The Quebec government plans to address the housing crisis by focusing on factory-built buildings. All to speed up the construction process while Quebec is facing a shortage of almost a million housing units by 2030. Is this a possible solution?
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Bonneville Industries co-president Dany Bonneville confirms that building factory-built prefab homes is “definitely feasible,” even though they have been making them for more than 30 years.
“We have gained some experience over the years. Recently, in Beloeil, we built a 30-unit building in a week… On Monday morning there was a foundation and by Friday lunchtime there was a 30-unit building,” he says.
The factory construction time for these 40 modules is four weeks. Given the current housing crisis, prefabricated buildings could “effectively” be a solution for the future, notes Mr Bonneville.
A faster and more efficient solution
“If we manage to achieve a certain standardization of living models, we will save even more money and time,” he explains.
Bonneville Industries invests 70% of its construction volume in multifamily housing. However, the co-president could consider a factory focused solely on building prefabricated buildings, he suggests.
“We are an assembly line. It is difficult to increase the speed, but building the same module one after the other increases the speed. Currently a module is published every three hours. If there was some uniformity, it could be every two hours,” he points out.
Prejudices?
Although these prefabricated buildings are faster and cheaper, a prejudice has developed against this construction method.
“But it’s the opposite. Our modules are built under ideal conditions and controlled temperatures. There is a higher level of quality control than on construction sites,” he comments.
***See the full interview with Dany Bonneville above.***