The DOI matches its Crossref record; 19 of the 20 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Construction Matters: Comparing Environmental Impacts of Building Modular and Conventional Homes in the United States
Abstract
Summary: Modular construction practices are used in many countries as an alternative to conventional on‐site construction for residential homes. While modular home construction has certain advantages in terms of material and time efficiency, it requires a different infrastructure than conventional home construction, and the overall environmental trade‐offs between the two methods have been unclear. This study uses life cycle assessment to quantify the environmental impacts of constructing a typical residential home using the two methods, based on data from several modular construction companies and conventional homebuilders. The study includes impacts from material production and transport, off‐site and on‐site energy use, worker transport, and waste management. For all categories considered, the average impacts of building the home are less for modular construction than for conventional construction, although these averages obscure significant variation among the individual projects and companies.
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“Quale et al. (2012) found that prefabricated wood 121 constructions reduce wood waste from construction activities to nearly zero due to efficient 122 fabrication and the reuse of surplus material, whereas conventional wood constructions waste 123 about 5 to 15% of the wood used in their building.”
From Design strategies to increase the reuse of wood materials in buildings: Lessons from architectural practice (2022) · cites this paper as Quale et al., 2012
In the citing paper
“By contrast, concrete reinforcement bars have a low potential for reuse [86], but the use of modular constructions opens new opportunities [91].”
From Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review (2019) · cites this paper as [91]
Citations
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Metadata
- Authors
- Quale, J., Eckelman, M. J., Williams, K. W., Sloditskie, G., & Zimmerman, J. B.
- Corresponding author
- Eckelman, Matthew J.
- Venue
- Journal of Industrial Ecology
- Published
- 2012-03-05
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 243-253
- ISSN
- 1088-1980 (ISSN-L)
- 1530-9290
- OpenAlex
- W2007072372
- Cited by
- 220
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 2.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Industrial Ecology (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Environmental Impact and Sustainability
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › BIM and Construction Integration
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Sustainable Building Design and Assessment
- Keywords
- modular construction, residential housing, environmental impact of construction, life cycle assessment, offsite construction, construction energy use, construction waste management, environmental trade-offs
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