An analysis on promoting prefabrication implementation in construction industry towards sustainability

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.