However, realistically, it’s going to take a decade or more to really embed these approaches, and for parallel developments to share data and information that really demonstrates value.
In 2019, the UK’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) – as it was then called – published an MMC Definition Framework (see my earlier article,.What does DfMA stand for?).
This framework proposes Pre-Manufactured Value (PMV) as a metric for assessing the scale of MMC adoption on a project.PMV is calculated as the percentage of cost that is derived before any site works and strongly encourages maximising the proportion of off-site works.. As a result, many parts of the construction industry are focusing more and more on off-site prefabrication in pursuit of benefits including lower cost, reduced delivery timescales, higher quality, improved health and safety, less waste and more productive site labour..But is off-site always the best way to achieve these benefits?
Construction sites have been around since the dawn of civilisation.Do we really want to walk away from all that learning, and start moving as much of the construction process as possible into distant sheds?.
Is on-site construction really all that bad?.
Construction sites could be defined as locations where finished assets are built.Exploring The Forge: A Video Insight into Cutting-Edge Carbon Reduction.Bryden Wood’s unique, 10-step design approach to Passivhaus, and our adoption of Platform Design for Manufacture and Assembly (P-DfMA), facilitates the achievement of stringent Passivhaus performance targets, creating the perfect response to reduce construction cost and programme, whilst also responding to the labour skills shortage.
At the same time, our innovative approach facilitates a well-integrated design that addresses the complexities of Passivhaus via high-quality fabrication.. What is Passivhaus?.Passivhaus is a well-established, international building performance standard that delivers resilient, ultra-low energy consumption buildings, whilst maintaining the highest levels of occupant thermal comfort and air quality experience..
This is delivered through a keen focus on a fabric first approach that seeks to reduce space heating demand which can be met either through useful solar gains, internal gains or via modern, high efficiency and low carbon heating systems..The facade performance in a Passivhaus building goes well beyond current UK Building Regulations, though a combination of highly insulated walls, high-performing windows and by ensuring “thermal bridging” around windows, doors and junctions is reduced to as close to zero as possible.