Critical Review of Trends in Modular Integrated Construction Research with a Focus on Sustainability

Abstract

Modular integrated construction (MiC) is an innovative technology that minimizes the adverse impacts of construction not only in terms of material resources, energy consumption and environmental issues but also by reducing construction times and costs. The widespread adoption of these practices could therefore contribute to the construction industry’s sustainable development. Despite the increasing public attention of MiC with a number of published works in various aspects, there is still a lack of systematic assessment of its sustainability performance. We therefore reviewed the published literature addressing the sustainability of MiC over the last two decades using a desktop research method integrating a bibliometric search with quantitative and qualitative analyses. Our objective was to investigate, evaluate, and summarize the ongoing research trends for sustainability-related studies in MiC published in leading construction journals to identify promising potential directions for future research. This research is intended to serve as a useful resource for practitioners and researchers seeking to better understand the significance of this outstanding technology as we strive to develop a more sustainable construction environment.