Prof. Jason Van Nest's journey in the industry began after grad school when helped influential New York architects grapple with larger waves of new digital tools. The work led him to consult for various architecture firms, help them systematize repeating design elements, and eventually get hired to offer digital solutions deeper into the modular industry. Still, Jason watched the best digital solutions to repetitive housing designs get slowed by on-site building techniques. That’s when the potential for industrial construction became an obvious evolution to streamline the whole production pipeline.
Jason is now the Executive Director of the New York Tech’s Center for Offsite Construction, a non-profit organization is dedicated to developing open-source standards to propel the growth of US offsite construction. The Center has spent years learning from other industries, mapping (for example,) how the USB standard exploded the computer peripheral marketplace in the late 1990s. The Center’s goal is to bring together engineers, real estate developers, architects, and general contractors to create and adopt similar connectivity standards. They believe this foundation of cooperation is the key to streamlining the design and construction process for all, making it more efficient and cost-effective for all.
While the benefits of connectivity standards in offsite construction appear clear, the Center sees additional challenges to overcome. They also spend focus on “the lending problem,” noting that traditional lending methods are calibrated to on-site construction but are not well-suited to support modular construction projects. A second research project at the Center is publishing papers that highlight the need for lending products that evolve to match the direction of contemporary construction. They focus on loaning methods that assess and manage the risks associated with offsite construction, and enable the finance industry to scale in tandem with the construction industry.
Jason's startup, Logic Building Systems, focuses on commercializing the research behind the open-source standard. Logic is designed to be a next-generation modular player, first creating couplings that embody the connectivity standard, and then offering pre-designed kitchen, bathroom, and utility room pods that already fit those couplings. The result is “interoperability”… converting any project into one that can benefit from offsite methods. Logic’s goal is to unlock new levels of collaboration, ease, and savings to vastly more traditional builders.
The future of offsite construction looks promising, once efforts to standardize processes and improve collaboration are in place. Jason and the whole team at the New York Tech’s Center for Offsite Construction are working to bring these innovations to market, with the conviction that these solutions are the best way to address America’s affordable housing crisis.
Special note: The New York Tech Center for Offsite Construction is actively seeking more advisory members and partners to join their efforts. In this episode, he invites interested parties to connect with the Center to learn more.
Center for Offsite Construction
New York Tech School of Architecture and Design
1855 Broadway, Room 1108
New York City, NY 10023
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