Events

The Centre for Innovation in Construction and Infrastructure Development (CICID) of The University of Hong Kong (HKU) successfully launched three Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) booklets at HKU on December 29, 2020.

The three MiC booklets are entitled “A Glossary of Modular Integrated Construction”, “Modular Integrated Construction Performance Measurement Guidebook”, and “Modular Integrated Construction for High-rises: Measured Success”. These booklets aim to support Government’s policy on MiC and to bring clarity and understanding of the new technology to Hong Kong’s construction industry.

The officiating guest, Ir Lam Sai-hung, JP, Permanent Secretary for Development (Works) again pointed out Government’s policy to support MiC. He said, “Hong Kong’s construction industry is facing severe challenges due to declining productivity and ageing workforce. Projects adopting MiC show definite benefits over conventional construction methods. Through the concerted effort of the Government, industry and academia, MiC will contribute to modernizing Hong Kong’s construction industry.”

“We are more than delighted to launch the three MiC booklets. These publications not only contribute clarity and new understanding of MiC in Hong Kong, but also provide useful guidance for the industry and enterprises to adopt and measure the new technology,” Professor Christopher Chao, Dean of Faculty of Engineering of HKU said at the ceremony.

Professor Wei Pan, Executive Director of HKU CICID and lead author of the three publications said “The aim of the MiC booklets is to support Government’s policy on MiC and to bring clarity and understanding of the new technology to Hong Kong’s construction industry. They will provide comprehensive benchmarking of social, environmental and economic performance of adopting MiC to high-rise building projects in Hong Kong.”

Overseas experts on modular construction from Singapore, UK and Australia shared their expert views and delivered their best wishes via recorded videos. Over 30 leaders from government, industry and academia attended the ceremony in person, and over 300 professionals and stakeholders joined online via Webinar.

The published booklets are important markers on the MiC development journey in Hong Kong, and should also make useful contributions to the adoption of modular innovations globally.

The published booklets can be downloaded at:

1. A Glossary of MiC: https://www.miclab.hk/glossary
2. MiC performance measurement guidebook: https://www.miclab.hk/guidebook
3. MiC for High-rises: Measured Success: https://www.miclab.hk/success

MiC has been promoted in Hong Kong Policy Address 2017, 2018 and 2019. There are a few real-life cases in the Hong Kong construction industry. MiC has proven to lead to tremendous economic, social and environmental benefits in many countries and regions, which also co-exist with some challenges. The lecture aims to examine the opportunities and address the challenges of MiC for sustainable development in the Hong Kong construction industry. The lecture will feature renowned speaker to share a socio-technical systems approach to address the opportunities and the challenges in the aspects of MiC technology and innovation, procurement and management and its implications for social sustainability, economic sustainability, and environmental sustainability. The lecture enables to enhance industry culture for innovation and sustainability and offers a continuous dialogue on the journey of adopting MiC for sustainability.

MiC has been adopted in many countries and regions as a government initiative for addressing low productivity in construction industry. However, how MiC can work with sustainability for delivering construction projects remains a socio-technical challenge. This event aims to explore the use of MiC for sustainable development, support culture of innovation and de-risk adoption of MiC technology and innovation. This event will feature renowned speaker to share state-of-the-art research and development.

This event aims to help position Hong Kong as a world-class knowledge-based, innovation-driven and multi-stakeholder-engaged hub for MiC for sustainable development in urban environments. A portal is being developed with real-time measurement and monitoring of Hong Kong’s public and stakeholders’ knowledge, attitude and practice regarding MiC and sustainable development. This event will feature renowned speaker to share the state of the art of MiC for sustainable development and the role of public and stakeholder engagement and collaboration. This event enables public sector clients to de-risk adoption of MiC in their pilot projects and further projects of buildings with enhanced performance in sustainability; helps private developers to recognize the competitiveness of construction companies and de-risk adoption of MiC technology and innovation in their business; assists MiC module suppliers and manufactures to realize the opportunities in the Hong Kong market and the enhanced collaborative working culture with the Hong Kong construction industry; helps construction professional associations and individual to have enhanced knowledge and capability in handling MiC technology and innovation with more collective supports; and enables the wide public of Hong Kong to enhance community knowledge, realize the improved images of construction industry as well as enhanced social environment.

MiC approach has been adopted as a government initiative in Hong Kong. Technology and innovation are crucial to the delivery of buildings with enhanced sustainability, and addressing the challenges requires the socio-technical systems approach to be embedded in the aspects of MiC technology and innovation, procurement and management and its implications for social sustainability (e.g., quality of building, skills, housing supply), economic sustainability (e.g., affordability, productivity), and environmental sustainability (e.g., reduction of construction noise, waste, dust, and carbon emission). The event will feature renowned speakers to share the state-of-the art technology and innovation for MiC and enable a continuous dialogue on the journey towards sustainability.

