Article
Factors Influencing Modern Timber Structure Building
Development in China
Qiang Du
1
, Runnan Zhang
2,
*, Changlu Cai
2
and Liangwei Jin
2
Citation: Du, Q.; Zhang, R.; Cai, C.;
Jin, L. Factors Influencing Modern
Timber Structure Building
Development in China. Sustainability
2021, 13, 7936. https://doi.org/
10.3390/su13147936
Academic Editor: João Carlos de
Oliveira Matias
Received: 15 April 2021
Accepted: 12 July 2021
Published: 16 July 2021
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4.0/).
1
School of Economics and Management, Chang’an University, Center for Green Engineering and Sustainable
Development, Xi’an 710064, China; q.du@chd.edu.cn
2
School of Civil Engineering, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China; cl.cai@chd.edu.cn (C.C.);
jinlw@chd.edu.cn (L.J.)
* Correspondence: RN_Zhang@chd.edu.cn
Abstract:
In China, modern timber structure (MTS) has great market potential as an advanced
architectural technology and corresponds to the direction of construction industrialization. However,
the MTS building sector is still developing slowly, despite previous efforts by the Chinese government
to promote its development. The development of the MTS building industry involves numerous
stakeholders, and the complex relationships and behaviors of stakeholders are regarded as the reason
for slow development. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the influencing factors related to
MTS building from the stakeholders’ perspectives. The social network analysis (SNA) method was
used to explore the key factors affecting MTS building development and analyze the interactions
of influencing factors. Nine stakeholders were identified, and 23 influencing factors associated
with these stakeholders were determined based on a literature review, questionnaire survey and
interviews with specialists. The critical factors were government policy, the public’s understanding
and acceptance, market positioning and development cost. In addition, the relationships of designer,
prefabricated component manufacturer, and construction enterprise were very close. Based on the
findings, corresponding countermeasures were put forward, including policy incentives and support
expansion, technical specification system improvements, public awareness reinforcement, and the
strengthening of personnel training, etc. This paper contributes to the developmental improvement
of the MTS building sector in China.
Keywords: modern timber structure; influencing factor; stakeholder; social network analysis
1. Introduction
In recent years, the Chinese government has vigorously promoted the transformation
of the traditional construction mode to industrialized building systems in order to reduce
energy consumption and upgrade construction quality [
1
]. As an element of construc-
tion industrialization, prefabricated building has been increasingly advocated, owing to
its benefits, such as faster construction, reduced construction defects, lower energy con-
sumption, and lower waste production [
2
,
3
]. In 2016, the State Council of the People’s
Republic of China issued the Opinions of the Communist Party of China Central Com-
mittee and the State Council on strengthening the management of urban planning and
construction, emphasizing prefabricated building development in China [
4
]. In addition,
the Chinese government has actively promoted the application of green building materials.
The green building action plan issued by the Chinese Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural
Development (MOHURD) encouraged the use of energy-efficient materials in new con-
structions and guided Urban and Rural Construction with recycling, green and low-carbon
concepts [
5
]. The main building materials in China are concrete, steel, brick, and timber [
6
].
Timber, as a natural and green building material, is seen as a low-impact material
from the perspective of greenhouse gas emissions and solid waste compared with concrete
and steel [
7
]. From a carbon balance perspective, the benefits of using timber as a building
Sustainability 2021, 13, 7936. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147936 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability
