Research:
3D-printed homes and robotically fabricated homes suffer challenges in Canada related to user needs, economies of scale and supply chain limitations. In comparison, prefabrication (prefab) offers more promises in providing affordable new homes to meet various community needs. An effective solution to building new affordable prefab homes is the “kit-of-parts” platform system (KOPPS) approach. Unlike mass standardization of construction components that may fail on complex installation interfaces of building structural systems, the proposed KOPPS considers a housing project as a product platform that configures and ease the installation of kit-of-parts components based on building codes, installation rules and restraints, therefore substantially reducing rework and construction costs. It can be applied to constructing both non-market housing (supportive/social housing) and regular market housing (market rental homes) to satisfy different housing needs. Focused on Interior BC during Stage 2, the proposed KOPPS is led by UBC, in partnership with community partners (e.g., City of Kelowna) and industrial partners (e.g., BuildSmartr) – with an overarching goal to minimize technical and management barriers to housing supply and scale up KOPPS benefits across Canada during Stage 3.