Effects of Lean Construction on Sustainability of Modular Homebuilding
Publication: Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 18, Issue 2
Abstract
Construction activities and the built environment have an enormous effect on the environment, human health, and the overall economy. Sustainable homebuilding in all three dimensions of economic, environmental, and social effects is attainable through practical innovations and technologies. However, the greatest barrier to the widespread application of sustainable homebuilding is the higher initial costs largely attributable to the learning curve of workers building with these practical innovations and technologies, and the added cost resulting from ill-defined construction processes. To address these challenges and reach the ideal of sustainable construction, this paper proposes the use of lean construction as a viable and effective strategy, in particular the lean tool kaizen. This paper uses several case studies to showcase the effect of lean on the triple bottom line of sustainability in modular homebuilding. Each case study highlights one dimension of sustainability. Lean construction resulted in a significant environmental effect by reducing material waste by 64%, a significant social effect by reducing or eliminating key safety hazards of excessive force, poor posture, and struck-by, and a significant economic effect by reducing production hours by 31%. Findings from this research will contribute to a better understanding of the effect of lean on homebuilding sustainability and will promote lean and safe building techniques in modular homebuilding.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 18 • Issue 2 • June 2012
Pages: 155 - 163
Copyright
© 2012. American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 30, 2010
Accepted: Jul 19, 2011
Published online: Jul 21, 2011
Published in print: Jun 1, 2012
Published ahead of production: Jun 15, 2012
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