Prefab on the rise in Europe and future material usage report

This report is the Q2 2018 edition of the European Architectural Barometer in which architects provide a strong indication of the developments in the construction sector.   As well as the economic developments and the forecasts for the next few years, this report also gives you insights in the topic Trends in Material Usage.

All countries show …..

….. promising outlooks for the coming years.   It took a while before the bad times in France and Italy turned for the best, but also here indicators are positive and growth figures can be expected.   Although fast growing markets such as the Netherlands and Spain keep reporting very positive figures, the current growth path might be a little to fast and may lead to a temporary slow down in coming years due to a lack of labour and limitations of the production capacity.   All in all, it looks very promising for the European construction industry

In this quarter, architects were asked about their expectations for the usage of certain products within their residential and non-residential projects.   Also they were asked which of the currently ongoing trends in the construction industry is influencing the usage of products in certain product groups most.   One of the purposes of these theme questions is to recognize relevant trends in the eight European countries when it comes to product usage in the coming years.

The following product groups have been measured:

• Installation and climate control
• Façade products
• Bathroom products
• Insulation products
• Finishing products
• Pitched roofs products
• Flat roof products
• Flooring products
• Metals

Results are presented on a country level (8 European countries included) and provide detailed insights on various materials.   For example, when it comes to insulation, it’s clear to see in the report that in the UK a strong trend is visible towards more natural insulation materials and mineral wools.   PUR/PIR and polystyrene foams are expected to be used much less.   The effects of the Grenfell tower fire are clearly visible.   Overall, we see a clear trend towards sustainable materials, after measuring a decrease/stable development during the crisis years.

The full report also includes future building volumes predictions.   More information on this report may be found here.