Upgrading housing settlements in Indonesia – by using wood-based materials for construction

During the last four years, a rapid, almost revolutionary development has occurred in the manufactured housing industry.

In 1971 the number of manufactured housing units produced in the U.S. was about equal to that of mobile homes. However, when we take a closer look at the technological changes that have taken place in this industry one must certainly talk about evolution rather than revolution.

wood base materials in Indonesia

Only during the last few years have we seen examples of innovative building technology applied to wood-framed structures. Unfortunately, the creative approaches have too frequently proved themselves uneconomical, and thus we still have a manufactured housing industry whose product is constructed much like any conventionally built house. the Sectional System incorporates two rectangular modules.

The width of the modules is limited by transportation regulations to a maximum of 12’-14’, and thus the additional floor space must be obtained by adding length to the structure. This design constraint is rather severe, causing unduly high ratios of the exterior wall to the unit living area in large homes.

This also affects negatively the heating and cooling costs.

The width limitation of approximately 28 feet means that this system is best suited to relatively small homes, i.e. less than, perhaps, 1200 square feet.