The continuing effort toward the development of industrialized housing
and building systems was and is held back in North America by the relatively
low-cost manufacturing and construction of wood (stick) framing. The uninterrupted
production of small components combined with simple construction methods
prevailed over the highly symbolic and innovative potential of plastics,
reinforced concrete and modernity's emblematic material: steel. The
conventional balloon frame and the more recent platform frame integrated the
benefits of mass-production with the convenience of on-site building. The
wooden «two by» stud was to filigree
construction what the clay brick was to masonry construction: a prefabricated
modular building unit leveraged toward infinite options. It remains difficult
for systems with greater costs and less flexibility, however innovative, to
compete with stick framing.
The on-site accessibility, flexibility and adaptability of light wood
framing along with its low-cost overshadowed its shortcomings in terms of
quality control, waste and resource, both manpower and material consumption.
Uniting stick framing and factory production of sub-systems through
panelization of stressed skin wood framing has been experimented with and through
today's information technologies is developing into a formidable industrialized
building system offering the advantages of continuous production with the accessibility
of stick framing.
Factory automation allows wall panel composition, manipulation, manufacturing
and quality control to be completely digitally verified reducing waste and
enabling each panel to be designed and manufactured according to specific
project designs. This mass-customization model of production is being
reinforced by applications such as Autodesk’s Timber Framing, which make the design to construction process transparent.
Noteworthy companies such as One Build (http://www.onebuildinc.com) are
organizing their business models around panelization and are promoting flatpacked
panels to further reduce the transport inconveniences associated with modular
building. Although panels require more site intensive construction they also
make weather tight on-site stitching easier to control.
Panelized structures involve a margin of buildings produced today in
North America. As technologies reinforce the customization of
industrialized building components, the negative connotation of standardization
is being replaced by the value of flexibility. This value-added nature of the panel could be
further optimized to integrate other building systems (hvac, electrical) and a
more systematic approach offering homeowners greater knowledge over the life
cycle costs of their buildings.
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| Autodesk's Timber Frame App - screenshot |
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