Research on the Restrictive Factors of Vigorous Promotion of Prefabricated Buildings in Yancheng under the Background of “Double Carbon”

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

For publication, the state of the art in other countries should be studied and research and policies carried out in other continents should be cited.
Regarding the questionnaires, the destination of the initial 110 questionnaires is not made explicit, which profile of people have answered the questionnaires.
The proposed factors should be related to other countries and global and specific conclusions should be drawn.

Author Response

For publication, the state of the art in other countries should be studied and research and policies carried out in other continents should be cited..

Response: We are grateful for the suggestion. We have added research literature on prefabricated buildings in countries such as Japan and Australia.( page 3).

Regarding the questionnaires, the destination of the initial 110 questionnaires is not made explicit, which profile of people have answered the questionnaires.

Response: Thank you for your kind suggestions and comments. We have added statistical pie charts of the education background, professional title and nature of work of the 95 respondents to the valid questionnaire. See Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3.( page 8).

The proposed factors should be related to other countries and global and specific conclusions should be drawn.

Response: Thank you for your comments and suggestions . The research in this thesis focuses on the influencing factors of the promotion and application of prefabricated buildings in Yancheng City, China, which is a specific area of research. Your proposal is very good. Our research group is investigating and collecting relevant information. The next step is to expand the research area and continue to carry out research on the influencing factors of prefabricated buildings in China and other countries around the world.

Reviewer 2 Report

Introduction: The text provides a good overview of the development of prefabricated buildings in Yancheng. However, the argument could be improved by providing more specific details on the implementation by the Yancheng government. Additionally, the text could be strengthened by providing more concrete examples of the constraints and problems that need to be addressed. Finally, the flow of the text could be improved by adding transitional phrases and sentences to make the arguments more coherent.

Literature review: This literature review is a good start but could be improved in several ways. Firstly, the authors should provide more in-depth analysis of the factors affecting the promotion of prefabricated buildings. For example, they could discuss how energy savings and shorter construction times are achieved. Secondly, the authors should provide more specific details on the government’s efforts to promote assembly-style development, such as which incentives and standards have been improved. Additionally, the authors could provide more information on the lack of professional talents, the lack of a complete industrial chain, and the imperfection of relevant norms and standards. Finally, the authors could discuss potential solutions to the issues faced by prefabricated buildings, such as investing in research and development, or providing more support for professional training.

Methods: The methods section could be strengthened by providing more detail on the specific steps taken in each procedural step. For example, more detail could be provided on the literature research to sort out the restrictive factors for the promotion and implementation of prefabricated buildings in Yancheng, such as how many sources were searched, how the papers were selected, how the initial list of restrictive factors was determined, and how the direct influence matrix was created. Additionally, more detail could be provided on the DEMATEL-ISM method, such as what threshold was used to calculate the reachability matrix, and how the 15 main constraints were divided into five categories. Furthermore, details on the questionnaire should be provided, such as what questions were asked and what the results of the questionnaire were. Finally, more detail should be provided on the factor analysis, such as what variables were tested and what hypotheses were tested.

Model Calculation: This section could be strengthened by providing a brief description of DEMATEL-ISM and how it is used to analyze the relationship between constraints. Additionally, more details could be provided about the questionnaire used to collect scores from the 10 practitioners and how these scores were averaged. The formulas used to calculate the comprehensive influence matrix, the reachability matrix, and the cause and degree of each constraint factor should also be explained in greater detail. A more thorough explanation of the thresholds used to calculate the reachability matrix should be included, as well as a description of how the elements contained in each level were determined. Finally, an explanation of how the hierarchical diagram was constructed should be provided.

Analysis Results: The section could be strengthened by adding more details about the results of the DEMATEL analysis. For example, the section could include a table or graph that shows the degree of influence of each factor on other factors. The section could also provide more detail about the specific policies and regulations that are not being sufficiently publicized by the government, as well as how the lack of research and innovation, industry policies and standards, and financial support are impacting the development of prefabricated buildings in Yancheng. Additionally, the section could discuss possible solutions to the identified problems that could be implemented by the government or other stakeholders.