For Hong Kong where high-rise is the norm, the approach of MiC offers a disruptively innovative solution with a high potential of enhancing quality, efficiency and productivity. From the announcement of the MiC policy in 2017 till now, there have been several MiC demonstration and pilot projects in Hong Kong. By the end of 2019, there have been four pilot MiC projects, namely, one 2-storey demonstration project formed by 10 steel-framed modules, and three ongoing projects: (1) one 17-storey block of staff quarter using steel-framed modules; (2) five 15-17-storey blocks of staff quarter using precast concrete modules; and (3) two 17-storey blocks of student hostel using steel-framed modules. Additionally, there have been some other building projects under initial planning and design with the orientation of adopting MiC. However, MiC is still in its infancy in Hong Kong with opportunities and risks co-existing. One major challenge to address is the limited capability of local supply chains for MiC, which further brings in a must to engage overseas suppliers and the consequent complicated and expensive cross-border transportation. Moreover, given the new concept of MiC, it remains largely unknown to various building sectors in Hong Kong who are the eligible and capable suppliers, what about logistics, and how much it costs to manufacture, transport and install modules. This event enables to de-risk adoption of MiC in their pilot projects and further projects of buildings with enhanced performance in sustainability and offers comprehensive understanding MiC and progressive establishment of supply chains for the successful adoption of MiC in various building sectors.

The event series (6 and 7) are an important part of the research on which the Knowledge Exchange on Modular Integrated Construction for Sustainable Development in Hong Kong is based. The events aim to share and disseminate the knowledge of MiC for sustainable development in relation to the project governance and procurement approach in Hong Kong and internationally. The events together will help Hong Kong public and stakeholders understand MiC as complex socio-technical systems which embrace MiC technology and innovation, procurement and management and its implications for social sustainability, economic sustainability, and environmental sustainability, and therefore inform and support their attitudes and practices for MiC projects towards sustainability.

The event series (6 and 7) are an important part of the research on which the Knowledge Exchange on Modular Integrated Construction for Sustainable Development in Hong Kong is based. The events aim to share and disseminate the knowledge of MiC for sustainable development in relation to the project governance and procurement approach in Hong Kong and internationally. The events together will help Hong Kong public and stakeholders understand MiC as complex socio-technical systems which embrace MiC technology and innovation, procurement and management and its implications for social sustainability, economic sustainability, and environmental sustainability, and therefore inform and support their attitudes and practices for MiC projects towards sustainability.

MiC approach has been adopted in Hong Kong for addressing labor shortage, aging workforce, low productivity, etc. Systemic stakeholder engagement is imperative to the achievement of MiC for sustainable development. The event will attract interests from a wide range of stakeholder groups covering the government, developers, contractors, suppliers/manufactures, consultants, and institutions aspects of construction industry. This event will feature renowned speakers to share how MiC technology can help to enhance performance of sustainability of buildings, and enable discussion on the community and industry’s knowledge, attitude and practice of adopting MiC for sustainable development.

Modular integrated construction (MiC) has been brought forward in the Chief Executive's Policy Address 2017 and 2018 as a new policy initiative to promote innovative construction. This strategy paper elaborates on the MiC policy initiative by providing a definition grounded in the modularisation and production theories and recommending strategies for successful adoption of MiC in Hong Kong in a multi-level systems framework. Modularisation carried by the MiC approach offers a golden opportunity to unleash productive forces, shape the relations of production and enhance construction productivity, quality, safety and sustainability, hence supporting the modernisation of Hong Kong construction.

There are many significant benefits achievable from the adoption of MiC, but there co-exist multifaceted challenges. Success strategies are required for securing the technical feasibility, ensuring the regulatory compliance, enhancing the commercial viability, increasing the supply chain competency and shaping the market preference of MiC adoption in Hong Kong. With the suggested framework of MiC policy scenarios in the short, mid and long term against a range of policy areas of MiC technologies and systems categorised by material, design, supply chain location, procurement method, building type, building status, funding source, functional area, location, and building height, there is a promising future of marching towards a modern construction industry and society.

Modular integrated construction (MiC) is a game-changing disruptively-innovative approach to transforming fragmented site-based construction of buildings and facilities into integrated value-driven production and assembly of prefinished modules. MiC brings the opportunity for achieving enhanced quality, productivity, safety and sustainability. The factory-controlled process leads to reduced material waste and improved air quality. Concurrent prefabrication and site work accelerates construction schedule, improves construction safety, and achieves better quality control. Modular construction process also enables better building engineering and greater BIM application for advancing design opportunities. This one-day MiC Technical Training Course is organized by the CICID, Department of Civil Engineering, HKU. The course provides a comprehensive introduction and detailed explanation of modular construction methods and technologies. It also demonstrates the benefits of modular construction through project case studies and compares different modular construction design codes and regulations across multiple jurisdictions.