Today, private clients of small companies and hoteliers who have bet on glamping are the main prefab interests. However, the demand for prefab in classic suburban construction is clearly growing, albeit not at the pace that the segment’s players would like
Continuing the conversation started last time about prefab technologies that allow assembling houses from factory-made modules right on the construction site, Vladislav Kopitsa, founder of the Open Village exhibition, emphasizes: many “modularists” do not really like to cooperate with large or medium-sized businesses and prefer working with private customers.
Partly because, according to his observations, a considerable part of Russian “modularists” are self—taught companies that, having gone through debts, losses and losses, have reached a certain level, maybe even grown to some small rental settlement of their own, but no more, and a private client is like them- it’s closer and more familiar. Partly because “they are poor, they do not have enough money to invest in a serious project and control the construction from the position of a co-investor, and medium-large businesses in pursuit of profit begin to “squeeze” them on price, which almost always leads to a decrease in quality, maybe not immediately noticeable. So in five years, the “modularists” understand, all sorts of claims that no one ever needs will begin.”
“That’s when they get richer and learn to say no, they will occupy this niche. Because they are great fellows, and I will say this: many Europeans can come to us to learn how to make a module,” Vladislav Kopitsa is sure, who believes that prefab as a serious segment of the suburban market is still more a matter of the future than the present.
Andrey Karpov, Managing Partner of KUB House, disagrees. “I am sure that we can talk about prefab technologies not only in the future, but also in the present. There is already a huge interest of specialists in the prefab, which is due to its high efficiency, reduced construction time, cost savings and the absence of restrictions on the external dimensions or dimensions of the building. Consumers, in turn, get the opportunity to become owners of a ready—made object with high quality and modern design faster,” the expert recalls.
Andrey Karpov, Managing Partner of KUB House, “Currently, one of the examples of successful fabrication in construction is CLT panels, which we are already actively using together with internal RnD developments. This is an innovative construction technology — advanced glued wood, a practical and environmentally friendly material. It has a number of advantages, such as high speed of construction, no shrinkage, excellent load-bearing properties. For the construction of a house, even ten floors will not require additional reinforcement. Due to these properties, CLT panels are becoming an increasingly popular choice in the construction of both residential and commercial facilities.”
But, judging by the stories of market players, commercial real estate is still not residential, but a key area of consumption of prefab technologies at the current stage of the segment’s development. And, by all accounts, glamping is starting to take the lead here by a larger and larger margin.
Dmitry Beresnev, Vice President of Segezha Group, “Prefab technologies are an ideal solution for the construction of glamping hotels, but in practice small and medium-sized entrepreneurs (namely, they do business in this segment of suburban recreation) have not yet actively increased this number of rooms. Structures such as insulated awnings and spheres were more in demand. We hope that due to the existing state support measures and grant projects for the development of tourism, the situation will change. Moreover, the glamping market in Russia has positive growth forecasts: according to various estimates, at least 200 new eco-hotels should appear in 2024 alone.”
Dmitry Apanasenko, head of the “House Kits” department of Technonicol, evaluating the client palette of the factory for the production of house kits using panel-frame technology in the city of Semenov, Nizhny Novgorod region, emphasizes that Technonicol’s customers are its certified partners — construction companies.
Dmitry Apanasenko, head of the “House Kits” department at Technonicol, “But if we look further into the chain, then, in principle, our end consumers are private customers who build themselves a house, and yes, hoteliers who order cottages for their campgrounds and glamping. That is, we are talking about hotel complexes that expand the number of rooms precisely at the expense of such guest houses, usually family-type. We supply roofing panels to developers working with traditional cottage settlements, for example, but unfortunately we have not entered into market prefab supplies with them yet. And the company has no plans to build its own cottage settlement.”
Semyon Goglev, Director of Strategic Development of the Association of Wooden House Construction, managing partner of the Norvex Art company, also admits that his company came up with a combined prefab story specifically for glamping. Combined, because the walls of the house are hard, and the top of the dome is soft and insulated.
Semyon Goglev, Director of Strategic Development of the Association of Wooden House Construction, managing partner of the Norvex Art company, “We want to connect Totan Kuzembaev’s bureau to finalize this prefab model, and we already call all this not even glamping – this is “sheraton”, a luxury version of houses with a bathroom and a warm shower inside, and not through the road, as it often happens, with its own kitchen corner and so on. We have already attracted a company to cooperate, the head of which has been making insulating shells for descent vehicles for a long time, and then, by order of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, tents capable of withstanding temperatures up to minus 60 degrees! So, by creating an insulated version of the house, we will seriously expand the geography of glamping construction and make them almost all-season for people who are interested in spending their holidays in nature like this. I want to hear what the visitors of the exhibition “Low-rise Country” in Altufyev will say after seeing our model.”