ISM Analysis Results: To strengthen the next analysis section, additional details can be added to explain each of the constraint factors. For example, for the first layer of constraints, which are imperfect supporting industrial chain, more information can be provided about the specific aspects of the industrial chain that are lacking. Further details can also be added about the second to fourth layer of constraints to explain in more detail why these are limiting the promotion of prefabricated buildings. Additionally, more information can be included about the current policies and regulations related to prefabricated buildings, as well as the investment in related manpower and resources. Finally, more details can be added about the underlying constraints, such as what types of financial support are lacking and what types of government publicity are needed.

Conclusion: The conclusion could be improved by providing more detailed suggestions on how to address the identified key constraints. Additionally, further research should be conducted to evaluate the efficacy of the suggestions proposed in this paper. Specific research questions should be identified and answered, such as what strategies should be employed to increase market promotion.

Author Response

Introduction: The text provides a good overview of the development of prefabricated buildings in Yancheng. However, the argument could be improved by providing more specific details on the implementation by the Yancheng government. Additionally, the text could be strengthened by providing more concrete examples of the constraints and problems that need to be addressed. Finally, the flow of the text could be improved by adding transitional phrases and sentences to make the arguments more coherent.

Response: We agree with the comment and provide specific details of the Yancheng government's implementation. (page 2). Added the installation example of prefabricated ALC wall panels for the 30-31#  group project of the student dormitory of Yancheng Institute of Technology( page 2-3)

Literature review: This literature review is a good start but could be improved in several ways. Firstly, the authors should provide more in-depth analysis of the factors affecting the promotion of prefabricated buildings. For example, they could discuss how energy savings and shorter construction times are achieved. Secondly, the authors should provide more specific details on the government’s efforts to promote assembly-style development, such as which incentives and standards have been improved. Additionally, the authors could provide more information on the lack of professional talents, the lack of a complete industrial chain, and the imperfection of relevant norms and standards. Finally, the authors could discuss potential solutions to the issues faced by prefabricated buildings, such as investing in research and development, or providing more support for professional training.

Response: Thank you for your valuable advice. We have analyzed and supplemented the literature review section, see P4 for details (page 4).

Methods: The methods section could be strengthened by providing more detail on the specific steps taken in each procedural step. For example, more detail could be provided on the literature research to sort out the restrictive factors for the promotion and implementation of prefabricated buildings in Yancheng, such as how many sources were searched, how the papers were selected, how the initial list of restrictive factors was determined, and how the direct influence matrix was created. Additionally, more detail could be provided on the DEMATEL-ISM method, such as what threshold was used to calculate the reachability matrix, and how the 15 main constraints were divided into five categories. Furthermore, details on the questionnaire should be provided, such as what questions were asked and what the results of the questionnaire were. Finally, more detail should be provided on the factor analysis, such as what variables were tested and what hypotheses were tested.

Response: 

Step 1 in 3.1 of Part 3 of the thesis has been rewritten.（page5）

The threshold values for the DEMATEL-ISM method and the questions of the questionnaire as well as the results of the questionnaire and the direct impact matrix can be found in section 4.2.(page10)

    The main variables tested are:  influence degree and Affected degree of each factor, and Centrality degree and Cause degree of each factor. See Table 11 on page 12 for details.

Model Calculation: This section could be strengthened by providing a brief description of DEMATEL-ISM and how it is used to analyze the relationship between constraints. Additionally, more details could be provided about the questionnaire used to collect scores from the 10 practitioners and how these scores were averaged. The formulas used to calculate the comprehensive influence matrix, the reachability matrix, and the cause and degree of each constraint factor should also be explained in greater detail. A more thorough explanation of the thresholds used to calculate the reachability matrix should be included, as well as a description of how the elements contained in each level were determined. Finally, an explanation of how the hierarchical diagram was constructed should be provided.

Response: Thanks for your kind advice and detailed suggestions. However, I would like to say that this section focuses on the process and results of the calculation of the 15 influencing factors using the DEMATEL-ISM model to derive influence degree, Affected degree, Centrality degree, tCause degree of each influencing factor as well as the determination of thresholds to obtain the reachability matrix and the multi-layered progressive hierarchy table and relationship diagram for each factor. The specific analysis of the outcome indicator values for each factor is detailed in Section 5(page 15-19).

