An Analysis on Promoting Prefabrication Implementation in Construction Industry towards Sustainability

Zezhou Wu, Lirong Luo, Heng Li, Ying Wang, Guoqiang Bi and Maxwell Fordjour Antwi-Afari
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Zezhou Wu: Sino-Australia Joint Research Centre in BIM and Smart Construction, College of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518052, China
Lirong Luo: Sino-Australia Joint Research Centre in BIM and Smart Construction, College of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518052, China
Heng Li: Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
Ying Wang: Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
Guoqiang Bi: Jinan Haiying Real Estate Development Company, Jinan 250000, China
Maxwell Fordjour Antwi-Afari: Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 21, 1-21

Abstract: As a game-changing technology with significant environmental, economic, and social benefits, prefabricated technology has attracted attention and has been increasingly adopted in the construction industry. Although multitudinous studies have investigated various aspects of prefabrication in construction, a thorough review of its current development state that synthesized environmental, economic, and social sustainability dimensions remains overdue. Therefore, this study aims to fill this research gap by constructing a systematic framework, analyzing the research status quos, and providing recommendations for future research. This study first conducted a holistic review of 768 references with NVivo. A research foci framework that represented the body of knowledge in prefabrication in construction was developed with five levels, which were advantages, hindrances, stakeholders, promotion policies, and strategy spectrum. Following the framework, the in-depth analyses from the perspectives of environmental, economic, social sustainability, technologies development, and promotion strategies were performed. The current research domains were further linked with potential research directions for promoting prefabricated construction towards sustainability. The study is of value in both offering references for policy formulation and stakeholder practice and providing recommendations for future research.

Keywords: prefabrication; sustainability; promotion policy; construction management; NVivo (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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