2.3. Costs The costs of MMC should be comparable with the prevailing methods of construction in Iran. Higher costs of MMC products are a major barrier to broader applications of MMC in both Iran and the UK. The average cost of MMC in the UK is currently 8-15 % more than traditional methods( CABE 2004) and it has been estimated that such materials and products could be up to four times more expensive in Iran than in other countries( ICC 2005). Nevertheless, some examples in the UK, such as Design for Manufacture( DfM) 60K house competition in 2005, prove that MMC can produce affordable, high quality, sustainable houses( English Partnerships 2006; HCA 2010).
Transportation distances are also one of the barriers towards broader application of MMC in the UK since well-established factories are situated in the north of England while the demand is in the south( Bagenholm et al. 2001). This is also an important issue in Iran since Iran is a vast country and transportation can considerably increase the costs. Recent increases on fuel costs in both Iran and the UK make this issue more important. MMC factories should therefore be located around the areas where the current and future demands are concentrated. It is vital to avoid unnecessarily long transport of materials / products, which increase costs and CO2 emissions of MMC.
Meanwhile, construction material and labour costs are much less in Iran than in the UK; however, inflation is much higher( average of 21.5 % in 2011( CBI 2013c) and the economy is less stable. According to Statistical Centre of Iran, the increased costs of construction materials in 2012 varied between 22.5 % and 180.5 % compared to 2011 in Tehran( SCI 2013b). The majority of construction materials have seen an increase of more than 35 % while many have seen a price increase of above 100 % during this period which is much higher than the average inflation. These factors can considerably affect the finished prices of MMC in Iran; however, the same situation applies to other products and industries.
Other issues such as lower quality and much more material waste( explained below) as well as much higher construction dead-load, make the Iranian traditional construction methods rather more expensive than those in the UK. Therefore, while MMC are about 8-15 % more expensive than the traditional methods of construction in the UK( CABE 2004), the finished prices of some MMC may be well below the costs of the conventional methods in Iran. Moreover, because of low quality of materials and poor workmanship( Figure 2: Low building quality in Iran.), Iranian buildings have a short lifespan and are vulnerable in the event of earthquake( Hashemi 2014). The average building lifespan in Iran is about 30 years( Fatemi 2009) compared to the normally expected building lifespan of 60 years. Due to better quality controls in the factory, MMC can potentially produce buildings with longer lifespans and less maintenance, leading to personal and national savings particularly in terms of the embodied energy of buildings. In addition, the higher construction speed of MMC means enhanced value as investors’ money will not be bound up in one project for a long time.
Feasibility of Application of Modern Methods of Construction in Iran 23