Analysis Results: The section could be strengthened by adding more details about the results of the DEMATEL analysis. For example, the section could include a table or graph that shows the degree of influence of each factor on other factors. The section could also provide more detail about the specific policies and regulations that are not being sufficiently publicized by the government, as well as how the lack of research and innovation, industry policies and standards, and financial support are impacting the development of prefabricated buildings in Yancheng. Additionally, the section could discuss possible solutions to the identified problems that could be implemented by the government or other stakeholders.

Response: Thank you for your valuable advice. In this section we have added 2 tables for influence degree and Affected degree, and a paragraph was added, explaining the impact of relevant factors on Yancheng’s vigorous promotion of prefabricated buildings, see page 17 for details.

.

ISM Analysis Results: To strengthen the next analysis section, additional details can be added to explain each of the constraint factors. For example, for the first layer of constraints, which are imperfect supporting industrial chain, more information can be provided about the specific aspects of the industrial chain that are lacking. Further details can also be added about the second to fourth layer of constraints to explain in more detail why these are limiting the promotion of prefabricated buildings. Additionally, more information can be included about the current policies and regulations related to prefabricated buildings, as well as the investment in related manpower and resources. Finally, more details can be added about the underlying constraints, such as what types of financial support are lacking and what types of government publicity are needed.

Response: Thank you for your comments. We have added to the results of the ISM analysis. ( page 17-18).

Conclusion: The conclusion could be improved by providing more detailed suggestions on how to address the identified key constraints. Additionally, further research should be conducted to evaluate the efficacy of the suggestions proposed in this paper. Specific research questions should be identified and answered, such as what strategies should be employed to increase market promotion.

Response: Thank you for your valuable advice. For the conclusion part, We have rewritten the last small paragraph, see page 19-20 for details.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Thank you for the new contributions, the changes have generated a more appropriate paper for publication but it is not enough given the international character of Sustainability journal.

For publication it is necessary to study the state of play in other countries that are models of sustainable policies. Research and policies carried out in these countries should be cited.

According to the latest World Green Building Trends report, there are many countries that support the growth of green building with design as a differentiating factor and their research and development is not cited in this paper.
The highest levels of current activity are in Australia/New Zealand, Canada and the US.
The highest levels of growth in those doing a majority of green projects are expected in Brazil, Colombia, Canada and Mexico.
(Australia has already been cited)

The report cites the new methodology is Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) of which this paper says nothing.

The proposed factors should be related to other countries and global and specific conclusions should be drawn.

Relate the conclusions to the state of the art of the policies of these countries (financial support, investment of various resources, certifications such as LEED...) in order to know the way forward for the evolution and development of prefabricated construction in Yancheng.

Please find attached the report.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Thank you for the new contributions, the changes have generated a more appropriate paper for publication but it is not enough given the international character of Sustainability journal.For publication it is necessary to study the state of play in other countries that are models of sustainable policies. Research and policies carried out in these countries should be cited. According to the latest World Green Building Trends report, there are many countries that support the growth of green building with design as a differentiating factor and their research and development is not cited in this paper.The highest levels of current activity are in Australia/New Zealand, Canada and the US.The highest levels of growth in those doing a majority of green projects are expected in Brazil, Colombia, Canada and Mexico.(Australia has already been cited)

Response: We are grateful for the suggestion. We have added research literature on prefabricated buildings in countries such as Canada, US, UK, Malaysia,Australia, and Hong Kong. See literature 6, 7 for details( page 3).We have also added content on the current status and trends in green building activity, as detailed on page 3.

The report cites the new methodology is Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) of which this paper says nothing.The proposed factors should be related to other countries and global and specific conclusions should be drawn.Relate the conclusions to the state of the art of the policies of these countries (financial support, investment of various resources, certifications such as LEED...) in order to know the way forward for the evolution and development of prefabricated construction in Yancheng.

Response: Thank you for your kind suggestions and comments. We have added literature on DfMA, see literature 8 and literature 9 for details( page 3). Added (1) Conclusions and technical measures to the Conclusions section, as detailed on pages 19 and 20.

