Assemblyman Jo O-seop: "LH Insists on Outdated Construction Method 'Wall-Type Structure'"

Interfloor Noise and Space Flexibility Vulnerabilities... Developed New Technologies Are 'Cold Rice'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] It has been revealed that the multi-family housing supplied by Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) insists only on the 'wall-type structure,' which is vulnerable to inter-floor noise and spatial variability.

In particular, although LH developed a new technology called 'Yugongbo,' which can reduce construction costs to activate the column-type structure in LH multi-family housing and even completed pilot applications, the actual application remains at a nascent stage.

As inter-floor noise has recently emerged as a serious social issue, calls for fundamental improvements in building structures are growing louder.

According to the national audit data submitted by Representative Jo O-seop (Gwangju Buk-gu Gap, Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee & Budget Committee) on the 6th, the LH apartments scheduled for supply from 2021 to 2025 total 141,184 units, consisting of 118,501 units (83.9%) of wall-type structure, 19,573 units (13.8%) of column-type structure, 2,830 units (2.8%) of combined wall+column structure, and 280 units (0.2%) of others.

Among these, rental apartments total 100,256 units, including 78,723 units (78.5%) of wall-type structure, 18,423 units (18.5%) of column-type structure, 2,830 units (2.8%) of combined wall+column structure, and 280 units (0.2%) of others.

For sale apartments total 40,928 units, with 39,778 units (97.2%) of wall-type structure and 1,150 units (2.8%) of column-type structure planned for occupancy, showing a higher proportion of wall-type structure design compared to rental apartments.

The wall-type structure supports the ceiling with load-bearing walls without columns or beams, making it vulnerable to inter-floor noise and low spatial variability; however, it allows for more floors and is preferred by construction companies due to lower construction costs.

On the other hand, the column-type structure supports the ceiling with columns and beams, which has disadvantages such as higher floor height and construction costs but offers strengths in resisting inter-floor noise and excellent spatial variability.

In fact, a precise cost analysis conducted by LH in 2013, changing the design of a district from wall-type to column-type structure, showed that the column-type structure incurred 6.2% higher construction costs for rental apartments and 5.5% higher for sale apartments.

Accordingly, since 2015, LH has developed 'Yugongbo' to realize long-lasting multi-family housing and secure the economic feasibility of the column-type structure, which is advantageous for inter-floor noise, completing pilot application and performance analysis by May 2019.

The 'Yugongbo Application Plan for Activating Column-Type Structure' released by the LH structural design team in November 2019 projected that applying Yugongbo to the column-type structure could reduce floor height by 10 cm, resulting in a cost-saving effect of approximately 1 million KRW per unit.

However, Representative Jo explained that as LH insists on the wall-type structure, the newly developed technology 'Yugongbo' has become neglected.

Representative Jo said, “With nearly 1,000 complaints about inter-floor noise in LH multi-family housing over the past five years, building structures must be designed from a long-term perspective to reduce unnecessary social conflicts and costs. Various technological changes are needed to reduce inter-floor noise and increase spatial variability from the citizens' standpoint, not the construction companies', to improve the quality of housing.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.