I once wrote an article about the trends in the prefabricated building structure industry. The industry trend has receded, and where will prefabricated buildings go?. I would like to talk about the types and costs this time..

Prefabricated buildings actually refer not only to structural assembly, but also to exterior walls, interior walls, decoration, and equipment pipelines. Due to the fact that the main structure accounts for 50% of the evaluation table for prefabricated buildings, it naturally becomes the main focus..

The structural systems of prefabricated buildings include concrete structures, steel structures, timber structures, and composite structures..

How to choose the type of structure? This process involves many factors. The most critical factor may still be cost. “Low price” is always the majority choice, although it has been criticized..

So what is the current cost situation of prefabricated building structures both domestically and internationally? Why would there be completely different results? This article mainly discusses this topic, just my personal opinion. (This article has 1966 words).

At present, the proportion of prefabricated concrete structures in China is the highest. In my personal opinion, it has exceeded the high premium brought by the policy and it is becoming increasingly difficult to make money from this. The entire technology, although applied without hindrance, is not yet fully mature and is still being optimized and iterated. Now caught up with the sharp downturn in the industry, resulting in high costs and overcapacity, it is somewhat awkward..

The industry is developing rapidly, and the problems are not yet prominent. The voice of doubt is insufficient in a period when everyone is making money. Now it’s slowing down, and everyone has time to rethink their direction, so various different voices are constantly heard..

In the early stages of new products, there is often a high premium; But in a mature market, ultimately it all depends on price. Technological progress is often used to improve efficiency and reduce costs..

The following figure shows the statistical data of national building structure types in Japan in 2022. Sorted by proportion, they are wooden structures (41%), steel structures (36%), and reinforced concrete structures (20%)..

The real data on the proportion of prefabricated buildings is not as high as advertised in the market, and foreign residential buildings are mostly small-scale multi story buildings, not as many high-rise buildings as in China, so there is no overall comparability of data. If we want to catch up in percentage, it is a bit far fetched..

Looking at the few high-rise apartment buildings in foreign countries that adopt prefabricated construction, the standardization level is generally high, and there are few personalized ones like in China. The cost of non-standard prefabricated construction remains high, and sometimes it is difficult to think quickly..

Let’s take another look at the cost of each type of structure..

Yes, you read it correctly. Steel structures are cheaper than concrete structures! The current situation in our country is the opposite..

The above is the national average. Let’s take a look at the specific data of school buildings:.

Waved Anchor

Many school buildings are multi story buildings with high seismic performance requirements, with steel structures accounting for the highest proportion (45%). Among them, the cost of steel structures is 6% cheaper than that of concrete structures, and the difference in cost is not so significant. The proportion of reinforced concrete structures is basically equivalent, with 44%..

In China, without considering policy incentives and financial costs, the cost of steel structures is about 15% higher than that of reinforced concrete; If we consider policy incentives and shortened construction periods to save financial costs, the cost advantage of steel structures is crucial.