Pittsburgh-based home building startup Module was launched with the goal of creating attainable, accessible, right-sized housing. The modular company’s homes are designed to high energy-efficiency standards and factory-built using off-site, modular construction techniques. CEO Brian Gaudio says that in the process of the modular builds, Module was continuing to ask manufacturing partners “to push the limits” with innovative, sustainable, and durable products. From this scenario, the idea for the Last Mile Lab was formed.
The Last Mile Lab functions as a construction innovation lab as well as a workforce training program. The space’s goal is to fuel innovation in the home building sector while supporting Module’s mission to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive way to build housing. In addition to innovation and training, the facility also serves as a finishing facility for Module homes in the Pittsburgh market. The facility is supported by funding from the Richard King Mellon Foundation. Gaudio says the funding provides a “lens of social impact” to the work being done in the Last Mile Lab, expanding the purpose of the facility beyond just research.
“The Last Mile Lab is a physical place in Pittsburgh where we can be actively performing new product innovation and research that will push the envelope in terms of building performance for modular construction and sharing those learnings back with the industry,” Gaudio says. “We’re able to test things, figure out case studies integrating products before we bring them out to the larger industry.”
The Last Mile Lab works with building product manufacturers with an acute focus on sustainability, durability, and the quality of life within a home. Companies can apply through the Last Mile Lab website to become an innovation partner, allowing manufacturers to test products in the facility and tweak products for modular application.
“We have an innovation partner program for the Last Mile Lab where we will collaborate with a specific building product manufacturer on a research project,” Gaudio says. “It might be that a siding manufacturer is working on a new product, and they want to understand how it can be installed in a factory setting. We test that [product] out on a project, showcase the details, and then bring that up to other parts of the industry.”
Module is partnering with Carnegie Mellon University on research related to off-site construction optimization. Gaudio says the size of the Last Mile Lab compared with large manufacturing plants allows more applied research to be conducted in the facility. While it is more difficult to implement and integrate new products in a large-scale manufacturing facility without disrupting the line and potentially impacting production, the Last Mile Lab offers a setting that promotes such research and innovation.
“We’re able to leverage the research we’re doing with Carnegie Mellon University and then apply that in a close-to-real-world setting. Last Mile Lab is not a modular factory, but rather a test bed for new ways to build using off-site construction,” Gaudio says. “We’re able to use that in real-world settings and build case studies that can then apply to the larger industry.
Developing a Future Workforce
The Last Mile Lab is also being used to develop a workforce development program to help get more individuals—particularly women and minorities—involved in the construction industry, specifically the modular sector. Module is partnering with the Trade Institute of Pittsburgh to create a modular-specific training program for students with the organization. The first cohort, five carpentry students from the Trade Institute of Pittsburgh, graduated in July.
“One of my co-founders, Hallie [Dumont, Module’s chief design officer], worked for a woman-owned construction company. She mentioned that the more people who look like you, the easier it is to envision yourself in that industry,” Gaudio says. “Part of why we wanted to focus our forward development specifically on women and minorities is that there are a lot of [white male] people in the industry. Someone like Hallie who was on a lot of jobsites, the passion she has for making construction a more inclusive environment will actually help alleviate the labor shortage.”
In the search for a workforce development partner, Gaudio says the “open door” policy of the Trade Institute of Pittsburgh appealed to Module and aligned with the vision of lowering the industry's barriers to entry. The program requires no driver’s license or math aptitude test, only a positive attitude and willingness to learn about the trades.
“In the construction industry, we have such a huge shortage that we have to look at ourselves and [evaluate] how we can make it more accessible and easy to enter the trades,” Gaudio says.
Gaudio says the modular industry offers several different experiences to traditional stick-framed construction of which laborers may not be aware. Since the jobsite is covered, it is protected from the elements, allowing work to be completed year-round and removing some of the seasonality in construction assembly. Additionally, there are safety benefits that can be realized from assembling components in a factory setting.
“Think about installing shingles. Installing while your two feet are on the ground versus on the third story on scaffolding, there’s a big difference,” Gaudio says. “I actually think there’s a lot of benefits for the modular industry to be shared with folks looking to get into the trades.”
The Next Mile Network
While the Last Mile Lab is in its early stages, Gaudio says there is interest from other localities on the East Coast in bringing a lab to their cities. Scaling supports Module’s overall goal of making the off-site industry more accessible and expanding the sector to more urban centers, rather than the typical rural locations for factories. While modular has typically been seen as a tool to export jobs out of urban areas, the presence of a Last Mile Lab could instead help create trade jobs.
“There’s a mayor of a town that has manufacturing rigs that’s trying to figure out how do we implement [a Last Mile Lab] in that city where there was a ton of heavy industry [jobs] and those jobs have gone away,” Gaudio says. “I think it’s definitely applicable in other markets, and we’re working on scaling that.”
As part of the Next Mile Network scaling efforts, Module is partnering with Enterprise Community Partners, a national affordable housing intermediary and an owner and developer of affordable homes.
“We’re proposing to take the concept that Module has started in Pittsburgh and use that as a vehicle to train new entrants into the construction trades and to look at how an urban facility can be one to drive modular production and other off-site construction,” says Patrick Jordan, the president of Heron Community Consulting and the former vice president of integration at Enterprise Community Partners.
Jordan says conversations have begun with several jurisdictions in the Mid-Atlantic, including Prince George’s County and Baltimore in Maryland, and Washington, D.C., with facilities that match the footprint of the Last Mile Lab in Pittsburgh. Module is looking to generate the funding needed to launch feasibility studies in the fall, with potential Last Mile Labs opening in other cities in 2024. Feasibility studies would assess the infrastructure in expansion cities, market demand, potential workforce development partners, and the appetite of the local jurisdiction for modular construction work.
“One reason we see real value is that cities are in need of this housing. There are partners and housing authorities that are both trying to provide this housing and have residents that can benefit from the workforce development aspect,” Jordan says. “What the Next Mile Lab [would] allow us to do is create some synergies.”
