Green Deal and modular construction - are modular buildings green?

Modular construction has many advantages - from shorter construction times compared to traditional methods, to mobility and scalability, to low site constraints. However, in the context of ongoing climate change and the measures being taken to address it, aspects such as energy efficiency and a significantly reduced environmental impact definitely come to the fore. What speaks for the huge benefits of modular construction and what relevance can it have to the European Green Deal?

Green Deal and modular construction - are modular buildings green?
The European Green Deal - main principles

The Green Deal is a strategy to transform the European Union into a climate-neutral area. In practice, this means putting in place measures to provide safe and clean energy for modern buildings, with significantly lower energy demand. The New Green Deal also involves the implementation of the increasingly popular closed-loop economy, a shift towards sustainable mobility as seen in urban transport, among other things, and the protection and restoration of biodiversity.

For Poland, this will first and foremost mean an opportunity to move towards a low-carbon and much more environmentally safe economy, which will reduce the consumption of the earth's non-renewable resources. An example of this is energy systems, which rely on the consumption of energy from each sector in a carefully planned manner. Cars would be driven by energy from solar panels found in every household, and the heat needed to heat buildings from a factory powered by offshore wind energy.
What is green building?

Green building, both in Poland and worldwide, is primarily energy-efficient construction. Ecological buildings are well insulated, airtight, use renewable energy sources and the materials used during construction are not harmful to the environment. The process of their creation begins at the design stage, which should include, among other things, the location of the plot and its position in relation to the world. This allows the building to be designed to provide adequate natural light for most of the day.
It is also important to ensure that there is adequate insulation to optimise costs and the amount of energy required to heat the building. The choice of appropriate equipment and technology is therefore crucial for green building, but can depend on many different local factors and should therefore be selected for the specific project. Examples of such installations, which use much less electricity for their operation and provide an optimum level of thermal comfort, include heating boilers using environmentally friendly solid fuels such as pellets, as well as heat pumps, solar collectors and even domestic power plants.

Green meadow - are modular buildings green?
Eco-friendly solutions for modular construction

The benefits and great advantages of modular construction are the repeatability of production processes and the possibility of working regardless of the prevailing weather conditions. This makes it possible not only to optimise construction processes, which significantly reduces their duration, but also the costs associated with construction. The production of modular elements always takes place under controlled conditions and under the supervision of qualified specialists, using environmentally friendly building materials. By choosing this technology, it is possible to optimise the entire process and, at the same time, eliminate possible errors, thus ensuring top-quality performance that is resistant to external factors.

Modular construction is ecological and energy-efficient, thus responding to the needs and tenets of the Green Deal. The buildings built are environmentally friendly and use far fewer energy resources than traditional buildings. Moreover, they also benefit from renewable energy sources such as photovoltaics and heat pumps.

One of the most important arguments for using modular technology is therefore the fact that it does not impose a heavy burden on the environment. Modular technology implies a skilful recycling economy, which in practice means that the building can be dismantled and recyclable components can be reused. The construction of most modules is based on a durable steel skeleton, which is manufactured from up to more than 90% recycled raw material, depending on the country of manufacture.
Modern building - what is green building about?

The ease of dismantling also makes it possible to use the building in another location, which is impossible with traditional buildings. The use of drywall systems and the reduction in the size of the foundation also make it possible to significantly reduce water consumption and the emission of dust or other pollutants into the atmosphere.

Modular construction is also an excellent way to reduce the carbon footprint. It essentially eliminates concrete from construction altogether and reduces the creation of waste that can threaten the environment, which is made possible by moving construction to a manufacturing facility where waste management is much more efficient.