The Board of Investments (BoI) has approved Connovate Philippines Inc. as a new producer of housing components using modular housing components.
In a statement on Tuesday, the BoI said Connovate Philippines’ P93-million project in Panabo City, Davao del Norte province, was expected to produce 47,763 square meters (wall area) yearly once its begins operations this month.
“Given the [coronavirus] pandemic, construction firms [would] likely adapt to modularization and prefabrication for a more effective assembly line and cost-efficiency that will result in accelerated project completions and more productivity for workers. This is particularly important, as there are several projects in the pipeline and the infrastructure program of the government remains in full swing,” Trade Undersecretary and BoI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo said in the statement.
“Once modular and prefabrication gain more traction, it [would] not only lead to lower costs, but also a tougher and longer life-span of structures, as studies have shown,” he added.
Connovate Philippines acquired an exclusive production licensing agreement from Connovate Denmark (CD) and local workers would be trained in the technology and process used by the latter, which is different from conventional construction.
Connovate has a pending trademark application at the Intellectual Property Office.
The firm’s Connovate Precast Wall Panel product is also listed as an accredited technology by the Accreditation of Innovative Technologies for Housing.
This panel is the first high-performance concrete solution for low-income housing projects. Besides using low-carbon emission material, the construction time is faster than those of traditional construction.
The BoI said demand for affordable housing was expected to reach 6.5 million units by 2022.
Of these units, 1.7 million are being prioritized by the government and the remaining 4.8 million are expected to be served by the private sector.