Wednesday, 28 January, 2026
Researcher: Associate Professor Daniel McCrum, UCD School of Civil Engineering
Summary
As housing demand continues to rise, Ireland faces a critical challenge: conventional construction approaches are slow, labour-intensive and environmentally costly. Productivity in the sector has stagnated for decades, while Ireland’s ageing workforce intensifies pressures on an already strained system.
Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) offer a compelling alternative. By shifting building processes from site-based construction into factory-based manufacturing, MMC enables higher-quality, faster, and more sustainable construction. Yet until recently, Ireland lacked the scientific and technical evidence required to support widespread adoption of these systems.
Dr Daniel McCrum, UCD School of Civil Engineering, is filling this gap. Through comprehensive structural testing, computational modelling, stakeholder engagement and national policy collaboration, his research is providing the foundational knowledge needed to build homes safely and more sustainably using MMC. His work directly informs (opens in a new window)Housing for All, the government’s (opens in a new window)housing action plan 2025-2030, as well as the government’s (opens in a new window)MMC Action Plan and other national efforts to modernise Ireland’s construction sector.
Research description
A key barrier to MMC adoption has been the absence of design guidance and regulatory clarity. Engineers, certifiers and policymakers have long lacked reliable data on how modular and panelised systems behave under real-world conditions.
Dr McCrum’s research has transformed this landscape by providing accurate, safe and efficient structural design guidance for the first time. This guidance is based on hands-on testing carried out by Dr McCrum’s team on modular connection joints and panelised steel components used in offsite construction. The research also created new ways of modelling and analysing modular and panelised buildings so engineers can better predict how these modern construction systems behave in real life.
This guidance has been informed by experimental testing of offsite modular connection joints and panelised steel components by Dr McCrum’s team, as well as developing new modelling techniques for modular and panelised construction. The team has also conducted behavioural research exploring public and professional perceptions of MMC.
This body of work provides the necessary evidence that MMC systems can meet, and often exceed, the performance of traditionally built homes.
Research impact
Driving national policy and regulation
The Irish Government has identified MMC as a key enabler of its Housing for All targets and recent (opens in a new window)Housing Action Plan: Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030. Yet implementing MMC at scale requires clear technical standards, consistent certification pathways, and confidence among industry professionals. To support this, Dr McCrum leads a major €3 million national project funded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and in collaboration with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
The project is developing standardised construction details for MMC housing; open-access structural test data for industry and regulators; guidance across structure, fire, acoustic, durability and energy performance; and robust compliance frameworks for building regulations.
This work is highlighted in the recent housing action plan and directly supports Action 33 of the MMC Action Plan, enabling faster, more consistent adoption of MMC systems across the housing sector.
Dr McCrum has also presented research findings to the following policy stakeholders, ensure policy decisions are grounded in scientific evidence and reflect the realities of Irish building practice:
- The MMC Leadership and Integration Group (Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment)
- The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, and the Construction Industry Federation’s Smart Off-site Association
- National Standards Authority of Ireland
- Department of Housing technical groups
- MMC Ireland national conferences
- Construct Innovate webinars
Supporting Industry to build better and faster
Engagement with construction professionals is central to Dr McCrum’s impact. His team is actively supporting industry through:
- National MMC workshops. A major workshop convened more than 50 representatives from engineering firms, architects, manufacturers, MMC suppliers, insurers, certifiers and government bodies. This collective forum identified shared challenges, prioritised areas for standardisation of MMC, and strengthened cross-sector collaboration.
- Industry training and knowledge exchange. A widely attended Institution of Structural Engineers webinar (244 participants) led to new collaborations with consulting firms, Arup and BB7, illustrating strong industry demand for reliable MMC evidence.
- Engineering tools and resources. New computational models and experimental datasets allow designers to accurately understand connection details and structural performance, improve system design, and verify compliance with national requirements. By providing these tools, the research reduces uncertainty and supports the development of high-quality, future-proof homes.
Contributing to climate action and environmental sustainability
MMC can help tackle climate change by making buildings more environmentally friendly. They reduce waste, lower carbon emissions, and minimise disruption on construction sites by being up to 50% quicker than traditional construction techniques. This research supports these goals by helping manufacturers produce more precise building components that improve structural efficiency, making it easier to reuse and recycle materials and design templates, cutting down waste by building more parts offsite and reducing the overall carbon footprint of delivering new homes.
Building the workforce of the future
A transition to MMC demands new skills across design, engineering, construction and manufacturing. Dr McCrum is designing a new master’s programme in Sustainable Construction with colleagues in UCD Civil Engineering that introduces future engineers and construction professionals to offsite manufacturing, digital design workflows, automated fabrication technologies, and on-site assembly processes. The programme is supported by a €400,000 Enterprise Ireland grant for advanced manufacturing equipment, including a 3D concrete printer.
Raising public awareness of MMC
To build broader understanding, Dr McCrum serves as the technical advisor and featured academic expert for a national television documentary on MMC aired on Virgin Media; (opens in a new window)Constructing Tomorrow – Building Differently. A (opens in a new window)companion series of public-facing informational videos illustrates how modern homes are designed and built. Dr McCrum also appeared on RTE’s (opens in a new window)10 Things to Know About – Building Ireland series discussing MMC.
Advancing academic knowledge
The research has made substantial contributions to the international knowledge base on MMC, including:
- Six peer-reviewed journal publications on structural behaviour, modelling and design of MMC
- Eight conference presentations across Europe
- Leadership of the MMC research stream at Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2023 & 2026
- International collaborations with institutions including University of Sheffield, Imperial College London, University of Cambridge, Beijing University of Technology, University of Waikato, and Nottingham Trent University
These outputs establish UCD as a leading centre for MMC research in Ireland and internationally.
