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They are:




1. Prefab is more Affordable
2. Prefab produces less Waste
3. Prefab takes less Time
4. Prefab is more "Green"




OK, let's look at each of these "myths of prefab" one by one.

the key
factors that actually make prefab more expensive than site built:




• Manufacturing Facility Overhead - Prefab manufacturers
  work in buildings with support staff above and beyond those actually building the houses. They also have facility costs such as equipment, utilities and maintenance ... Site built homes, built by most residential builders, don't have
  any of these.
• Manufacturing Company Profit - These manufacturers are making at least as much profit as the average general contractor and often more.  The majority of cost savings resulting from the prefab manufacturing process stays in the pockets of the manufacturer.
• Delivery, Setting, and Crane Fees - These can easily run $10K
  per house (cranes aren't cheap) and can be significantly more if the
  distance from manufacturer to site is large.  Most manufacturers also dictate who
  the labor crew will be, and often they won't be the best value available.
• Architect or Reseller Fees - In some cases the fees charged by the architect providing the prefab can run as high as $30,000 or more.  Even in cases where no additional site customization or design work is needed, a substantial fee will still be added by the architect or reseller. 

The new one that we've been hearing more of lately is that the
insulation is installed to better standards than site-built homes
because of the superior labor and inspections put in place by the
factories.

This seems like a weak claim for a number of reasons.  Most prefab
companies are still using loose, batt insulation that is often falling
out of the framing by the time the modules reach the site.

• Quality, stock plans from qualified architects that meet local
  codes and can quickly receive zoning and building permit approvals.
• Educated clients that understand they are not buying a fully custom home.
• Prefab building envelope - SIPs, ICF's & Precast Walls.
• Internal prefab components made in local shops -- interior framing,
  framing with electrical & plumbing, prefab kitchen/bath/utility
  pods.
• Better scheduling and local subcontractor cooperation

• A fully developed stock plan with no uncertainty for the GC
• A qualified GC or Project Manager that can make and keep a good budget and schedule
• A qualified GC or Project Manager that can reduce delays with local code officials and utility companies to a minimum
• A team of quality subs with 1-2 backup subs in each field

• Faster - A hybrid approach could easily reduce the total build
  time of a home from start to finish to eight weeks or less if properly
  executed.
• Less Waste - The use of SIPs to eliminate most
  framing waste, less transportation, no crane requirement and the use of
  a construction waste recycling company will result in less overall
  waste than than prefab or traditional stick built houses.
• LOCAL
  Labor - This is a big difference from prefab which uses remote labor to
  perform over 50% of the work.  There are SIPs manufacturers all over the
  country that make the same products and can enable 100% of the
  construction of a hybrid home to use local labor and contribute to the
  local economy.  In my book, this is a big advantage over prefab.
• More
  Energy Efficient - Better insulation, a tighter envelope and fewer
  thermal bridges from excessive framing equals a much more energy
  efficient home than any prefab on the market.
• Unlimited
  Designs from Unlimited Firms - Architects no longer need to develop a
  costly and time consuming relationship with prefab manufacturers or
  worry about marketing and selling their designs with the hybrid
  approach.  Many different plans from many different architects can be
  used in the hybrid system anywhere in the country.
• Cheaper, much Cheaper - Somehow I almost forgot this key point.  Bringing high quality residential architecture to "the masses" will be done by some type of hybrid building system like the one proposed here long before prefab will due to the significant savings in cost that will actually be passed on to the home buyer.

t is also unique in its formulation of the design of the home. The architects created the BURST homes with the use of computer modeling. A house is computer-drafted based on a set of formulas, client specific needs, and site conditions. The computer program spits out a house design and explodes it into individual pieces.

Then, these 1,000+, non-identical, pieces are laser cut from SIPs or plywood, in such a way to minimize wasted material, and then flat-packed and shipped to the site. Upon arrival, pieces are unloaded, and like an accordion, stretched apart to form the skeleton of the house. The exterior of the house and interior pieces are built in accordingly.

If prefab did catch on, what would the economic implications be?

Arieff: The way houses are built today is tremendously inefficient; building waste accounts for at least half of our nation’s landfills. Prefab can reduce waste, shorten construction times, and also reduce the amount of time you’d have to carry a construction loan.