ENERGY EFFICENCY AND SUSTAINABILITY IN

PREFABRICATION

ABSTRACT

Climate changes are one of the main challenges that modern civilisation has to face. After the
first energy crisis in 1973 and raised concerns about the exhaustion of fossil fuels, most
building standards concentrated on energy efficiency , and not anymore only on health, safety
and occupant comfort. There is a clear association between climate changes and green house
gas emissions whose main sources are the use and production of energy. One of the most
important sectors to act upon is the building sector, for example in the European panorama, the
existing building stock is responsible for the consumption of 33 % of raw materials, 50%
electrical use, 16 % of final energy in houses and 10% in office buildings. The building sector
is an energy intensive sector, with great potential to reduce energy needs and environmental
pollution. Several measures are being taken to increase the energy efficiency and to avoid
energy consumption in this sector. Prefabricated building has proven to achieve high quality ,
reduce cost and improve housing environmental performance. Prefabrication is the practice of
assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting
complete assemblies or sub - assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be
located. The main objective of the submitted report is to discuss the energy efficiency of
prefabricated structures. The report also conveys the importance, design strategies of the
prefabricated building system. There is also an analysis on the environmental impacts of
prefabricated building structures. The report also consists the case studies in Portugal and USA.