Should Prefabrication Be Important To Us?

Those who will be attending AWCI’s Industry Executives’ Conference and Committee Meetings in Hawaii this September not only are offered an exotic, activity-filled venue, they have a broad selection of important discussion topics in which to participate. Among these is a Prefabrication Business Forum.

Prefabrication, or modular construction, is being debated more and more as developers, designers, and builders look to save time and money in New York City’s ever-expanding commercial market.

A number of articles, including a McKinsey study, outlining advantages and disadvantages on this subject have recently been published. Some companies have tried prefabrication and failed. Forest City Ratner, a major player, gave up its modular arm in 2016 allowing it to be acquired by FullStack Modular. FullStack is now in the process of building a new, fully affordable housing development in East New York in partnership with New York’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development; an alliance that will be watched carefully as the project progresses. Some proponents see this as a solution to the city’s affordable housing crisis.

Prefabrication has been around for a long time but only recently the advent of new technologies and new construction modeling is making the potential of cost and time saving a positive reality.

Although not affecting us here in large scale, the lack of skilled workers across the country makes this a topic that bears watching. Most likely, there will be a number of companies represented at AWCI’s Prefabrication Business Forum generating many thoughts and ideas.

Even if you can’t make it to AWCI’s event, modularization is an important and interesting subject for us to discuss right here in New York City where the union, nonunion question is impacted by this topic. I highly recommend you join this discussion if you go to Hawaii.

By the way, for those who are going to Hawaii, don’t forget your association (WC&C) is a proud sponsor of the AWCI Foundation Golf Tournament.

I hope you can make it.