Reviewer 2 Report

I am satisfied with the changes but have a few more suggestions to how to improve the article: 

Page 3 in the part that was rewritten  

1. Break up the long sentence beginning with "Through literature review and survey interviews..." into two sentences. 

2. Add a transition phrase between the sentence beginning with "The seismic performance..." and the sentence beginning with "Wuni et al. reviewed..." 

3. Clarify what is meant by "regular prefabricated modular MT SFRS"

4. Add a comma after "35 CSFs"

5. Clarify what is meant by "MiC projects"

6. Add a transition phrase between the sentence beginning with "In order to improve..." and the sentence beginning with "As can be seen..." 

7. Clarify what is meant by "green building activity" 

8. Add a comma after "Canada"

On Page 4 

1. Reword the introduction of the piece to provide more context and clarity: The prefabricated building construction method is similar to automobile production, relying on pre-designed components that are factory-made, specialized, and standardized. The main work on construction sites is the installation of components, which can reduce the construction period, on-site wet work and formwork, water and electricity consumption, construction waste, and help protect the environment. 

2. Add more details to the second paragraph to explain the current state of prefabricated building construction: Since China’s State Council promulgated "Guiding Opinions on Vigorously Developing Prefabricated Buildings" in 2016, and established 48 prefabricated building demonstration cities and 316 industrial demonstration bases, the newly-started prefabricated building area in 2021 reached 740 million square meters, accounting for 24.5% of the new building area, and the newly-started prefabricated buildings in key construction areas accounted for 52.1% of the total in China. 

3. Add more details to explain the challenges of prefabricated building construction: However, the popularization of prefabricated buildings increases construction costs and lacks supply-side resources and market awareness. Meanwhile, due to government requirements, market development, and environmental protection, most developers are still in passive acceptance and are forced to build prefabricated buildings. 

4. Reword the conclusion to provide more clarity and focus: Prefabricated building construction is representative of advanced productive forces that can best reflect the advantages of technological progress and industrialization. In China, a package of policies and guidance has been formulated in the stage of exploration and development. Many challenges remain in technology, market, operation, and management that must be addressed in order for prefabricated building construction to become industrialized.

In the conclusion, add a thesis statement to the introduction that states the main points of the write-up. The promotion and implementation of prefabricated buildings still face various dilemmas. The index system of restrictive factors has been established, and the restrictive factors analysis has been realized by the DEMATEL-ISM method, with identifying key factors and restricting factors and putting forward targeted countermeasures and suggestions for the promotion and implementation of prefabricated buildings in Yancheng. This write-up aims to analyze the main constraints of prefabricated buildings in Yancheng, identify key restrictive factors for the vigorous promotion of prefabricated buildings in Yancheng, and suggest targeted countermeasures and suggestions for the promotion and implementation of prefabricated buildings in Yancheng. 

Also, add transition sentences between paragraphs to provide a smoother flow. 

Author Response

Page 3 in the part that was rewritten  

1.Break up the long sentence beginning with "Through literature review and survey interviews..." into two sentences. 

Response: We are grateful for the suggestion. We have rewritten the original sentence into two sentences, as shown on page 3 of the revised manuscript.

2. Add a transition phrase between the sentence beginning with "The seismic performance..." and the sentence beginning with "Wuni et al. reviewed..." 

Response: Thank you for your kind suggestions and comments. It’s been added to the revised manuscript.

3. Clarify what is meant by "regular prefabricated modular MT SFRS"

Response: Thank you for your advice. MT is Mass Timbe, SFRS is Seismic Force Resisting System. The full name of MT SFRS from reference [6] on page 3.

[6] Chen, Zhiyong, Marjan Popovski, and Chun Ni. "A novel floor-isolated re-centering system for prefabricated modular mass timber construction–Concept development and preliminary evaluation." Engineering Structures 222 (2020): 111168.

4. Add a comma after "35 CSFs"

Response: Thank you for your reminder, the revised manuscript has been corrected.

5. Clarify what is meant by "MiC projects".

Response: Thank you for your valuable advice. MiC projects from reference [7] on page 3 is Modular Integrated Construction projects.

