2.3 . Costs The costs of MMC should be comparable with the prevailing methods of construction in Iran . Higher costs of MMC products are a major barrier to broader applications of MMC in both Iran and the UK . The average cost of MMC in the UK is currently 8-15 % more than traditional methods ( CABE 2004 ) and it has been estimated that such materials and products could be up to four times more expensive in Iran than in other countries ( ICC 2005 ). Nevertheless , some examples in the UK , such as Design for Manufacture ( DfM ) 60K house competition in 2005 , prove that MMC can produce affordable , high quality , sustainable houses ( English Partnerships 2006 ; HCA 2010 ).
Transportation distances are also one of the barriers towards broader application of MMC in the UK since well-established factories are situated in the north of England while the demand is in the south ( Bagenholm et al . 2001 ). This is also an important issue in Iran since Iran is a vast country and transportation can considerably increase the costs . Recent increases on fuel costs in both Iran and the UK make this issue more important . MMC factories should therefore be located around the areas where the current and future demands are concentrated . It is vital to avoid unnecessarily long transport of materials / products , which increase costs and CO2 emissions of MMC .
Meanwhile , construction material and labour costs are much less in Iran than in the UK ; however , inflation is much higher ( average of 21.5 % in 2011 ( CBI 2013c ) and the economy is less stable . According to Statistical Centre of Iran , the increased costs of construction materials in 2012 varied between 22.5 % and 180.5 % compared to 2011 in Tehran ( SCI 2013b ). The majority of construction materials have seen an increase of more than 35 % while many have seen a price increase of above 100 % during this period which is much higher than the average inflation . These factors can considerably affect the finished prices of MMC in Iran ; however , the same situation applies to other products and industries .
Other issues such as lower quality and much more material waste ( explained below ) as well as much higher construction dead-load , make the Iranian traditional construction methods rather more expensive than those in the UK . Therefore , while MMC are about 8-15 % more expensive than the traditional methods of construction in the UK ( CABE 2004 ), the finished prices of some MMC may be well below the costs of the conventional methods in Iran . Moreover , because of low quality of materials and poor workmanship ( Figure 2 : Low building quality in Iran .), Iranian buildings have a short lifespan and are vulnerable in the event of earthquake ( Hashemi 2014 ). The average building lifespan in Iran is about 30 years ( Fatemi 2009 ) compared to the normally expected building lifespan of 60 years . Due to better quality controls in the factory , MMC can potentially produce buildings with longer lifespans and less maintenance , leading to personal and national savings particularly in terms of the embodied energy of buildings . In addition , the higher construction speed of MMC means enhanced value as investors ’ money will not be bound up in one project for a long time .
Feasibility of Application of Modern Methods of Construction in Iran 23