Platform4MMC: Supporting Decision-Making to Drive the Adoption of Modern Methods of Construction in Ireland
Ireland’s housing targets need to be met rapidly while achieving high sustainability standards. Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) offer the opportunity to digitise the construction sector, improving project delivery speed, efficiency, and quality. A research team at University College Dublin (UCD) has developed a platform to connect construction companies to the data behind the value added of MMC systems.
The Irish construction industry needs to go beyond just delivering housing to meet the country’s growing population: new developments must meet stricter social, economic and environmental criteria than ever before. Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) offers a very viable way of achieving this while also innovating and digitising the sector.
But how can Irish construction companies embrace MMC when they don’t have all the relevant data to guide their decision on adopting new technologies and processes?
At University College Dublin (UCD), a research team from the UCD School of Architecture Planning and Environmental Policy engaged industry stakeholders to highlight barriers facing the Irish housing construction sector in adopting MMC. These are (among others): low sector experience with MMC; limited knowledge of the technical / regulatory requirements of different MMC categories; and an over-reliance on cost-based decisions, rather than holistic sustainability metrics.
This was the spark that kicked off Platform4MMC, a project funded by Research Ireland with a cross-disciplinary team led by Dr. Samar Raffoul and Dr. Oliver Kinnane of UCD.
Dr. Samar Raffoul, Research Fellow at UCD and Project Lead for Platform4MMC, summed up the platform as being something comprehensive for the Irish construction ecosystem – designers, specifiers, home builders and suppliers.
“We would like to see Platform4MMC cover all the different MMC categories in detail and become a ‘one stop shop’ to support informed decision-making from pre-project and early design stages through to tendering and procurement, facilitating the uptake of optimum MMC solutions for your specific project.”
Research Fellow at UCD and Project Lead for Platform4MMC
Platform4MMC is a digital decision-support tool developed to increase knowledge and awareness and support holistic data-driven decision-making in the application of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) in Ireland. The platform allows users to evaluate the viability of MMC solutions for their specific construction projects when compared to traditional methods, and assess relevant environmental, social and economic factors. With this digital tool, stakeholders can quantify the total value added from MMC systems beyond cost.
The goal? To build the suitable, sustainable uptake of MMC in Irish housing provision.
“One issue with MMC is the lack of robust data. People use blanket overgeneralised claims about it, like it is ‘greener’ or ‘cheaper’ than traditional construction with no real backing. This is obviously very project specific. There is no single MMC solution which is ‘best’ for all projects. This tool is invaluable for demonstrating what could work best for your specific situation and allows you to meet your targets, be it environmental, economic or social.”
Research Fellow at UCD and Project Lead for Platform4MMC
To use Platform4MMC, users first create a profile for their specific project, and input and securely store project data. With the details logged, they can then use the platform decision-support-tool to check the suitability of selected MMC systems for their project.
Platform4MMC also includes a feature for calculating upfront carbon emissions of select generic wall and floor system models. In the first prototype of the platform, this focuses on A1-A4 emissions of MMC Category 2 and MMC Category 7 and compares them to traditional construction options. This is particularly invaluable as reporting requirements for embodied carbon in construction projects are becoming stricter.
While this is useful for SMEs, future planned iterations for Platform4MMC will allow users to also see the precise embodied carbon credentials, across the supply chain, of products by any given manufacturer. This will help construction companies, particularly at the smaller end of the scale, to make more sustainable choices and meet their compliance requirements.
“We envision SMEs to become a major part of our user base because we see this tool as an equaliser for them, to bridge the knowledge gap in MMC. A huge amount of housing in Ireland of around 80% is supplied by SMEs, and these are the companies that need most support as they often lack the R&D capabilities that big companies have.”
Research Fellow at UCD and Project Lead for Platform4MMC
Outside the decision-support tool, Platform4MMC also offers an interactive MMC Market Interface which links tool users to the MMC supply chain – something which is lacking in Ireland. The Market Interface includes a large Irish MMC supplier database with information on their geographic locations, product offerings, and contact details on an interactive map. This supports users - enabling logistics planning and calculation of transport emissions - and also MMC suppliers, who need to widen their customer base and visibility to achieve the consistent pipeline they need.
Users can also access a MMC Knowledge Hub of relevant resources, including relevant case studies, reports, research publications, company Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), and updates on other publicly logged projects. All data in the Knowledge Hub is transparent and traceable to its source. Indeed, Platform4MMC is designed cast a wide net to other resources. For example, the tool features API integration with EPD Catalogues from global software with data validated against a stakeholder base for greater accuracy.
Following extensive research, Platform4MMC launched its first prototype for stakeholder testing in November 2025, but the team are already looking at scaling the tool. Future phases will expand into wider MMC categories. The carbon assessment feature will be extended to incorporate ecological and circularity impacts of construction solutions. It will also include regulatory reporting to allow users to check how compliant their project is with sustainability requirements; CPDs developed by academic and industry experts; and a dynamic costing tool to assess cost contributors to a given project.
“Ultimately, we would like to see Platform4MMC expanded out from housing and into education, healthcare, hospitality, and beyond. We see it as a tool for the whole construction industry facilitating enhanced, data-driven and holistic decision-making when it comes to construction technologies, materials and processes to meet the wider societal needs.”
Research Fellow at UCD and Project Lead for Platform4MMC
This project has received funding from Research Ireland for its three initial phases, with Samar and the team now seeking funding (with the feedback of industry stakeholders) to scale the platform for wider deployment in the Irish market.