In 2014, McKinsey & Company estimated that, by 2025, 440 million households, or 1.6 billion people, will be adversely affected by the world-wide lack of affordable housing. The problem of a deficiency in affordable housing is exacerbated each year by political disasters leading to refugee migrations and by natural disasters like fires, hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes that destroy tens of thousands of homes. All of these problems are expected to become worse because of climate change.
However, traditional methods of addressing the housing problem exacerbate the calamities that contribute to the problem. A joint group from MIT and Stanford University conducted an environmental impact life cycle analysis of the building industry that considered the fabrication of materials, delivery to the building site, construction, operation of the structures throughout their useful lives, and demolition/disposal at the end of useful life. The study estimates that the building sector accounts for 40% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions and 30% of total world-wide energy consumption.
The great challenge of our day is to rapidly install a high volume of quality housing units at low cost while minimizing the environmental impact. That requires the use of low-impact materials to be implemented in designs that are efficient to run and that can be re-used or recycled at end of life.
The life cycle analysis quoted above estimates that the use of LitePan® Building Technology will reduce energy consumption by 40% and greenhouse gas emissions by 34% as compared to conventional construction methods. FieldWorks Homes™ operates under the imperative to meet the challenge of the housing crisis without exacerbating the problem of climate change.
All products offered by FieldWorks Homes utilize LitePan® Composite Structural Insulated Panels to assure a comfortable living space, a low cost of operation, and reduced impact on the environment.