entire building can be designed using architecture
software. Later, components such as
steel frames, wall and ceiling panels and floor
tiles can be custom-made. The components are then brought
to the construction site and the
structure is assembled on-site. Houses using steel frames for structure can have multiple stories without pillars, beams and concrete. Alternatively, the main
structure and outer walls can be constructed using the conventional techniques and inside
partitioning and interiors done with
prefab materials.
Pre-fabricated concrete panels as
shear walls and roof slabs, which are assembled like Lego blocks.
Apart from prefab panels, complete kitchen and bathroom units are also being
assembled as separate units with complete electrical and plumbing systems. These kitchen and
bathroom pods are then fit into place.
Prefab construction reduces construction time and improves the quality of the building.
Though prefab materials are 15-20%
expensive than the traditional
ones, higher efficiency and less wastage and labour
costs can bring down the overall cost substantially for
large buildings. They also eliminate the need for auxiliary activities such as plastering, electrical wiring and plumbing as
these are done at the casting stage itself. Buildings constructed using prefab
technologies have a life span of 30-50 years, equivalent to the life span of
structures using conventional methods.
Easily
Change The Structure
Using prefab materials in buildings also gives flexibility in terms
of expansion and modifications. Most of
these buildings are modular
with independent blocks that
can be added or removed. Computer-aided design and certain
materials produce structures which can
be easily assembled and dismantled
a number of times without damage. Additionally, changes in the structure can be made on-site in a short span of time. Prefab panels and boards are
eight-ten times lighter than brick-and-mortar
walls. This reduces the load on the
structure, which lowers the building cost. The use of prefab materials gives
the option of customising buildings for specific needs such as fire and water resistance and sound-proofing. Most of the demand for prefab
materials is from large developers and for
commercial spaces such as offices. Use by individuals for their
homes is yet to gain popularity. prefab construction techniques, quite common in
developed countries, will become popular
in India too.The use of pre-fabricated materials and methods is on the
rise in the US as the construction industry has begun to adapt to changing market conditions, new materials and methodologies.
The prefab buidings are attractive,
comfortable, affordable, and healthy and zero-carbon and also can withstand
magnitude of 8.5 earthquake and strong winds.
Finland
Moving Building
The World’s First Truly Mobile
Apartment Building is Completed in Finland
Moving Building. A Finnish architecture group has
just built and
successfully installed the world's
first mobile apartment
building. The 3-story, steel-framed
building is a whopping 108 feet long, 40 feet high and weighs a total of
485,017 pounds. It was completely assembled. Finnish architecture has just built and successfully
installed this and assembled in a shipyard warehouse and successfully
moved en masse to a water front location in Turku,
Finland earlier this month. NEAPO, the company that built and moved the
building, is an architecture and construction company that has
roots in the ship building industry, so it's no wonder they are so good
at moving large steel objects.
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