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Prefabs in the North of England: Technological, Environmental and Social Innovations

Author

Listed:
  • Ornella Iuorio

    (School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK)

  • Andrew Wallace

    (School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK)

  • Kate Simpson

    (Sustainability Research Institute, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK)

Abstract

Advances in digital technology have inaugurated a ‘fourth industrial revolution’, enabling, inter alia, the growth of ‘offsite’ housing construction in advanced economies. This productive transformation seems to be opening up new opportunities for styles of living, ownership, place-making and manufacturing that are more sustainable, democratic and bespoke. However, the full potential of this transformation is not yet clear nor how it will interact with—in the UK context—ongoing crises in housing provision rooted in an increasingly financialised and critically unbalanced national economy, timid state housing policies and a longstanding cultural preoccupation with mortgaged ‘bricks and mortar’ housing. In this paper, we report on an ongoing mixed method project interrogating the technological, environmental and social implications of the emergence of offsite housing construction in the UK. To a degree, we situate this interrogation in the Northern English region of Yorkshire, an emerging focal point of the growing offsite construction industry in the UK but an area afflicted by entrenched, post-industrial economic imbalances. The results show that offsite house engineers, designers and builders are innovatively embracing digital methods, a low carbon agenda and new approaches to place-making but that they have had little role, so far, in resolving the deeper structural problems affecting housing production in the UK, bringing the sustainability of their innovation into question.

Suggested Citation

  • Ornella Iuorio & Andrew Wallace & Kate Simpson, 2019. "Prefabs in the North of England: Technological, Environmental and Social Innovations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-14, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:14:p:3884-:d:249081
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nick Blismas & Christine Pasquire & Alistair Gibb, 2006. "Benefit evaluation for off-site production in construction," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2), pages 121-130.
    2. Paul Chatterton, 2013. "Towards an Agenda for Post-carbon Cities: Lessons from Lilac, the UK's First Ecological, Affordable Cohousing Community," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(5), pages 1654-1674, September.
    3. Andres Rodriguez-Pose, 2018. "The revenge of the places that don?t matter (and what to do about it)," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1805, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jan 2018.
    4. Chris Goodier & Alistair Gibb, 2007. "Future opportunities for offsite in the UK," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(6), pages 585-595.
    5. Soares, N. & Santos, P. & Gervásio, H. & Costa, J.J. & Simões da Silva, L., 2017. "Energy efficiency and thermal performance of lightweight steel-framed (LSF) construction: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 194-209.
    6. Peterman, Andrew & Kourula, Arno & Levitt, Raymond, 2012. "A roadmap for navigating voluntary and mandated programs for building energy efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 415-426.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Jaroslav Vrchota & Martin Pech & Ladislav Rolínek & Jiří Bednář, 2020. "Sustainability Outcomes of Green Processes in Relation to Industry 4.0 in Manufacturing: Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-47, July.
    3. Ornella Iuorio & Antonio Gigante & Rosa Francesca De Masi, 2023. "Life Cycle Analysis of Innovative Technologies: Cold Formed Steel System and Cross Laminated Timber," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-22, January.
    4. Marta Pędzik & Joanna Bednarz & Zdzisław Kwidziński & Tomasz Rogoziński & Jerzy Smardzewski, 2020. "The Idea of Mass Customization in the Door Industry Using the Example of the Company Porta KMI Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-14, May.
    5. Sambo Lyson Zulu & Ali M. Saad, 2023. "A Sensemaking Perspective of Digitalisation in Construction Organisations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-18, January.
    6. Mohd Zairul & Zeinab Zaremohzzabieh, 2023. "Thematic Trends in Industry 4.0 Revolution Potential towards Sustainability in the Construction Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-21, May.

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