Low Energy House - Off Site Building - Timber Framed House
Off site building is a term used to describe the building method where buildings, structures or parts thereof are manufactured and assembled remotely from the building site. The building structure is manufactured under factory conditions and delivered to the building plot where it is ultimately installed in position
Off Site Building
The term off site building is used to distinguish the prefabrication process from the more conventional practice of transporting the basic materials to the site, where all assembly is carried out. In prefabricated construction only the foundations are constructed in this way, while sections of walls, floors, roof, windows and doors are assembled in a factory. They are then transported to the site, lifted into place by crane and bolted together.
Off Site Building - Two Dimensional Panels
Flat panel units are produced in a factory and assembled on site to produce the finished structure. The most common approach is to use open panels, or frames, with services, insulation, external cladding and internal finishing occurring on site.
More complex panels, typically referred to as closed panels, involve more factory based fabrication and may include lining materials and insulation. These may also include services, windows, doors, internal wall finishes and external claddings.
Off Site Building - Three Dimensional Modules
Self-contained, three dimensional elements of buildings, typically room sized, have their own superstructure and are manufactured off site. They are attached to, or placed inside, the main building structure and are typically used to accommodate highly serviced facilities such as kitchens and bathrooms, with the remainder of the building constructed using panels. This hybrid approach is sometimes used to provide added flexibility on complex sites.
Off Site Building - Prefabricated Buildings
Prefabricated building is a general term for the manufacture of entire buildings or parts of buildings off site prior to their assembly on-site. Prefabricated buildings include both portable buildings and various types of permanent building systems. Off site building is now a more commonly used term for permanent buildings procured in this manner.
Off Site Building Envelope
The external walls and roof that form the perimeter or enclosure of a building. Walling may include lightweight curtain walling, in aluminium, steel or glass, or heavyweight components in concrete, brick or stone. Roofing includes flat or pitched roofs. The extent of offsite manufacture will vary between systems e.g. for curtain walls:
Off Site Building - Flexible Design Solutions
Off site building can provide flexible design solutions, rather than the rigid boxes that are often portrayed. It is expected that waste will be reduced (materials, labour, design, time etc). In order to achieve these results, it is necessary to work with standard components wherever possible to maximise the manufacturing efficiencies (i.e. the use of standard size sheet materials to dictate room heights rather than brick coursing).
Computer Aided Design in Off Site Building
Standard panels are manufactured on a production line and the more complex elements, like window openings, are often completed as sub-assemblies. The use of standard layouts and panels can achieve economies of scale but this can also conflict with demand, particularly in housing. Advances in Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacture (CAM) can achieve economies by extending the number of standard units available. Importantly, they can also achieve economies through the automated fabrication of bespoke panels. The use of standard components and pre-cut materials also allows the rationalisation of the supply chain and helps increase quality.
Super Insulation in Off Site Building
Off site building is renowned for its energy efficiency, due to the fact that high levels of insulation are an integral part of every system. U-values in even the most basic off-site building system will easily meet current building regulation requirements. With off site building, future changes to building regulations can be readily accommodated. If more energy efficiency is required it is usually a case of increasing the thickness or the type of insulation product installed.
Off Site Building - Airtight Building
It is of no benefit to have high levels of insulation, if the heat being retained is lost through unwanted air leakage. The control of air infiltration is an essential design element for off site buildings as this will improve their thermal performance and running costs. Airtightness is controlled by tightly fitting structural panels with overlapped plasterboard linings which are assisted by the vapour barrier that lie behind all wall linings.
More information on Off Site Building
To obtain more information on Off Site Building page link to www.BuildOffSite.com
Prefabrication is the practice of assembling the components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located