[7] Wuni, Ibrahim Yahaya, and Geoffrey Qiping Shen. "Critical success factors for modular integrated construction projects: a review." Building research & information 48.7 (2020): 763-784.

6. Add a transition phrase between the sentence beginning with "In order to improve..." and the sentence beginning with "As can be seen..." 

Response: We have added a transition paragraph on page 3.

7. Clarify what is meant by "green building activity" 

Response: Thanks for your suggestions. The term "green building activity" comes from Chapter 8 of the Smartmarket Report "World Green Building Trends 2021".The term "green building activity" should include all the activities related to green building development, such as green building investigation, research and academic activities.

8. Add a comma after "Canada".

Response: Thank you for your advice. We have corrected the revised manuscript.

On Page 4 

1.Reword the introduction of the piece to provide more context and clarity: The prefabricated building construction method is similar to automobile production, relying on pre-designed components that are factory-made, specialized, and standardized. The main work on construction sites is the installation of components, which can reduce the construction period, on-site wet work and formwork, water and electricity consumption, construction waste, and help protect the environment.

Response: Thank you for your comments. We have rewritten this section as detailed on pages 4 and 5.

2.Add more details to the second paragraph to explain the current state of prefabricated building construction: Since China’s State Council promulgated "Guiding Opinions on Vigorously Developing Prefabricated Buildings" in 2016, and established 48 prefabricated building demonstration cities and 316 industrial demonstration bases, the newly-started prefabricated building area in 2021 reached 740 million square meters, accounting for 24.5% of the new building area, and the newly-started prefabricated buildings in key construction areas accounted for 52.1% of the total in China..

Response: Thank you for your valuable advice. We have added the references [24-26].

[24] Department of Housing and Urban Rural Development of Guangdong Province of the People's Republic of China. Letter of the General Office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development on the Identification of the First Batch of Prefabricated BuildingDemonstration Cities and IndustrialBases(Jian Ban Ke Han [2017] No. 771). [EB/OL].(2017-12-06) . http://zfcxjst.gd.gov.cn/xxgk/wjtz/content/post_1394948.html.

[25] Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People's Republic of China.Notice of the General Office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development onthe Identification of the Second Batch of Model Cities and Industrial Bases of Prefabricated Buildings (Jian Ban Biao Han [2020] No. 470).[EB/OL].(2020-09-15) . https://www.mohurd.gov.cn/gongkai/fdzdgknr/tzgg/202009/20200915_247204.html.

[26] Journal editorial department. The Development of Prefabricated Buildings is Accelerating.J. Construction and Architecture. 2022(10),14-17.(in chinese).

3. Add more details to explain the challenges of prefabricated building construction: However, the popularization of prefabricated buildings increases construction costs and lacks supply-side resources and market awareness. Meanwhile, due to government requirements, market development, and environmental protection, most developers are still in passive acceptance and are forced to build prefabricated buildings. 

Response: The suggestion has been followed. It can be found on page 4 of the revised manuscript.

4. Reword the conclusion to provide more clarity and focus: Prefabricated building construction is representative of advanced productive forces that can best reflect the advantages of technological progress and industrialization. In China, a package of policies and guidance has been formulated in the stage of exploration and development. Many challenges remain in technology, market, operation, and management that must be addressed in order for prefabricated building construction to become industrialized.

Response: The authors appreciate the comments from the reviewer. We have modified and added some content on pages 4-5 of the revised manuscript.

In the conclusion, add a thesis statement to the introduction that states the main points of the write-up. The promotion and implementation of prefabricated buildings still face various dilemmas. The index system of restrictive factors has been established, and the restrictive factors analysis has been realized by the DEMATEL-ISM method, with identifying key factors and restricting factors and putting forward targeted countermeasures and suggestions for the promotion and implementation of prefabricated buildings in Yancheng. This write-up aims to analyze the main constraints of prefabricated buildings in Yancheng, identify key restrictive factors for the vigorous promotion of prefabricated buildings in Yancheng, and suggest targeted countermeasures and suggestions for the promotion and implementation of prefabricated buildings in Yancheng.

Response: We have modified the conclusion on page 19.

Round 3

Reviewer 1 Report

The article has improved considerably and can be published.

Author Response

There are no changes required.