The Eco-Digital Fabrication (EDFAB) research project aimed to investigate how automated prefabrication technologies and off-the-shelf construction products can be employed to disrupt building industry norms. The aim of this research – conducted at the University of Auckland and Unitec Institute of Technology from 2014 onward – was to provide small-to-medium enterprises in the construction industry with a pathway to upskill and increase construction productivity through the use of these processes. The availability of automated machines and easy-to-use fabrication software is increasing dramatically and this can be paired with readily-available construction products to produce novel mass-customised housing solutions. The research project aimed to generate discussion and provide recommendations on how the construction industry might support the adoption of automated prefabrication technology in the small-to-medium enterprise.
This paper is a longer version of a Building Better Homes Towns and Cities National Science Challenge think-piece commissioned by BRANZ for publication in early 2018.
Yusef Patel (2017). File to Factory: A case study of automated prefabrication house-building methods for small-to-medium enterprises. Unitec ePress Occasional and Discussion Paper Series (2017:10).
https://doi.org/10.34074/ocds.0823
About this series:
Unitec ePress periodically publishes occasional and discussion papers that discuss current and ongoing research authored by members of staff and their research associates. All papers are blind reviewed. For more papers in this series please visit: https://www.unitec.ac.nz/epress/index.php/category/publications/epress-series/discussions-and-occasional-papers/