Adopting Off-site Manufacturing, and Automation and Robotics Technologies in Energy-efficient Building

Delivering energy-efficient buildings or settlements has become a popular topic amongst architects, engineers, and building engineering physicists. There are many methods for improving building energy performances, both for new build projects and for retrofitting existing buildings. However, the construction industry faces some profound challenges to satisfy the increasing demand for energy-efficient buildings or other solutions and to be able to offer them at an affordable cost. A holistic approach has been adopted to validate whether automation robotics and off-site manufacturing technologies can yield positive changes in the delivery of energy-efficient buildings. This paper emphasizes the potential transformations and possible impacts on the design, construction, and installation process of an energy-efficient building once the advanced technologies are implemented. This paper also highlights case studies in multiple on-going or past European Union (EU) Horizon 2020 research projects as well as private projects to demonstrate the applicability and technical feasibility of the proposed solution. The scenario proposed was used to demonstrate how to apply the proposal in a large-scale residential building project. In addition, the findings from this study will serve as proof of the concept of a larger research project, or as an inspiration for the construction industry to execute energy-efficient building projects in the future.