Automated modular house construction by KUKA - Houses built in an automated way using the modular construction method

Are you already living or are you still building?

Housing is scarce and expensive. And that's the case all over the world. We need solutions that quickly enable affordable and sustainable housing: Like automated modular home construction.

Carolin Hort

March 7, 2023

Society

Reading Time: 2 min.

Imagine a car being produced entirely by hand: every screw, every weld. How long would you have to wait for your new car? And how expensive would it be?

The automotive industry has been automating for many decades. According to Statista, 55.8 million passenger cars could be produced worldwide in 2020 alone. In an almost endless variety of models and variants. Without automation, this would probably be impossible.

KUKA-enables-different-automation-solutions,-such-as-the-welding-of-car-bodies — The automotive industry requires very high flexibility from producers. Smart production facilities enable enormous production numbers in a wide variety of shapes and variants.

Automated modular house construction transfers know-how from the automotive industry to the brewing industry. And thus produces faster, cheaper, more innovative and more sustainable.

Why is automation so relevant to the construction industry?

Housing is scarce and expensive

Demand for housing is rising worldwide. UN-Habitat estimates that additional housing for three billion people will be needed by 2030 alone. To create this housing, 96,000 units would already have to be built every day.

At the same time, however, not more but less is being built. The reasons for this, apart from the shortage of skilled workers, are particularly supply bottlenecks and high energy costs. In addition, there is often simply not enough space for new buildings, especially in conurbations.

Parts of the construction site are relocated to the production halls. This allows the total construction time to be reduced by around 40%, depending on the project.

And then there is the productivity factor: The construction industry has some catching up to do compared to other industries. Many process steps are not yet digitized and automated.

As a result, housing prices are rising worldwide, and according to the International Monetary Fund, in most countries they are rising faster than incomes. Already in 2017, 90% of the 200 cities examined in a Lincoln Institute study were "unaffordable," with average housing costs three times the average wage. The trend continues; according to the OECD, one-third of the world's population is overburdened by their housing costs.

The pressure to build more cheaply and, above all, more quickly is therefore immense.

The higher the level of automation, the more precise and efficient the results. This also makes construction more sustainable.

Automated modular home construction creates affordable housing

The automation potential in the construction industry is therefore huge - and offers enormous opportunities for society. To exploit it, parts of the construction site are being moved to the factory. Houses are built in an industrial production environment - which can reduce the overall construction time by around 40%, depending on the project. So that saves time. And money. Also through more efficient use of resources - which makes new construction more sustainable. Because the higher the level of automation, the more precise and efficient the results.

Housing becomes available more quickly, more affordable, and more sustainable.