Prefab building methods touted for potential to reduce emissions

REAL ESTATE and construction companies are calling for a shift from traditional on-site building to prefabrication, citing the potential of modular technologies to significantly reduce the industry’s global greenhouse gas footprint while cutting project timelines by half.

Speakers at the Philippine Hospitality on Sustainable Tourism Summit said modularization and prefabrication are no longer just alternative methods but essential strategies for future-proofing buildings.

John Avrett, CEO of HIVE Modular, noted that the construction industry is often overlooked in sustainability discussions despite its massive carbon footprint. The company uses a volumetric modular construction approach in which 90% to 95% of the work is completed at a factory in Silang, Cavite.

“On a typical job site, around 30% to 40% of the materials that are brought to that job site end up in the landfill,” Mr. Avrett said. By contrast, factory-based audits show that material waste can be reduced to just 5%, making the process six to seven times more efficient than traditional methods.

PHINMA Property Holdings Corp. backed the retooling of conventional reinforced concrete design. Ulysses Paredes, design & engineering head at PHINMA, said tunnel forms and reusable steel systems allows the company to cast walls and floors simultaneously.

The method can cut an 18-month project timeline by half while ensuring higher quality and seismic resistivity.

“By using a bearing wall design, you can save about 44% in reinforced concrete and about 55% in the use of steel,” Mr. Paredes noted, adding that these structures have shown no cracks even after major seismic events.

Cathy Saldana, managing director of pdp+ Architects, said the Philippines already hosts the world’s largest prefabricated housing factory in Cavite.

She said modularization eliminates the “human factor of ignorance and negligence” that has led to structural failures in traditional builds.

Panelists said the downsides include the high upfront cost of specialized equipment and a dearth of workers trained in structural steel compared to traditional concrete.

Mr. Avrett cited Hong Kong as a successful model of government promotion and manufacturer incentives, which created an ecosystem that prioritizes building at scale. He said that for the Philippine industry to truly take off, there must be a “deeper, more nuanced conversation around cost versus value.” — Juliana Chloe A. Gonzales