The Offsite Construction Summit: Berkeley 2025 Speakers
Join us in Berkeley, CA, Friday, June 13, 2025, for a full day of presentations from some of the brightest minds and rising stars in the offsite construction industry.
Expert Speakers from Across the Industry
Don't miss the next opportunity to learn from—and network with—hundreds of regional offsite industry professionals including our group of featured speakers. All of our featured speakers bring years of offsite construction experience and knowledge from all corners of the industry. And since our speakers will also be exhibiting at the event, attendees will have ample opportunity to connect with these industry leaders.
Registration is open now! Don't wait to secure your spot!
Berkeley Offsite Construction Summit Speakers
Don't miss your next chance to see some of the most impactful offsite construction speakers from around the country. Our 2024 speaker line-up, which featured company leaders and design professionals from across the offsite spectrum, addressed a variety of topics critical to the future of offsite, modular, and prefab construction in California and across the United States.
Interested in speaking at an upcoming Offsite Construction Network event? Let us know!
Our 2025 Speakers Include
Maximilian Birner
Co-Founder & CEO
Boxhub
Aron Johnson
Associate/Project Manager
DJR Architecture
Matthew Laase, AIA,
Principal
Jackson | Main Architecture, P.S.
RJ Mahadev
Co-Founder & CEO
RaaP Builders
Andy Nuessle
President
Synergy Modular
Lisa Podesto, PE
Director of Mass Timber &
Construction Innovation
Swinerton
Tyler Pullen
Senior Technical Advisor
Terner Labs
Eric Schaefer
Chief Business Development Officer
Fading West
Chris Schmidt
Business Development Manager
Volumetric Building Companies
2025 Presentations
Containerized Construction: Market Insights, Demand Trends, & Emerging Applications
Maximilian Birner
Co-Founder & CEO
Boxhub
By 2030, the container modification industry is set to become a $147.6 billion market. Are you positioned to capitalize on this explosive growth? Do you know how containers are used in construction? Join Maximilian Birner, Co-Founder & CEO of Boxhub, as he explores exclusive data on high-demand container building types and compelling case studies in housing, retail, and healthcare. Gain insights into the economic and environmental advantages of container-based construction and explore how containers are being used to create resilient and attractive buildings for both permanent and relocatable needs.
From Crisis to Community: Modular Construction's Role in Disaster Recovery
Eric Schaefer
Chief Business Development Officer
Fading West
In 2023, a brush fire near Lahaina sparked during Hawaii’s peak fire season. Fueled by severe drought and high winds, the fire rapidly spread across Maui causing one of the deadliest fires in modern US history. In this session, Eric Schaefer from Fading West will share how state and federal governments launched a coordinated recovery effort, including the creation of 100 permanent modular houses for displaced residents of Lahaina. Remarkably, these modular homes were built, barged to Maui, and set within weeks of the project kickoff, again proving the efficiency of modular construction. Attendees will learn how offsite construction can help communities responds to disasters with speed and sustainability and can accommodate diverse topographies and existing architectural character. In addition, Mr. Schaefer will discuss how Fading West overcame complexities of transporting and installing large modular units in a challenging terrain with infrastructure limitations; financing and insurance options for modular housing; and the importance of collaboration between government agencies, developers, builders, and the affected communities.
From Mass Timber to Whole Building Componentization: Lessons from the Front Lines of Offsite Innovation
Lisa Podesto, PE
Director of Mass Timber & Construction Innovation
Swinerton
Since breaking ground on the First Tech Federal Credit Union headquarters in 2017, Swinerton and Timberlab have been at the forefront of mass timber innovation—delivering over 45 projects and more than 2 million square feet of prefabricated timber buildings. This session explores their evolution from early mass timber adopters to leaders in whole building componentization. Learn how the shift from Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) to Design for Site Assembly (DfSA) has the potential to drive labor productivity and advance offsite delivery strategies. Through real-world project examples, we’ll examine how componentized design enables schedule certainty, improves coordination, and unlocks new opportunities in prefabricated construction.
