Environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis of Prefabricated Public Housing in Beijing

Kaicheng Shen, Chen Cheng, Xiaodong Li and Zhihui Zhang
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Kaicheng Shen: Department of Construction Management, School of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Chen Cheng: China Merchants Life Insurance Co., Ltd., Shenzhen 518067, China
Xiaodong Li: Department of Construction Management, School of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Zhihui Zhang: Department of Construction Management, School of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-21

Abstract: In recent years, prefabricated housing has become increasingly popular and widely promoted due to its potential to improve the construction environment, quality and productivity. To develop prefabricated housing and address housing challenges, the Chinese government is encouraging prefabricated public housing. Consequently, evaluating the environmental performance of prefabricated public housing to identify whether it is environmentally friendly and worthy of investment is urgently needed. This paper compares the costs and benefits of prefabricated public projects and traditional projects based on a questionnaire and field investigation. The paper introduces information from the collected questionnaires on the respondents and projects in Beijing; this information includes the prefabrication rate, technology application, barriers, and industrial performance. The paper also reports a cost-benefit analysis of the changing rates of construction costs and environmental benefits (energy consumption, water usage, construction waste, steel and concrete usage, dust and noise pollution) by using the ∆ B /∆ C ratio to show the efficiency of prefabricated housing. The results indicate that the ratio is 1.81, which exceeds 1; therefore, investment in prefabricated public housing is environmentally acceptable and efficient. This paper also discusses the efficiencies in different categories and structures with and without incentives. The results show that the costs are higher and the environmental benefits are efficient but not significant; thus, promoting prefabricated public housing is necessary.

Keywords: public housing; prefabrication; questionnaire; cost-benefit analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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