Current Problems : Rising cost of property prices has put
owning a dream home beyond the means of young fellow Malaysians. On top of
that, the generally homogenous design of houses means that homebuyers will have
to spend more to renovate their houses to suit individual taste and preference.
Also, long delivery period often caused anguish and heartache to homebuyers
especially if the project is abandoned halfway through completion. High
financing cost and the sell-then-build concept do not favour homebuyers but
instead put them in a precarious situation which many are in despair in finding
solutions to their problems.
Current method of
building houses are quite labour intensive and with building materials having
to be transported to building sites, it is definitely a very inefficient way of
building which encourages wastage and pilferage. As quality control inspections
are usually carried out at building sites, with such extensive area to monitor,
most of the time the quality for the final product leaves much to be desired
and leakages, cracks and bad workmanship are the usual complaints of the day.
Most homes built the
traditional method do not incorporate sustainable living features in them.
There is no consideration for using renewable resources to maximize the use of
energy efficiently. Even the basic
design of the house does not encourage good air circulation, resulting in homebuyers
having to install air condition in practically every room in the house. Owners
of double story houses will relate how incredibly hot it is to stay in the
second floor during a hot day in Malaysia.
Suggested Solution :
We need revolutionary measures to arrest the many problems currently faced in
the home building industry. What we need is an eco-friendly GREEN
MODULAR HOME which is prebuilt in sections/components in various factories,
built with precision planning and participative decision makings by homeowners
themselves and then once completed, the various sections/components are then
brought and assembled on site with added eco-friendly features.
GREEN MODULAR HOME
will serve to answer the many problems which have been raised above.
1)
Customisation : It is natural for homebuyers to include
their own individual taste and preference in the first home they are buying.
They will usually wait till the completion of their house before embarking on
any renovation which will further added cost to the purchase. Usually the
anguish of having to meet contractors after contractors will render such house
buying process a dread to many. With the advancement of technology, however,
homebuyers can determine the various components they want to be added to the
modular structure of their house by mere looking at catalogues. There is even
the possibility of using computer simulated 3D programme to mix and match the
design they preferred before building the actual modular house just like how
they make purchases of their kitchen cabinets and modern wardrobes.
2)
Wastage Reduced :
a. As components/sections of modular homes are
built in factories, using technologies and machines, precise measurements can
be made thus reduce wastage from cuttings and trimmings which normally would
have occurred by using assortment of handheld tools. Also, as these factories
are making similar components many times over, they are experienced to make
sure all smaller parts of the cuttings are used efficiently.
b. Building materials are usually delivered to
the building sites and are then left there while construction is in progress.
Materials are subjected to theft and wear and loss due to weather. But with
modular home, the material used to built components of the modular sections are
kept out of rain and shine as they are built in factories. Thus, spoilage is
significantly reduced. As components are built without having to rely on
weather pattern, this ensures more timely delivery and it enables more
efficient planning.
3)
Faster delivery time: As all components/sections of the modular
home can be built simultaneously at various locations (factories), assembling
the various components/sections at the building site will not take long and
this will greatly reduce delivery time. Also, as they are built indoors,
without being subject to weather and daylight, flexible working shifts can be
arranged to further speed up the production process.
4)
Quality Control : As various factories producing the
components/sections are subjected to ISO rules and conditions, stricter quality
control of building material and design specification can be met thus producing
a higher quality and reliable home as compared to current situation where the
quality of workmanship and furnishing sometimes leave much to be desired.
5) Reduce
dependency on foreign manual labours : Current home building methods are quite labour intensive
resulting in heavy reliance on foreign workers to sustain the pace of
development in the building industry. With the concept of building modular home
where components/sections of the home are built using modern technology, we can
thus reduce our dependency on foreign labours and concentrate on training and
creating a pool of technically skilled and technologically advanced work force.
A more significant
aspect of modular home is the incorporation of green eco-friendly concept to
its features.
1)
Efficiency – Due to less wastage in terms of
maximizing the materials used in construction of modular homes (through use of
technology and experience), this has greatly reduced the amount of construction
waste material where more often than not, they end up filling large dumpsters
and landfills. Sometimes, harmful waste like paints, rusted frames etc ended up
seeping into the ground and even to the rivers, causing environmental
pollution.
2)
Enviromentally friendly construction
process – Currently
building methods causing significant disturbances to the soil in the building
sites and the surrounding areas especially during rainy seasons. Modular home
construction, with it occurring indoors in factories, assembling the home takes
much lesser time outdoors, less site disturbances and thus lesser impact to its
surrounding areas during the period of construction.
3)
Use of renewable energy and efficient use of
energy – Eco-friendly
being the theme of the new millennium, enabling customization of homes means
home owners can chose environmental friendly design such as :
a) Slanted roof for better rain water
collection to be used in the toilets and garden and thus using treated water
only for human consumption.
b) Use of solar energy to provide electricity
for the house thus reducing the dependence on using electricity from the
service provider. Solar energy is renewable and thus has lesser impact to the
environment compared to the conventional energy.
c) Grass planting on the roof to act as an
insulator to keep the heat off the roof.
d) Specifically designed roof to ensure
circulation of air between the roof and the ceiling
e) Conjugated roof panel for the soil to
ensure smoother flow of rain water without causing significant soil movement on
the roof.
f) Customised doors and windows panel designed
to enhance better air movement and ventilation thus reducing the need for air
conditioner in the home.
g) Specifically designed sliding panel for the
doors where the doors will slide into the specially designed walls to maximize
space.
h) Use of recycling concept by providing
recycling bins and compost heap in every modular home to encourage the use of
recycling, reduce and reuse concept.
i) Use of LED lights in modular homes to
reduce usage of electricity and LED lights being non heat producing, thus will
help to reduce global warming.
j) Indoor wall panel for the home are foldable
and thus enable valuable space to be added to the home as and when needed.
k) Ecological green landscaping concept can be
used eg planting of trees around the house (back and front included) will help
to cool the air surrounding the house and this will help to improve cool air
circulation in the house especially during breezy days.
l) With the concept of maximising space, the
garden in the home can be used to plant vegetable organically and can even rear
chickens for eggs and meat using moveable coop where the coop can be moved
around the garden, using the droppings of the chickens as fertilizer for the
soil.
In Summary : It is undeniable that modular home is the
modern futuristic way of building homes for Malaysians. It is definitely much
faster, more efficient, more affordable and hopefully in time to come with more
publicity, more marketable to the younger generations of future Malaysians.
