Quantitative methodology of environmental impact and economic assessment under equivalent conditions for prefabricated systems

Abstract

Previous studies have introduced various advantages to prefabricated systems. In terms of economic assessment, the results differ for each previous study using an evaluation condition because various previous studies have compared different construction projects for an economic assessment. Therefore, it is difficult to compare economic assessments in accordance with an equivalent condition. Therefore, the objective of this study was to carry out an economic assessment of a prefabricated system by a member of a component based on working time and environmental impact. This study was carried out in four phases, from “selection of a target case” to “economic assessment for structural systems”. Compared to the environmental impact of structural systems, the prefabricated system can reduce it by up to 49.34%. In terms of the economic assessment, the averages of the conventional column and girder are $4,779.36 and $4,925.77, while those of the prefabricated column and girder are $3,245.55 and $4,005.41, respectively. Therefore, the prefabricated system is 25.29% cheaper than a conventional system. Using this result, when a prefabricated system is considered in terms of environmental impact and economic assessment, the decision maker can evaluate and compare structural systems easily and quantitatively.