Is Prefab Construction the Solution to China’s Pollution Problem?

China is notorious for its pollution and poor air quality, and images of the city in the midst of a smog alert are a testament to the severity of the situation. This issue is partly a product of an unprecedented economic boom coupled with an unchecked wave of construction that has had profound effects on China’s biodiversity. As the situation gets increasingly dire, many are beginning to ask; how can China reduce their environmental impact while continuing to meet the needs of an ever-growing population? For air-conditioning tycoon Zhang Yue, the answer lies is prefabricated construction.

The prefabricated housing trend has already broken ground in New York City, which will soon be home to the 32-storey B2 BKLYN. In China, Zhang Yue is both picking up the speed and taking the possibilities of prefab structures to new heights with his 57-storey tower aptly named Sky City. This “Mini Sky City” is a 57-storey skyscraper spanning 2 million square feet, with 800 apartments and enough office space for 4,000 people. Yue’s proprietary prefabrication technique, which emphasizes environmental initiatives and efficiency, allowed builders to assemble the tower in just 19 days, averaging three storeys per day.

The ambitious Sky City was built by the Broad Sustainable Building Co., a subsidiary of Zhang Yue’s Broad Group. Zhang Yue’s company, which originally manufactured air-conditioning units, redirected sources to invent a new method for building skyscrapers at unprecedented speeds using the prefab model. Broad’s youtube channel features a number of time lapse videos, several of which have gone viral, to documenting the rapid construction of its prefabricated towers.

To date, Broad has constructed 16 buildings in China using the prefab method. These towers are almost completely fabricated in sections at factories located in the Hunan province. Here, each unit is built and outfitted with pre-installed features including ducts, plumbing, electricity, and water. Then the modules are loaded onto trucks, shipped to the construction site, and lifted by crane to be connected to the top of the building. By moving the construction process into the factory, Zhang Yue has created safer, quicker, and cheaper construction conditions while simultaneously reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

In a country often criticized for its poor environmental policy and excessive pollution, Zhang Yue is unique in his efforts to facilitate more sustainable construction practices. His company has been pushing the slogan “China’s new normal,” emphasizing a commitment to inciting change and reducing the environmental impact of the country’s construction industry. At his latest construction site in Hunan, the prefabrication technique minimized the need for up to 15,000 trucks worth of concrete transportation, and significantly reduced the amount of dust released into the cityscape. The tower also features walls with 20cm thermal insulation, 4-paned glass windows, and claims to be 80% more energy efficient, ultimately saving up to 12,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually.

Screen shot of 57-storey tower time lapse

Originally an art student, Zhang Yue brings an interesting perspective to each of his projects. His company already broke ground in the air-conditioning realm with his non-electric industrial air-conditioning units. In a country where natural resources are consumed at increasingly alarming rates and power shortages are frequently an issue, Zhang Yue was able to create a solution that has both reduced costs and the amount of electricity consumed while cooling buildings. Zhang Yue is now channeling this innovative spirit into the realm of prefab construction by emulating the factory processes used to create air-conditioning units and applying it to the construction of his towers. When Wired magazine’s Lauren Hilgers asked Zhang why he decided to shift gears and start a construction company, Zhang Yue aptly replied; “It’s not a construction company. It’s a structural revolution.”

Do you think we'll see condos in Toronto built like this one day?