Industrialized offsite construction, also known as prefabricated or modular construction, is a construction method where building materials and components are manufactured and assembled offsite in factories before being transported to the project site for the final assembly. This approach can improve efficiency, reduce cost, and enhance quality compared to the traditional onsite construction. Industrialized offsite construction results from the reality of labour shortages, as well as the desire to automate manufacturing processes and shorten delivery schedules.
As the construction industry evolves and processes are becoming automated, FPInnovations has been working on industrialized offsite construction for the last decade to ensure that the Canadian wood industry maintains its competitiveness. Guided by a comprehensive roadmap developed by FPInnovations and its partners in 2019 to identify the knowledge gaps, FPInnovations accelerated in the past five years to address the impacts of manufacturing and construction changes across the value chain.
Inside the guide
This in-depth guide on offsite wood construction includes chapters on the following topics:
- Design process associated with offsite construction
- Offsite manufacturing process
- Lumber and engineered wood product portfolio available in Canada for offsite construction
- Performance of buildings manufactured offsite
- Essential activities outside of manufacturing plants for offsite construction
- Environmental impacts of offsite construction
