DIGITAL TOOLS
A KIT OF PARTS APPROACH As Chris Mortensen, Co-Founder of Modulous, points out, we need a data-first product-led approach to deliver sustainable homes at scale and pace. To tackle the housing shortage whilst avoiding adding to the retrofit bill, we need to ensure that most – and preferably all - of the 300,000 homes the government is targeting to be delivered per year are designed and delivered to meet the UK’s Carbon Budget and the UK’s commitment to be net zero by 2050. This obviously means they should be energy efficient and low carbon, but it’s also important to take a holistic view and deliver healthy homes that maximise occupier wellbeing through comfort, security, and lack of harmful construction materials. Maximising efficiencies and shortening build times is essential as the construction industry continues to deal with increased materials prices, labour shortages and supply chain delays at the same time as being placed under pressure to deliver more homes. With the Farmer report predicting around 62,000 construction workers will retire each year between 2016 and 2026, the time is now to adopt innovative methods and become product-led.
1 The UK has the oldest housing stock in Europe. Over 52% of homes in England were built before 1965, whilst nearly 20% were built before 1919. A lack of fabric efficiency and insulation has led to 60% of the UK’s housing stock - some 13.3 million homes – being EPC rated D or below. With the increased need for sustainable homes to achieve the government’s net-zero ambitions, there will be increased calls for a massive retrofit programme which could cost up to £525billion.
44
Yet it’s not just the retrofitting of old homes that should be high on the government’s agenda. More homes are clearly needed to meet the ever-growing demand from the UK population. Supply and demand mismatches have led to the average house price rising by £27,000 in the year to February 2022, with the average house price now standing at £277,000.
WWW.VOLUMETRICMAGAZINE.CO.UK | JUN/JUL 2022
The treating of a house as a product – albeit the most expensive product you’ll buy in your life – can help to deliver better homes thanks to the tighter quality control that is possible in a factory setting. Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) continues to build momentum as developers, councils and government recognise the pivotal role it can play in delivering homes faster than traditional methods of construction. This has resulted in Homes England informing its strategic partners that they must commit to increasing their use of MMC if they wish to obtain funding for development sites. But there is room for MMC to become even more efficient. At Modulous, we’ve combined the digital with the physical to enable the design