In Berkeley Now: New 8-Story Building Offers Needed Mix-Used Space
Aron Johnson
Associate/Project Manager
DJR Architecture
Andy Nuessle
President
Synergy Modular
Chris Schmidt
Business Development Manager
Volumetric Building Companies
Join our panel of experts for a project overview of Berkeley’s newest modular development currently under construction. This mixed-use residential building has 207 units, 5000+ square feet of commercial space, semi-automated parking, and vast amenities. The eight-story buildings will yield around 134,400 total square feet. Parking will be included for 89 bicycles and 39 cars. Residents will benefit from a community garden, club room, and fitness center. Lounges and decks will be accessible on every floor owing to the structure’s unique stepped form. Offsite Construction Summit attendees will hear directly from the project team including DJR Architecture, Synergy Modular, and Volumetric Building Companies about the complexities of the project and how offsite modular construction provided a solution in an aggressive and complex market.
Inside Terner Labs Push to Expand Factory-Built Construction: Optimizing for Affordability
Tyler Pullen
Senior Technical Advisor
Terner Labs
California is a leader in thinking aggressively and quantitatively about solutions that address both affordable housing and sustainable construction. Likewise, Terner Labs—founded to complement the work of the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley—is helping scale real-world answers to some of the most pressing housing challenges anywhere. Tyler Pullen serves as senior technical advisor at Terner Labs and will talk about how offsite construction methods reduce the time and cost of construction while increasing the supply of affordable housing. He will also elaborate on regulatory challenges facing housing delivery, tools for policy decision-making, efforts to spur innovation and modernize construction methods, and opportunities for impactful intervention.
The Modular Design Process: Designing the Modules
Matthew Laase, AIA
Principal
Jackson | Main Architecture, P.S.
While the benefits of modular construction are fairly well known, differences between the design of modular vs. traditional multi-family projects tend to be less understood. One of the most critical aspects is early and ongoing engagement among key project team members. As with all buildings constructed offsite, modular projects require increased collaboration among the designer, module manufacturer, and general contractor. Involving the manufacturer and GC early is essential to achieving efficiencies in design, assembly, and installation. Join Matthew Laase, AIA, principal of Jackson | Main Architecture for one leading architect’s perspective on how offsite construction provides opportunities for innovative and creative solutions.
Rooms as a Product: A New Way to Drive Speed, Savings, & Standardization for Hospitality & Multifamily Construction
RJ Mahadev
Co-Founder & CEO
RaaP Builders
Developers may struggle with justifying offsite construction because of perceived risk and higher costs. Design prototypes, however, optimized for modular fabrication, including standardized and documented MEP and structural connections, enables time and cost savings across design, fabrication, and construction. Join this interactive, case-based session, geared for architects, fabricators, developers, general contractors, and more to learn about successes and lessons-learned with a “Rooms as a Product” approach. Attendees will hear about the advantages of this approach regardless of role, how design prototypes are used to accelerate fabricator ramp time and throughput, and how the approach saves money and reduces risk.
Registration is Open for the Berkeley Offsite Construction Summit!
THIS OFFSITE CONSTRUCTION SUMMIT IS SPONSORED BY
Agenda
June 13, 2025
Times and sessions subject to change. Stay tuned for additional speakers, sessions & more!
9:00AM - 3:15PM Exhibit Hall Open
9:00AM - 10:00AM Exhibits & Coffee
10:00AM - 10:30AM Presentation #1
10:30AM - 11:00AM Presentation #2
11:00AM - 11:15AM Break with Exhibitors
11:15AM - 11:45AM Presentation #3
11:45AM - 12:15PM Presentation #4
12:15PM - 1:15PM Exhibits & Lunch
1:15PM - 1:45PM Presentation #5
1:45PM - 2:15PM Presentation #6
2:15PM - 2:30PM Cocktail Break with Exhibitors
2:30PM - 3:00PM Presentation #7
3:00PM - 3:30PM Networking Reception with Exhibitors
3:30PM Modular Building Tour
3:30PM - 4:30PM Exhibitor Teardown
Join Us in Berkeley
The Offsite Construction Summit will be hosted in the ASUC Student Union: Martin Luther King Jr. Building on June 13, 2025, on the beautiful campus of UC Berkeley.
ASUC Student Union: Martin Luther King Jr. Building
2495 Bancroft Way
Berkeley, CA 94720
Questions?
Need answers about attending, exhibiting, or speaking in Berkeley? See our FAQ page or contact us.