The United States is currently struggling with an affordable housing crisis where millions of people can’t find homes to live in because they cannot afford the rent. The burden falls onto the construction industry to find ways to cut costs and create housing options that people can actually afford.
Click on the image above to learn more about the Prospect Plaza project.
The Affordable Housing Crisis
The two main things that affect cost during construction is the cost of labor and materials. Traditional building materials and methods create more cost for owners which end up being passed on to the renters making affordable housing options not so affordable.
To avoid this, contractors and designers can create affordable housing using cost-efficient construction which consists of several areas. You need the right planning which helps avoid errors in advance, saving time and money, and trying to find the balance between low cost materials that feature long-term solutions.
Precast helps reduce schedule times by arriving fully ready to be erected. Modular components, which can be a combination of precast components, electrical elements, and insulation, also save valuable time as they combine various parts of the structure into one completed component before it is ever shipped to the job site. Components are produced off site which reduces the expense of shipping and storing equipment and materials on job sites and ensures the quality of the materials as they reach the site. Once on site, they require less personnel to erect than traditional methods.
How Can Precast Help Solve the Affordable Housing Crisis?
Precast offers benefits to every member of the design process as well as eventual occupants of affordable housing structures including: