The Potential Contribution of Modular Volumetric Timber Buildings to Circular Construction: A State-of-the-Art Review Based on Literature and 60 Case Studies

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors have made a review of 60 case studies of modular timber building projects to determine the state of the art and make conclusions regarding the potential of timber use for 3D prefabricated construction elements in 4 types of buildings ( commercial, residential, public, mixed) with different height (i.e. storey range from 1 to 9).

The literature review is adequate, and the methodology for the performed analysis of the literature data case studies is well explained and illustrated in the manuscript.

The PRISMA methodology was used for the purpose of the analysis. 

The manuscript includes a classification of the case study buildings, as described above, but also a classification of the timber elements used based on dimensions and mass. Special attention was brought to applicability of each of the analyzed timber element types in the architectural design and construction techniques and practices. Furthermore, the logistics of the application of the timber modules is also analyzed.

The authors also report on the quantities of the embodied CO2 per timber module, based on the reported data from the literature case studies.

The article is generally well organized.

The only minor suggestions for improvement would be:

1.  Provide additional references and explanation of the PRISMA methodology for readers which are not familiar with it.

2. In addition to reports on the mass of the timber modules, it would be good to include typical density, i.e. specific volumes of the timber modules of unit mass, and to make a correlation with the embodied CO2 data. Use this correlation data for the results and conclusions. The dimensions of the elements is already well documented in the article, so this should not require much effort for the authors, but the reported data would be more universal and provide better insight of the problem for researchers/readers.

 

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear Authors,

this publication is very interesting, especially for me because I am very interested in the development of timber construction in Europe. The publication contains theory and research and is therefore suitable for publication in a scientific journal. As a general comment, I would suggest to work on the introduction and the conclusions of the paper, which can be implemented in the economy. The modular construction industry is growing rapidly, and this kind of work is particularly helpful. Please find attached a PDF file with the comments.

Best regards

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear authors,

Thank you for preparing this manuscript. There are a few areas of improvement that need to be addressed before considering publication. Please find attached a report. Of more importance is the clarification of the aim and justification of the study.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Comments on the Quality of English Language

English is ok with a few spotted typos

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear authors, 

Thank you for the revision. I am satisfied with your responses.