All about great design, high quality and predictable delivery
Recently the Globe & Mail published an article outlining the benefits of prefabricated homes for consumers. The article clearly outlined the benefits of quality, predictability and great design as often making prefab a superior housing solution for both residential and commercial projects.
A point of emphasis, that we thought was particularly important: prefab shouldn’t be considered a superior solution because it is cheap - often a prefab home is the same price as a custom home. This said, prefab clearly outperforms in a number of areas:
Quality:
The age old adage - “you get out what you put in” is very true for a Good Way Home versus lower cost options. Building with high-quality materials can completely reduce the risk of humidity and moisture creating mold and rot in your home, plus lower cost options often use highly toxic materials. We use the highest quality materials for our homes, for example:
SIGA for membranes and tapes
Soprema Group for insulation
Innotech Windows + Doors
This approach has so many benefits for any purchasing a Good Way Home, a few benefits we would highlight are:
Reduced energy costs
Sound - yes sound! You’ll enjoy an environment in which you don’t hear the majority of noises outside your home
Operating costs - if this is a secondary home (or a primary home) this will be a home that lasts for generations
Overall comfort - temperature and sound are highly controlled, by you
Predictable timing and budget:
Brandon Searle, innovation director at the University of New Brunswick’s Off-site Construction Research Centre, said prefab homes are not necessarily cheaper than stick-built, but they do offer “cost certainty” because the design details must be locked in ahead of time. However, they are “definitely faster” to build, he said, due to a combination of the automation benefits of a factory and not being at the whims of adverse weather.* This is true across Canada, and particularly BC and Alberta - where we see challenging building situations for much of the year.
They’re also often better-quality homes, Mr. Searle said. Researchers at the centre have also found prefab builds result in lower-waste and lower-emissions homes, even when factoring in transportation to the site, that tend to result in fewer worker injuries.* The additional, related benefit, is often there is a shortage of trades in communities - our team of skilled trades installs your unit, ensuring a high level of quality and few delays.
Great design:
“I think people, when they think of prefab, they think about little Quonset huts associated with mines or housing in the Far North,” said Carolyn Whitzman, senior housing researcher and adjunct professor at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities, who co-authored a report on prefab housing last year. But “there isn’t an aesthetic difference, or there doesn’t need to be, between prefab and on-site constructed homes.”*
This is a point of emphasis for Good Way Homes - we are leaders in the design of our homes - we’ll let photography from our recent projects do the talking here!
We are excited to be entering this next phase of home building, focused on quality at scale - we can’t wait to discuss your project with you.
*Rolfe, K. (2025, July 31) The Liberals are betting prefab homes will help boost supply. But who will want to live in them?
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/article-canada-housing-prefabricated-homes/
