A Decision-Support Tool to Increase the Uptake of MMC and Improve the Environmental Impact of the Irish Construction Industry

The availability of suitable living accommodation in Ireland has been cited as a fundamental concern by Irish society. The current housing system needs to meet its required targets for several reasons, including climate considerations, housing costs, and well-being. To alleviate the significant socioeconomic implications of the housing crisis, societal and environmental criteria must be considered. Alongside speed of delivery, health and safety, quality of life and enhanced build quality, stakeholders argue that Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) can advance the overall sustainability of the Irish construction industry and work towards the environmental goals set out in the 'Housing for All' action plan. However, the adoption of MMC is currently limited and a lack of suitable digital tools to fully grasp new materials, methods, and installation processes has led to widespread confusion and increased hesitancy to the transition. This paper forms part of the ―Platform4MMC‖ project which will develop an assessment tool to analyse and compare the viability of MMC against more traditional methods that can have a considerable, negative environmental impact. The research reports on semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in the Irish residential sector, including governmental bodies, policymakers, contractors, developers, manufacturers, architects, end users, and many more industry representatives. These collaborators inform the project by providing their insight from completed off-site manufactured projects. To drive behavioural change, private and public bodies can use the tool‘s recommendations of the MMC products that best suit their criteria and pipeline, establishing a consistent level of demand to incentivise manufacturing capacity in Ireland. The interviews provide key learnings on the challenges and roadblocks to supplying adequate, sustainable housing in Ireland. A key performance indicator list was then developed with the stakeholder engagement findings, which identifies key metrics when assessing a projects suitability for MMC.