Builders across the country are rethinking how we construct homes to address the housing affordability and availability crisis that has left millions of average Americans struggling to purchase homes. Between 2017-22, national housing costs skyrocketed by 52%.
Years of market fluctuations have led to an unprecedented shortage of homes for sale as well as too few affordable rentals. Overall, the U.S. faces a deficit of 1.5 million homes, with the greatest supply shortages at low-income price points. Over the next 20 years, the Washington Department of Commerce estimates a need for 1.1 million new houses in the state. This disconnect is unsustainable and must be addressed now.
Off-site construction, also known as modular or prefabricated construction, offers a practical solution.
Off-site construction involves building components or entire houses in a controlled factory environment and then assembling them on-site. In communities like Seattle, where the permitting process for any project can be extensive, completing projects quickly once that process is finished is essential to addressing the housing gap. Off-site construction streamlines the building process and significantly reduces construction time, delivering projects 20% to 50% faster than traditional methods at a cost savings of up to 20%. This approach also offers a strong business case to builders, for whom time is money, by mitigating delays due to weather exposure, availability issues with on-site delivery and assembly on a piecemeal basis.
Numerous government and industry organizations have identified off-site construction as a key housing affordability strategy. President Joe Biden recently recognized this opportunity in the Housing Supply Action Plan while the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, backed by both parties in Congress, is supporting research to help expand its use.
Contrary to the popular notion that energy conservation and lower-cost housing represent a zero-sum game, off-site construction offers significant sustainability benefits alongside its affordability perks. As much as 30% of all building materials delivered to a traditional construction site end up as waste. Through lower wastage rates, off-site projects can further reduce costs and provide embodied carbon savings of up to 45%.
Despite the benefits that can be achieved through modular/off-site building projects, some major barriers are limiting uptake, including a patchwork of state and local regulatory requirements and a lack of understanding of the off-site construction process.
In Washington, off-site construction is regulated at the state level. Until recently, the state required construction documents for all off-site projects to be reviewed by state employees — a process that, due to staffing levels, delayed off-site construction by months. Washington now allows the use of approved third-party experts to conduct these reviews, cutting approval times significantly. However, the state does still require in-factory inspections to be conducted by state employees, which can contribute to delays where officials are not able to conduct timely inspections of out-of-state factories.
Fortunately, for Washington and beyond, there are some encouraging developments on the regulatory front. In June, the International Code Council and the Modular Building Institute announced a national initiative focused on the adoption of standards for off-site construction. Developed and supported by a broad cross-section of manufacturers, builders, design professionals, affordable housing advocates and building code officials, these standards capture best practices from across the country to streamline the deployment of modular projects.
You won’t often hear a builder use “encourage” and “regulation” in the same sentence. But given the consensus reached on the ICC/MBI standards and the need to address the off-site regulatory patchwork, it was my honor, as chair of the National Association of Home Builders Building Systems Council, to propose a resolution formally supporting the adoption of ICC/MBI Standards 1200 and 1205. With approvals now by six NAHB committees as well as the NAHB Leadership Council, the nation’s largest association of builders backs this critical effort.
Off-site construction offers a unique means to tackle the affordable housing crisis head-on. Policymakers and industry leaders must work together to remove regulatory barriers — including the patchwork application of inconsistent building standards — that are presently stifling its growth. Washington’s recent steps are to be commended, but additional opportunities exist to better align the state’s regulations with the ICC/MBI standards as well as the practices employed in neighboring states. Buoyed by greater national standardization, and through its streamlined processes and cost efficiency, off-site construction can play a meaningful role in helping to meet the demand for affordable housing while delivering crucial sustainability benefits for our communities.
The post To ease housing crisis, remove barriers to off-site construction appeared first on Latest American News.