New Construction Methods:
Opportunities for the Property Market

How can the construc­tion and real estate indus­try send posi­tive signals today? Which construc­tion topics have a future, inspire confi­dence and even trig­ger buying impuls­es? We recent­ly report­ed on a partic­u­lar­ly strik­ing method in the Valdivia News­room: green facades. In this arti­cle, we take a broad­er look at two current construc­tion meth­ods that are making build­ing devel­op­ment and invest­ment more inter­est­ing again – and thus help­ing to ignite the “turbo” for construc­tion provid­ed by politi­cians¹⁾.

Beacons of hope

Since the begin­ning of the 2020s, strik­ing “beacons” for sustain­able construc­tion have been spring­ing up all over the globe. A promi­nent exam­ple is the Quay Quar­ter Tower in Sydney, which won the Inter­na­tion­al High­rise Award in 2022/23. The archi­tects from the Danish firm 3XN did not demol­ish an old high-rise build­ing from the 1970s, but inte­grat­ed it into the new construc­tion. In addi­tion, the demo­li­tion mate­r­i­al was reused_,saving a total of 12,000 tonnes of _CO₂.

Sustain­abil­i­ty was also one of the key plan­ning objec­tives for Vien­na’s 35-storey Q Tower . The project, designed by Vien­na-based archi­tects Rüdi­ger Lain­er + Part­ner, boasts flex­i­ble floor plans for a vari­ety of living arrange­ments, opti­mised space require­ments, green open spaces and facades, and easy access to an under­ground station. Togeth­er with the neigh­bour­ing high-rise build­ings, the Q‑Tower also shares a base zone with commer­cial and restau­rant space, which also gives the build­ing a high social value .

Circu­lar and modu­lar as a double turbo 

The two high-rise build­ings refer to two process­es that make construc­tion faster and more sustain­able. The Quay Quar­ter Tower provides a good exam­ple of the first: circu­lar construc­tion uses exist­ing mate­ri­als as well as construc­tion and demo­li­tion waste for new build­ings. This reduces the consump­tion of prima­ry resources and thus also saves time and ener­gy for trans­port. A good start is the recy­cling rate of 89% for construc­tion and demo­li­tion waste in Germany²⁾  – the high­est figure among the main mate­r­i­al flows, even if most of it has been used in civil engi­neer­ing to date.

The second method is modu­lar construc­tion. Modules are prefab­ri­cat­ed – often in series – and then simply assem­bled on site. This short­ens construc­tion time, stream­lines process­es and thus also enhances sustain­abil­i­ty. At the same time, it is an attrac­tive way for the compa­nies involved to gener­ate solid revenues:

• Despite the econom­ic down­turn, prefab­ri­cat­ed construc­tion has remained stable over the past seven years, with revenues of around £2.6 to £2.7 billion annually.
• McKin­sey fore­casts glob­al growth in modu­lar construc­tion from $180 billion in 2022 to $1.1 tril­lion by 2040⁴.
• Modu­lar construc­tion not only reduces the error rate, but also improves coor­di­na­tion between trades – with poten­tial produc­tiv­i­ty gains of up to 75%⁵.
• An EY Parthenon study shows that indus­tri­al prefab­ri­ca­tion can reduce construc­tion time by up to 30%⁶.

Market­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties with future dividends

Whether it’s greater sustain­abil­i­ty, lower costs or faster comple­tion – these factors also increase market­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties. Our arti­cle on XXGreen concepts already made it clear that sustain­able build­ings not only sell more easi­ly, but also at better prices.

Solid, well-docu­ment­ed sustain­abil­i­ty is appeal­ing even where cost and time savings are not direct­ly realised. This is high­light­ed, among other things, by the GdW’s “Wohn­trends 2040” study⁷:

• The desire for sustain­able living is clear­ly pronounced today, with an aver­age of 61% across all age groups.
• Afford­abil­i­ty is under­stand­ably the top prior­i­ty for 81%, but 56% of respon­dents also want build­ings made from envi­ron­men­tal­ly friend­ly construc­tion mate­ri­als and products.

At the same time, people seem ready for the future of construc­tion. The Austri­an modu­lar construc­tion start-up Kiubo has deter­mined that there is a high level of accep­tance for modu­lar apart­ments in Germany, at 84% ⁸. What’s more, modu­lar homes can also be expand­ed more easi­ly and at far lower cost as fami­lies grow or incomes increase. Forty-eight per cent of respon­dents found this aspect inter­est­ing to very interesting.

Conclu­sion

With modu­lar and circu­lar construc­tion, the indus­try not only has two sustain­able and effi­cient build­ing meth­ods at its dispos­al. It also has the argu­ments that can make all the differ­ence in a diffi­cult market despite high demand: secur­ing invest­ments, reduc­ing risks, appeal­ing to buyers and enabling market-driven prices. This can also restore the confi­dence need­ed to move towards a better future.

Anoth­er approach current­ly being imple­ment­ed in Munich also appears to be promis­ing for the future and has just been award­ed with the German Design Award 2025. Here, Mona­co is creat­ing a model for an “immune build­ing”. The concept of health-orient­ed archi­tec­ture arose in part from expe­ri­ences during the pandem­ic. Its key elements include intel­li­gent hygiene tech­nolo­gies such as venti­la­tion filtra­tion and touch-free doors and lifts, as well as flex­i­ble room layouts. This reduces the risk of illness and enhances well-being in the workplace.

Sources

1. “Build­ing in Germany is too bureau­crat­ic, takes far too long and is too expen­sive. We there­fore need speed, tech­nol­o­gy and toler­ance in order to make progress in construc­tion again. That is why we have ignit­ed the construc­tion turbo for fast build­ing.” Feder­al Minis­ter of Construc­tion Vere­na Hubertz, immo­bilien­man­ag­er online, 03.07.25
2. “Waste balance 2022”, Feder­al Statis­ti­cal Office, Octo­ber 2024
3. “Total turnover with prefab­ri­cat­ed build­ings in Germany from 2012 to 2024”, Feder­al Statis­ti­cal Office, March 2025
4. “The next big arenas of compe­ti­tion”, McKin­sey Glob­al Insti­tute, Octo­ber 2024
5. “Modu­lar construc­tion – the build­ing of tomor­row”, S&B Strat­e­gy Munich, July 2023
6. “Expand­able – How the construc­tion indus­try can unlock its poten­tial”, EY-Parthenon (Ernst & Young), April 2023
7. “Hous­ing trends 2040”, GdW Feder­al Asso­ci­a­tion of German Hous­ing and Real Estate Compa­nies, Febru­ary 2023
8. “Rethink­ing hous­ing”, Kiubo/marketagent.com, 2020

(Image source: istockphotos)