The need for housing has increased significantly during the last decades all over the world. It is felt particularly in countries where the population growth rate is high and the economy is developing fast; but everywhere people are shifting from the countryside to towns, where housing in neighbourhoods often becomes critical. The need for affordable housing may concern high-rate urbanization, rural areas to be upgraded, workers’ settlements in remote regions, rebuilding dwellings destroyed by disasters such as earthquakes, floods or wars, and even holiday resorts and leisure dwellings. Large projects always face cost- and time-constraints. Local conditions may be variable with respect to the physical, social and economic environment. Thus, minimising cost and time of construction, while maximising quantity and quality of product, may lead to different solutions. The concept of “affordable”, meaning compatibility of demand and means, is well understood as such everywhere, although its practical application may be much different from place to place. Concrete is a material that lends itself well to affordable housing: it is durable, has good thermal inertia, can be used both as structural and finishing material, and is not sensitive to organic attack. It also has some disadvantages, such as higher cost in developing countries compared to developed countries, and also a potential lack of materials, mainly cement or admixtures. Prefabrication, with its adaptability and quality consciousness, may offer valid, speedy, cost efficient and sustainable solutions. fib Bulletin 60 offers an overview of housing systems as well as information on their features. It shows the main features of a number of construction systems, without entering into the details of the solutions. It aims to make possible a comprehensive comparison, which should help in learning, exchanging and developing ideas on how to better meet the housing needs everywhere, at sustainable cost. A document of this kind was not available before; it is therefore expected to be of great interest and a source of ideas for all those who have to confront similar problems.

As the need for affordable, eco-friendly housing continues to rise, so does the bar for attractive, easy-to-construct designs from today's architects. In A House in a Week: Prefab Houses we've gathered the most innovative and thoughtfully planned homes, prefabricated to perfection. From a desert oasis in Nevada to a tucked away tree house in Cabo da Roca, these international styles artfully combine elegance with convenience.

Compilation of reprinted illustrated articles on the historical development of prefabricated housing and architecture in the USA - covers trends in the use of different materials and relevant equipment in the construction industry.

Sustainable Affordable Prefab combines architectural theory and practice in a beautifully illustrated account of ecoMOD, the innovative design/build program pioneered by John Quale. Unlike most manifestos of green design, Quale's book describes a collaborative process that has produced, to date, four elegantly designed, built examples of sustainable affordable housing. Implementing the principles that produced an award-winning Solar Decathlon project in 2002, Quale and his students at the University of Virginia, working with colleagues in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and with affordable housing providers, have created four designs for environmentally sensitive affordable dwellings. The houses, built with modular units and/or panelized building components, include a two-unit condominium, a post-Katrina home on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a historic renovation with an accessible addition, and a townhouse configuration that can be replicated and mass-produced for Habitat for Humanity. Each house pays attention to its site and incorporates sustainable materials and systems such as solar hot water and rainwater retention, and strives for zero energy load. The success of Quale's ecoMOD project offers multiple lessons for practicing architects interested in affordable, sustainable design and/or prefabrication, for architectural educators looking for new ways to engage students, and for anyone looking to build a sustainable home.

Today, Millennials are the largest and most diverse generation in America. As a result,this generation -- totaling approximately 80 million young people -- is poised to have a significant impact on housing preferences and how cities are developed. Because housing is a key component of the United States economy, housing that is decent and reasonably priced is a contributing factor in creating sustainable communities. Furthermore, in an economy of slow wage growth and increased student loan debts, reducing the attainment of traditional goals associated with the "American Dream" will have significant implications on the future of the U.S. housing market. Yet, developers have neglected to increase the efficiency and rate of affordable housing production due to a lack of investment in productivity, innovation and technology. In addition, an increased awareness of the social and environmental issues that this generation faces have led many to believe that opportunities to make an environmental impact through choices, like homebuying is necessary. As Millennials begin to enter the housing market, preferences for energy efficiency, green building and smart home technology will influence the types of homes that are built. These shifts will create new challenges for the built environment -- and in a context of evolving cultural preferences and market forces -- it will become necessary to design homes that respond to these changes in order to benefit future generations. The question is, how can a type of construction, specifically prefabricated or modular building provide affordable housing opportunities for Millennials and contribute to sustainable development? This paper will explore prefabricated/modular construction's role in creating affordable housing for a new generation.

"Prefab Architecture . . . is beyond theory, and beyond most of what we think we know about pods, containers, mods, and joints. This book is more than 'Prefabrication 101.' It is the Joy of Cooking writ large for the architecture and construction industries." From the Foreword by James Timberlake, FAIA THE DEFINITIVE REFERENCE ON PREFAB ARCHITECTURE FOR ARCHITECTS AND CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS Written for architects and related design and construction professionals, Prefab Architecture is a guide to off-site construction, presenting the opportunities and challenges associated with designing and building with components, panels, and modules. It presents the drawbacks of building in situ (on-site) and demonstrates why prefabrication is the smarter choice for better integration of products and processes, more efficient delivery, and realizing more value in project life cycles. In addition, Prefab Architecture provides: A selected history of prefabrication from the Industrial Revolution to current computer numerical control, and a theory of production from integrated processes to lean manufacturing Coverage on the tradeoffs of off-site fabrication including scope, schedule, and cost with the associated principles of labor, risk, and quality Up-to-date products featuring examples of prefabricated structure, enclosure, service, and nterior building systems Documentation on the constraints and execution of manufacturing, factory production, transportation, and assembly Dozens of recent examples of prefab projects by contemporary architects and fabricators including KieranTimberlake, SHoP Architects, Office dA, Michelle Kaufmann, and many others In Prefab Architecture, the fresh approaches toward creating buildings that accurately convey ature and expanded green building methodologies make this book an important voice for adopting change in a construction industry entrenched in traditions of the past.

"Prefabricated housing has long since ceased to mean the disfigurement of the urban landscape with monotonous grey boxes. Particularly in Central Europe and Russia, modern assembly methods and 100 years of experience in planning prefabricated buildings and constructing with large panels are experiencing a renaissance. Whereas predominantly in Moscow - the largest European metropolis with seventeen million - prefabricated housing is an essential instrument for the provision of residential assistance, prefabrication methods in Germany and Switzerland, for example, are used to build exclusive properties. This construction manual examines the potential of prefabricated housing on structural, historical and architectural grounds. In addition to an insight into the methods of production and assembly, roughly twenty selected examples are presented in large-format photographs, plans rich in detail and meaningful diagrams, providing a contribution to the discussion on affordable housing"--Back cover.