All Episodes
Built Different — 62 episodes
Episode 62: Cambria Hotel O'Fallon Sets Modules in 8 Days
Episode 61: Hagerty's Freedom to Build Act and Modular Reciprocity
Episode 60: Meta's $115M Craft Labor Bet for AI Data Centers
Episode 59: Prefab's Play in the Data Center Build Surge
Episode 58: Pennsylvania SB 908 Targets Modular Factory Wages
Counterparty Risk: What Happens If Your Factory Fails
Schedule Risk: Why Modular Projects Still Run Late
Design Liability: Who's Responsible When Modules Don't Work?
Labor Risk at the Factory: When Workers Walk
Supply Chain Risk: When Your Factory Can't Get Materials
Exit Strategies: How Modular Affects Disposition and Refinance
Tax Implications of Modular: Depreciation, Sales Tax, and Property Tax
Insurance Gaps in Modular: What Your Policy Doesn't Cover
Factory Financing: The Missing Piece of Modular Capital
Equity vs. Debt: How Capital Stack Changes for Modular
Commissioning Modular: Getting to Certificate of Occupancy
The Punchlist Problem: Why Modular Projects Finish Slow
Weather Windows and Set Sequencing
The GC's Role in Modular: What Changes and What Doesn't
The Set Day: What Actually Happens When Modules Arrive
The Finish Package Trade-Off: Factory vs. Field
Corridor and Core Strategy: Where Modular Gets Complicated
Bathroom Pods: The Module Within the Module
The Module Size Question: Bigger Isn't Always Better
Design for Modular: What Architects Get Wrong
What Has to Change for Modular to Scale
The Lender Education Problem
Why Developers Keep Saying No to Modular
The Factory Capacity Problem
Where Modular Is Actually Winning—and Where It's Not
The Break-Even Point: When Does Modular Make Sense?
When Modular Costs More—and Why That's Sometimes Fine
The Carry Cost Advantage Nobody Models
Why Repetition Drives Modular Economics
The Real Economics of Modular: What the Pro Forma Misses
Regulatory Risk: When the AHJ Doesn't Know Modular
The Interface Problem: Where Factory Meets Field
Transportation Risk: What Happens Between Factory and Site
The Risks Nobody Talks About in Modular
Factory Concentration Risk: When Your Whole Project Lives in One Building
Speed-to-Revenue: The Modular Finance Edge Nobody Measures
What Institutional Capital Actually Wants from Modular
Factory Deposits: Who Owns the Risk?
The Draw Schedule Problem in Modular Finance
Why Lenders Don't Understand Modular—Yet
Steel vs. Wood: What the Numbers Actually Show
Why Concrete Developers Are Looking at Steel Modular
Fire, Termite, and Moisture: The Durability Case for Steel
The Weight Problem: Why LGS Enables Taller Modular
Why Light Gauge Steel Over Wood in Modular
The Coordination Gap Between Factory and Field
Why Lenders Still Struggle with Modular Projects
Where Modular Actually Saves Money—and Where It Doesn't
Why Site Work Still Controls the Timeline
Why Transportation Is a Construction Risk, Not a Logistics Detail
The Hidden Cost of Design Freeze
Why Sequencing Determines Success or Failure
What No One Models in Modular Schedules
Why Early Design Decisions Matter More in Modular
The Factory Doesn't Remove Risk, It Relocates It
Speed Isn't the Advantage—Certainty Is
Why Modular Fails More Often Than It Should