As an effective strategy for improving the productivity of the construction industry, prefabricated construction has attracted concerns worldwide. This study investigated the life-cycle energy use of prefabricated components and the corresponding effect on the total embodied energy use for a number of real building projects. Result showed that the life-cycle energy use of prefabricated components ranged from 7.33 GJ/m3 for precast staircase to 13.34 GJ/m3 for precast form. The recycling process could achieve 16%-24% energy reduction. This study also found that apart from reusability, energy savings are also obtained from waste reduction and high quality control, saving 4%-14% of the total life-cycle energy consumption. All these advantages can be regarded as important environment friendly strategies provided by precast construction. The linear regression analysis indicated that the average increment in energy use was nearly linearly correlated with prefabrication rate. Precast facade and form are identified as energy-intensive components compared with the conventional construction method. Therefore, the challenge lies in improving the integrality and quality of the prefabrication technique while reducing its dependence on energy-intensive materials. Besides, attention should be focused on improving the maturity of the precast market to avoid additional energy consumption during prophase investigation.Department of Building and Real Estat

The globally-interconnected construction market forces contractors to embrace innovations for surviving and thriving among competitors. Business model innovation (BMI) plays a decisive role in a company’s success because it quickly converts emerging technology into commercial values and produces four times more revenue growth than product and/or service innovations. Chinese construction companies encounter the BMI challenge when facing the technological shift of modular prefabrication from conventional construction methods; however, little literature provides quantifiable information for them to better understand BMI. Therefore, this study aims to identify the relationships between BMI and its drivers for the Chinese construction industry in the context of such a technological shift. The researchers conducted an industry-wide survey and analyzed the data using the structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings confirm four significant relationships: (1) favorable business environment has a positive ...