Private initiatives are, of course, a worthy thing, but they alone will not be enough. “For the faster development of prefabs, of course, it is important to work on improving standards and certification. High standards of quality and safety are the basis for consumer and specialist confidence in prefab. Therefore, strategic documents (for example, the roadmap of the Ministry of Construction and the action plan for improving technical regulation in the field of construction and fire safety of multi—storey wooden buildings) stimulate the movement of the segment forward,” Andrey Karpov is sure.
“One of the important incentives may be the development of uniform standards for suburban accommodation facilities, including glamping. Standardization, in particular, will simplify the process of classifying objects for entrepreneurs,” Dmitry Beresnev agrees.
But the head of the Association for the Development of Modular Construction (ARMS) Ekaterina Dominguez, whom I talked to BFM.ru Nevertheless, it is not so much about glamping, as about the field of low-rise construction and residential housing in general. It is this wide segment that she calls one of the most attractive for manufacturers of modular houses and structures due to the relatively fast entry into the market and increased consumer demand.
Ekaterina Dominguez: There are several technologies of modular houses — from wooden frame house kits to reinforced concrete modules such as “hood” or “glass”, which come out of the factory in full configuration. Manufacturers have a reserve of capacities in this direction — about 50-60%: after all, end customers still have some stereotypes about the quality and capitalization of a modular home. Nevertheless, organized construction increasingly chooses modular solutions, since taking into account the indirect effects (reduction of construction time and the number of workers on site), this choice allows you to achieve the desired profitability of the project. The dependence of profitability on the quality and quantity of labor in low-rise buildings and residential housing, by the way, is even stronger and more significant than in the segment of apartment buildings, so the rate of suburban developers on modularity is definitely there. And a number of large manufacturers of modules for MCD have already entered the residential housing segment. On behalf of the Ministry of Construction, the Association for the Development of Modular Construction prepared an analytical report on the potential of manufacturers and the number of people employed in the prefab in residential housing. We received the following figures: capacity — 730 thousand square meters, number — 1600 people. Given the current volume of construction, the prefab house segment has room to grow.
And how would you rate the interest in prefabs from end customers?
Ekaterina Dominguez: With the development of the market and the product, this interest is also growing. A modular house is about factory quality, high completeness, and deadlines. There are solutions when a house is built within 14 days! Of course, if we directly compare the cost per square meter of a modular house and a house made of aerated concrete, for example, then the first one will be higher. At the selection stage, this may affect the end customer. But if, when comparing, we take into account the same difference in construction time, the rise in the cost of building materials, the cost of repairs, which is an unpredictable amount, then a modular house is a profitable purchase. Some houses are growing, that is, without demolishing the building, they allow you to increase the area by attaching a module. And the buyer will feel this benefit when faced with the task of expanding the area and calculating the costs of a complete reconstruction of the house in a traditional design. Now there are and continue to be developed support measures for both manufacturers of house kits and buyers — from a reduced loan rate (an analogue of project financing) to preferential and green mortgages, and this is also in favor of prefab.
Anyone? Regardless of the material?
Ekaterina Dominguez: Currently, there are solutions made of different materials on the market of modular houses and house kits: wooden frame, CLT panels, concrete blocks, metal frame and PIR panels, hybrid technologies on a steel frame… Each has its own advantages, which include operational characteristics, a subjective assessment of reliability and quality, and an ecological green component. The choice is up to the buyer.
What do you think should be done to make the prefab more active?
Ekaterina Dominguez: For me, as the leader of the industry association, the phrase that modular construction is the future is not even an opinion, it is a goal, a priority, a manifesto, if you like. Obviously, given the shortage of personnel, it is not possible to implement targeted programs for the construction and renovation of housing, including the low-rise and residential housing market, without production technologies. On the other hand, innovations in Russia cannot develop systematically without the support of the state, especially if we consider that, in general, innovations for any system are rather a limitation that necessitates a change of models. The transition to production technologies and modular housing construction is, as a rule, a large investment in equipment, in R&D (research and development work), in a team of specialists, who, by the way, are not trained anywhere yet. This is a burden on business, and in order to take it on, sustained and sustained demand is needed — not only from developers, but also from private buyers. The draft law on allowing the use of the escrow account mechanism in residential housing is a necessary initiative that will protect end customers from low—quality manufacturers. Next, there are already developed banking products, such as, for example, IHS-contract from Dom.RF”: a low-interest credit line for manufacturers. Now colleagues are developing technical supervision standards for manufacturers, including modular homes, in order to give small companies tools to improve product quality and sales.
There is another initiative — the inclusion in the projects of the KRT of the mandatory use of modular structures in the construction of social or infrastructure facilities, housing and communal services, the resettlement of emergency housing, the expert continues.
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“ARMS, together with RuGBC, also announced at the Green Building conference in the fields of MosBuild an initiative to prepare manufacturers of modular structures for compliance with green GOST for MCD and IHS. Developers and end-buyers should be aware of the green effects of modular homes and prefab technologies and the benefits that their use will give projects,” says Ekaterina Dominguez.
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