Offsite construction offers benefits in efficiency, predictability, and waste reduction
By Mike Lawless and Eric Vandenbroucke
The market for offsite construction in North America reached $25.9 billion in 2022 and is forecast to grow to $35.7 billion by 2028.
The factory-built construction industry may still conjure images of mobile homes. But it is now used in a variety of building types, including hospitals and other medical buildings, apartments, hotels, offices, factories, schools, and senior living facilities.
Advocate Aurora Health, for example, used offsite construction for a large-scale expansion of its outpatient facilities in Illinois. Working with HDR Architecture, IMEG, and Boldt Construction, the healthcare organization created a scalable, repeatable, and adaptable care module that worked for several types of practitioners in varied spaces, from newly built medical office buildings to renovated big box store space. Over several years, the team completed 27 outpatient clinics using exam modules, toilet rooms, electrical and mechanical rooms, multi trade racks, and exterior building envelope built in a factory in the Chicagoland area.
Offsite construction brings benefits in efficiency, predictability, and waste.
Because the pieces are built in a factory construction can continue no matter the weather. Offsite pieces can also be built while site work is still underway, shortening construction time. The Modular Building Institute, a leading trade organization, estimates the use of offsite construction can reduce the construction cycle by 30 percent to 50 percent.
Because the pieces are built in a factory construction can continue no matter the weather. Offsite pieces can also be built while site work is still underway, shortening construction time. The Modular Building Institute, a leading trade organization, estimates the use of offsite construction can reduce the construction cycle by 30 percent to 50 percent.
Industry experts say offsite construction also may reduce labor issues and costs, too, because it offers workers a reliable job with set hours, where they are not exposed to harsh weather, and are less likely to be injured in a fall. Some offsite factories also use industrialized construction—3D printers, robotics and automation—or group tasks by skill to manage their skilled labor force to further enhance efficiency.
It’s also easier to monitor quality control and reduce waste in the factory environment. What would be regarded as construction waste on a construction site can be collected and reused in a factory. And the precision, quality control, and consistency of the factory-built process can reduce the energy needed to create components, thereby lowering the carbon footprint of the constructed building.
Learn more in an IMEG feature about offsite construction.
