Day 3 of the MOD X Greater Boston Exchange 2026!
MOD X brought us together for one final day of the exchange for an information-laden offsite construction symposium at Northeaster University. Key speakers were Massachusetts 4th Congressional District Congressman Jake Auchincloss and Geogre Guszcsa, the CEO of the National Insitute of Building Sciences. Panel discussions included leaders from Bensonwood Unity Homes, Saint-Gobain CertainTeed, Reframe Systems, Icon Architecture, Volumetric building Companies, City of Boston Housing Innovation Lab, and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC).
It was great to hear from all of the presenters about the work they are doing to transform the construction industry in New England and beyond. But it was especially exciting to hear that in D.C. we have a congressional representative such as Auchincloss who has a clear understanding of how the federal goverment might accelerate offsite construction. He outlined “five levers” for the federal government to push as part of what he called a Light Touch Industrial Policy:
R&D funding is needed to cover the span from initial idea to commercial viability
Degamnd aggregation so as to give manufacturers confidence in a definable stream of demand
Federal governement could play the role of a risk mitigating partner by doing such things as securitizing capital for manufacturing
Policy and regulation reform
Land banking and land assembly
Auchincloss noted that no state needs to wait for the federal government to act on these levers. Each state has the power to activate these levers internally (ok, Maryland!!!).