- Luzmelia Torres
Industrialized construction is in fashion and there is not a single industry forum where it is not present. This September, the Rebuild 2021 congress takes place, the central axis of which is industrialized construction. A new way of building that has been present in Spain for several years through companies such as ExSitu, which has managed to develop and implement an industrialized high-rise construction system.
Much is said about industrialized construction, but what is it and what is it not?
First let's start by saying that it is not. Industrialized construction is not affordable housing if by that we mean poor quality housing. In industrialized housing, the only paradigm that we can understand is sustainability in all its services. Economic sustainability. You have to make promotions that are economically viable for both the promoter and the buyer. Environmental sustainability: resources and the environment must be taken into account. Qualitative sustainability: quality must be controlled so that in the end it reverts to society and our product is perceived by the customer as a product that respects sustainability criteria. Then the industrial process allows us a series of optimizations that are focused on improving the product and having a better compliance with society.
This month the 'Rebuild 2021' congress takes place, focused on industrialized construction. What is the purpose of this edition?
The main objective of Rebuild is to turn the building sector into the tractor for the recovery of the Spanish economy. For three days, the innovation event for building professionals will address new trends in technology, the most sustainable solutions and materials, industrialized and modular construction systems, as well as the most avant-garde design that will mark the future of the sector. Rebuild 2021 will bring together 200 firms at Ifema and will once again host the National Congress of Advanced Architecture and Construction 4.0, where more than 260 experts will meet to show the benchmark success stories in the sector, new materials and co-designed solutions, the latest emerging technologies and the most innovative construction systems.
ExSitu will have a leading role in 'Rebuild'. What will your presence consist of?
ExSitu, as Global Partner of the event, will play a leading role in this new edition of Rebuild, both in the exhibition area and in the content program. We will have a stand of almost 100 meters in the central area of the pavilion in which we will present the competitive advantages of our industrialized construction system. In addition, our stand will be a meeting point for professionals and journalists. We have scheduled informative meetings and round tables. I will participate in two sessions on September 21. The first will analyze the reality of industrialization in our country, while the second will delve into the keys that will define industrialized construction in this decade. We will also do a commercial presentation at the Constru Innovation Theater.
Although industrialized construction is in fashion, in Spain, it barely reaches 1% of residential work.
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That's how it is. Industrialized construction is a trending topic in the sector. It may be that a little smoke has formed, because there is more talk of what is desired in the future than of the reality today in the sector. However, we have been working and developing our system for almost five years now and we have already been able to have a product developed with proven technology working in real projects. Today, the development of industrialization in the real estate sector can only gain market share until it becomes the only viable solution for building a home. The deadlines for this to happen will be marked by the ability of the members of the sector and the Public Administration to engage in this new form of construction.
What must change in the sector so that industrialized construction is a real alternative?
It is already a real alternative and the proof is our Nidum Móstoles promotion (Madrid). A VPO promotion developed with BTR, with a total of 124 homes and has been a very successful project. For industrialization to become generalized in construction, we need all the members of the sector: promoter, capital, architects and Public Administrations to see that it is another way of building. Certainty is needed in obtaining licenses, and I'm not talking about shortening the deadlines, which too, but being certain of when the works start because we need to schedule that in an industrial plant and it is complicated to carry out the procedures with the license deadlines Today. Until now, promoters were used to adapting the rhythm of promotion to the rhythm of sales and now they have to adapt to the industrialization process. We need certainty so that the whole process can mesh and benefit from the improvements that industrialization entails.
In the short or medium term, what percentage can the industrialized construction of housing in Spain reach?
It is difficult to know the percentage that it could represent, but we are convinced that in the next decade it will have a greater weight for sure because sectoral initiatives are already being taken, such as the building industrialization cluster, also by global institutions, such as the UN and its Sustainable Development Goals, the SDGs, and even local Administrations, such as the Community of Madrid and its Vive Plan, in whose development, under a build-to-rent model, industrialized construction is expected to play a decisive role.
The challenge today is no longer to apply an industrialized system, but to be able to industrialize the entire process. What will be the role of the promoter?
The role of the promoter has already evolved a lot in the last decade. We are seeing the integration of promoters and funds and we see a much more technical profile of the promoter, with an exhaustive control of the promotions. The advantages of an industrialized system is that the day-to-day choice is lost, but the planning of the project is gained from the beginning, since the promoter is involved in the project from the purchase of the land. The intervention of the promoter in a work with industrialized construction is going to be greater than in a traditional one.
With the 'Nidum Móstoles Madrid' building they have tackled the challenge of fitting industrialization into a VPO module for rent. What is the next challenge in ExSitu?
We are beginning to develop industrialization in single-family homes and we have just signed an agreement with the Malawian group Otero Homes to build a set of industrialized luxury villas in Marbella, the Duquesa Valley project. Here the challenge is to provide luxury features and flexibilities for the client to personalize their home and in industrialization it is complicated because the tendency is to make things as repetitive as possible.
What is the competitive advantage of ExSitu's industrialized construction system?
All industrialized systems will have the advantages of standardization, quality, cost reduction and deadlines. Regarding ExSitu's own system, we focus on flexibility, on being able to respond to the developer and the architect so that they are the ones who have the ability to say what product they want to make. We have a flexible system and we have shown it. We are able to carry out a promotion in Móstoles de VPO and now in Marbella, luxury homes adapted to the needs of each client.
