Why are there so few economies of scale in construction? Part I
The shortest simple explanation IMO is: there is no standard fit or small set of standards fits.<p>Families have different needs, size, ideas, money. Ground where you build a hose and neighborhood are different, local climate is different. The same dress works mostly on anyone because while we have different taste we have almost the same shape and size (a small set of). A car works almost everywhere in the world for similar reasons, a small set of them suffice to match most needs and desires. Homes does not match at all.<p>If you are in a not so hot environment with nice weather most of the year you likely want open air spaces, but if the temperature is nice but also rain is a bit frequent you might like open air COVERED spaces, perhaps instead of grass you prefer something that takes less humidity. If the climate is hot you prefer indoor places and direct Sun exposure minimization tricks, BUT it the hot climate have also a big circadian Δt like many continental places&#x2F;deserts you need also some kind of insulation and a big mass to absorb heat during the day and give back at night. On contrary if you are in a secondary home you might like the little mass as possible to heat&#x2F;cool quickly. If you are in a moderate cold climate big glass walls are very nice both to be inside like you are outside but heat them home with the Sun... On colder climate there is too little Sun so better reduce thermal dispersion, so little windows or even no windows at all is better. If .... and that&#x27;s JUST for the climate, at a veeeery high level overview.<p>Also there is another important part: <i>some</i> countries have much wood and do most part of the houses in wood, there some &quot;standards&quot; fit for scale arrive at the level of semi-finished products like panels, beams etc other countries have industrial capacity and less wood so prefer concrete that demand far less design and precision. Again less options for economy of scale.<p>The real scale that do not want to happen at scale is flexibility. In the past we have had MANY different machines&#x2F;tools per different products. Then CNCs came to life and a whole industry of semi-finished products easy to combine like lego bricks rise. We try now (so far with little scale success) to do even better 3D printing, to in theory get better flexibility on the same tech and reduce waste. With such revolutions &quot;artisanal&quot; products can be produced within industry scales setups. And that&#x27;s is the real revolution &quot;almost there&quot; but not there, not only in construction.