The Steel Construction Institute, or SCI, has set out the sustainability benefits of light steel framing for offsite and modular construction through its Technical Information Sheet ED020, which can be downloaded or accessed in full here: https://steel-sci.com/assets/downloads/LSF/ED020%20Download.pdf.
Key Sustainability Benefits
1. High levels of thermal insulation and air-tightness are achieved in light steel framing, and modular construction.
2. The light weight of these construction systems means that foundation loads and sizes are reduced by over 70 percent relative to concrete and block-work construction.
3. Productivity and speed of construction is increased by over 30 percent which reduces site impacts.
4. Transport is greatly reduced; a single delivery of light steel frames is typically sufficient for 3 houses.
5. Site safety is improved by a factor or 5 according to HSE statistics due to the off-site construction process.
6. Site waste is virtually eliminated by the use of prefabricated light steel and modular components compared to the industry average wastage of 10 percent in construction materials.
7. Use of components rolled to length results in no production waste.
8. Embodied carbon in the building fabric is reduced by up to 20 percent when using light steel framing and modular construction. Read more about this here: https://www.horizonoffsite.ie/offsite-construction-low-carbon-development-through-light-gauge-steel-buildings/
9. Renewable energy technologies can be attached to and built-in the light steel and modular components.
10. Light steel structures can be modified and extended easily. Modular units can be dis-assembled and re-used.
11. Light steel and modular construction are widely used in building extensions and in renovation, due to their light weight and speed of installation.
The team at Horizon Offsite has also explored how offsite construction contributes to the achievement of new zero and you can read more about this at the following link:
About Horizon Offsite
Horizon Offsite Ltd is one of Europe’s leading players in Offsite Construction and Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), providing a fully accredited structural light gauge steel system to the residential, industrial, commercial, healthcare and educational sectors. Contact the Horizon Offsite team at https://www.horizonoffsite.ie