Sustainable construction aspects of using prefabrication in dense urban environment: a Hong Kong case study

Abstract

The construction industry in Hong Kong heavily relies on conventional cast in‐situ construction involving extensive use of timber formworks and wet trades. In 2001, the Construction Industry Review Committee (CIRC) report described the construction activities in Hong Kong as ‘labour intensive, dangerous and polluting’, in which ‘built products are rarely defect‐free’. Globally, however, the recent trend is prefabrication, which is being increasingly used in the building industry, alleviating some of the environmental burdens associated with conventional construction. The sustainable construction aspects of adopting prefabrication in high‐rise buildings are examined, and the economic, environmental and social aspects of using prefabrication are assessed. A questionnaire survey was administered to experienced professionals and case studies of seven recent residential and non‐residential buildings in Hong Kong were conducted. The findings revealed that environmental, economic and social benefits of using prefabrication were significant when compared to conventional construction methods. This implies that a wider use of prefabrication techniques could contribute to sustainable construction in a dense urban environment like Hong Kong.

Keywords:

• High‐rise buildings
• Hong Kong
• precast concrete
• prefabrication
• sustainable construction.

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Thanks are due to the professionals of the building industry for their generous contributions and participation in the questionnaire survey and interviews, for providing valuable information for this study and for giving access to construction sites and manufacturing plants.