How Signature Leaders Are Shaping the Future of Modular Construction
Across three major industry events this year, Signature Building Systems offered industry insights to modular construction conversation. Our team provided evidence-based perspectives drawn from engineering, development, building science, and decades of manufacturing experience. Each presentation focused on the real issues that shape today’s construction environment. Affordability. Sustainability. Energy performance. Predictability. Modular construction is a reliable, scalable, and proven strategy for meeting the country’s housing challenges.
These events highlighted a simple truth. Signature is not waiting for the housing industry to evolve. We are leading change.
1. Using Offsite Construction to Address Affordable Housing
Event
MassTimber+ Offsite Construction Conference
Presentation
Using Offsite Construction to Achieve Affordable Housing
Speaker
Mike Kirby, Director of Engineering and Commercial Operations, Signature Building Systems
Signature Director of Engineering Mike Kirby delivered a detailed look at how modular construction supports affordable housing through predictable engineering, repeatable design, and controlled fabrication.
The course objective was to help architects, engineers, and developers understand how offsite construction can deliver quality affordable housing at scale. Mike used Signature’s project experience to demonstrate how factory production improves schedule reliability, reduces waste, limits rework, and strengthens building performance. Modular sequencing allows site work and manufacturing to proceed at the same time. This often shortens timelines by as much as thirty percent, which directly reduces cost.
Mike highlighted a defining achievement in modular energy performance. The PHIUS certified La Mora Senior Housing project reached an airtightness level of 0.053 CFM per square foot at negative fifty Pascals. This performance exceeds the typical target and demonstrates the effectiveness of factory controlled air sealing and documented quality control steps. Mike explained how early coordination with design teams, prototype module testing, factory training, and dedicated quality control roles made this possible.
He also reinforced the importance of disciplined envelope and mechanical design for affordable housing. Efficient footprints, thoughtful window sizing, simplified structural spans, and strategic mechanical layouts reduce material usage, improve durability, and minimize operating costs for tenants. These lessons help development teams avoid costly redesign cycles and ensure projects stay aligned with their financial goals.
This project was a great example of the client deciding to use Modular construction from the start. The architect was able to design this complex building to our parameters yet also taking advantage of efficiencies modular can provide. So often clients pivot late to a modular option after spending time and money on a non modular design.
Mike concluded with a message echoed throughout Signature. Affordable housing outcomes improve when design and manufacturing move in sync. Modular supports that alignment.
2. Case Study: Modular Delivery for Passive House and High Performance Projects
Event
Offsite Construction Summit - Pittsburgh
Session
Case Study: Using Custom Modular Fabrication to Achieve Passive House Energy Use Standards
Speaker
Tom O’Hara, Commercial Development Manager, Signature Building Systems
Tom O’Hara presented two of Signature’s most technically demanding projects and demonstrated how modular construction provides unmatched consistency and control for high performance buildings.
He began by grounding the audience in building science fundamentals using the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index. Most existing homes rate above 100. Zero Energy homes approach 40 to 30 and can achieve 0 when renewable energy sources are added to the build. Achieving significant reductions in energy use requires disciplined envelope design, quality control, and precise mechanical integration. Modular construction provides the conditions needed to meet those standards.
What Nantucket Taught Us
Tom shared the results from the Richmond Great Point Workforce Housing project in Nantucket. This 225 unit development was built under the Massachusetts Stretch Code, which underwent three ever more restrictive revisions during the project. Each change required tighter envelopes and more advanced air sealing strategies. Modular construction made those adjustments possible without disrupting either the architecture or the schedule.
Tom highlighted the core lessons from Nantucket:
Modular construction is an excellent way to achieve high performance buildings.
Factory clean environments reduce rework.
Factory labor crews are experienced, organized, and consistent.
Quality control systems are documented, predictable, and repeatable.
These lessons prepared Signature for a more complex challenge.
La Mora Senior Housing: Passive House Delivered
Tom then walked through the La Mora Senior Housing Apartments, a PHIUS certified four story, sixty unit modular multifamily development in Yonkers, New York.
He detailed the building envelope strategy:
R-23 Rockwool stud insulation plus 1.5 inches of ZIP R sheathing providing an exterior R 9 continuous insulation layer.
R 39 spray foam between rafters installed on site.
Blown in cellulose achieving R 60 in the roof assembly.
A high performance window package achieving U 0.26.
Random factory blower door testing to ensure consistent air sealing.
The results were exceptional. The PHIUS airtightness target was 0.06 CFM per square foot. La Mora achieved 0.053 CFM per square foot. This equates to air leakage of roughly 76 cubic feet per day from the more than 500,000 CF volume of the building. For a four story modular structure with a large site-built component, this level of airtightness is extremely difficult to achieve, but we accomplished this in our first Passive House project.
Tom also connected these lessons to current high performance work on the UMass Amherst student townhouses and the 45,000 SQFT Modular Assembly Building in Livingston Manor. These projects demonstrate how modular construction scales from workforce housing to student housing to specialized community buildings, all while maintaining performance, schedule, and consistency.
Tom summarized his presentation with a clear conclusion taken directly from his deck. Modular construction is not only capable of meeting high performance standards. It is the best choice for developers who want predictable, sustainable documented results.
3. Reducing the Cost of Affordable Housing
Event
Litchfield County's 2025 Housing Affordability Summit
Panel
Reducing the Costs of Affordable Housing: A Panel and Brainstorming Session
Speakers
David Berto, President, Housing Enterprises, Inc.
Craig Landri, President, Signature Building Systems
Paul E. Jorgensen, AIA, Architectural & Technical Services Manager, Connecticut Dept. of Housing
Paul Selnau, Architect/CEO, Schadler Selnau Associates
Seila Mosquera-Bruno, Commissioner, Connecticut Dept. of Housing
The Connecticut Department of Housing assembled architects, policymakers, affordable housing consultants, and Signature President Craig Landri to take on one of the most pressing issues in the Northeast. The rising cost of affordable housing. With development costs often landing between $425-500k per unit, the panel addressed what is driving these increases and where realistic savings can come from.
The panel focused on the decisions that most directly influence feasibility. Projects become unaffordable long before construction starts. Oversized building footprints, complex roof geometry, excessive common areas, and premium finishes create conditions that many communities cannot support. Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno discussed how simplified geometry, efficient layouts, and value driven specifications are not sacrifices. They are practical steps that protect budgets, improve approval timelines, and maintain long term durability.
Craig Landri emphasized the role modular construction plays in reducing soft costs and controlling risk. Traditional construction often loses months in predevelopment, permitting, financing, and early site work. During those delays, design changes, labor scarcity, and inflation continue adding cost. Modular construction compresses timelines by allowing site work and factory production to proceed simultaneously. It reduces weather exposure, provides predictable labor, and limits redesign cycles. For smaller towns and nonprofit developers, this level of reliability is essential.
The panel confirmed what Signature has seen across the Northeast. The future of affordable housing requires practical design discipline and a delivery method that removes uncertainty. Modular provides both.
Moving the Industry Forward
These events reflect a shift in how developers, architects, and policymakers are evaluating modular construction. The market is no longer asking if modular works. It is asking how to integrate modular more effectively and at a greater scale. Signature continues to support this shift by sharing our data, lessons, and proven methods with developers from our experience in real multifamily, senior living, student housing, and community projects.
Our team remains committed to open communication, technical excellence, and continuous improvement.
Connect With Our Team
Developers, architects, and community leaders who would like to explore modular strategies for multifamily, affordable housing, student housing, senior living, or high performance projects can contact Signature’s commercial development team for project guidance and feasibility discussions.