Sustainability of prefabricated construction in Australia: Industry perspectives on challenges and opportunities

Daly, M; Kempton, L; McCarthy, T

Sustainability of prefabricated construction in Australia: Industry perspectives on challenges and opportunities

Daly, M

Kempton, L McCarthy, T

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Publisher:: ELSEVIER
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Journal of Building Engineering, 2025, 102
Issue Date:: 2025-05-15

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Daly, M https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1974-6884
dc.contributor.author	Kempton, L
dc.contributor.author	McCarthy, T
dc.date.accessioned	2025-08-06T04:06:56Z
dc.date.available	2025-08-06T04:06:56Z
dc.date.issued	2025-05-15
dc.identifier.citation	Journal of Building Engineering, 2025, 102
dc.identifier.issn	2352-7102
dc.identifier.issn	2352-7102
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/189170
dc.description.abstract	The building construction industry serves an important role in working towards at least 10 of the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), making sustainability considerations crucial. Alternative construction methods such as prefabrication have been sought to improve sustainability. In Australia, the prefabricated building industry is still relatively immature, primarily targeting either rural/remote constructions or large repeatable commercial designs. There has been little exploration of sustainability or quantifiable data to assess the state of the industry. This paper reviews global understandings of sustainability in prefabricated construction and presents results from the first stage of an exploration into the issue in Australia. This work has been conducted as part of the Australian Manufacturing Growth Centre's ‘Prefabrication Innovation Hub’. Drawing on insights from 21 stakeholders from the prefabrication industry, it presents a snapshot of current approaches to, and consideration of, environmental, economic and social sustainability within Australian prefabricated building construction. The paper discusses key challenges currently faced, as well as the areas that provide most opportunity for constructive change. Findings show that whilst sustainability considerations are currently limited, there is an awareness that environmental impacts may be a strength of the industry and there is strong potential to explore the processes being undertaken and identify quantifiable measures of sustainability. Although the prefabrication industry in Australia is still developing, it is likely that in the near future the industry will be faced with choices to adopt more sustainable processes as more advanced manufacturing processes are incorporated into industry practice.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	ELSEVIER
dc.relation.ispartof	Journal of Building Engineering
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.jobe.2025.111805
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	0905 Civil Engineering, 1201 Architecture, 1202 Building
dc.subject.classification	3302 Building
dc.subject.classification	4005 Civil engineering
dc.title	Sustainability of prefabricated construction in Australia: Industry perspectives on challenges and opportunities
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	102
utslib.for	0905 Civil Engineering
utslib.for	1201 Architecture
utslib.for	1202 Building
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/Institute For Sustainable Futures
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.date.updated	2025-08-06T04:06:52Z
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	102

Abstract:

The building construction industry serves an important role in working towards at least 10 of the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), making sustainability considerations crucial. Alternative construction methods such as prefabrication have been sought to improve sustainability. In Australia, the prefabricated building industry is still relatively immature, primarily targeting either rural/remote constructions or large repeatable commercial designs. There has been little exploration of sustainability or quantifiable data to assess the state of the industry. This paper reviews global understandings of sustainability in prefabricated construction and presents results from the first stage of an exploration into the issue in Australia. This work has been conducted as part of the Australian Manufacturing Growth Centre's ‘Prefabrication Innovation Hub’. Drawing on insights from 21 stakeholders from the prefabrication industry, it presents a snapshot of current approaches to, and consideration of, environmental, economic and social sustainability within Australian prefabricated building construction. The paper discusses key challenges currently faced, as well as the areas that provide most opportunity for constructive change. Findings show that whilst sustainability considerations are currently limited, there is an awareness that environmental impacts may be a strength of the industry and there is strong potential to explore the processes being undertaken and identify quantifiable measures of sustainability. Although the prefabrication industry in Australia is still developing, it is likely that in the near future the industry will be faced with choices to adopt more sustainable processes as more advanced manufacturing processes are incorporated into industry practice.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/189170