Tomorrow, the Center for Offsite Construction (CfOC) is proud to launch the Future of Design & Delivery (FoD&D) website — a new platform dedicated to advancing the conversation about how buildings are designed, delivered, and manufactured in the 21st century.

This website is the natural successor to our widely circulated Modular 2.0 document, which first outlined the shift from bespoke, project-by-project construction methods toward a Configure-to-Order (CTO) marketplace. That framework gave shape to a new way of thinking about modular housing and offsite construction. With the FoD&D site, we expand that work into a living, evolving resource: a central location where industry leaders, researchers, and practitioners can explore the concepts driving change and follow the roadmap that will guide the next decade of innovation.

From Modular 2.0 to the CTO Marketplace

When we published Modular 2.0 in 2024, it captured the state of practice at a turning point. The paper clarified that modular construction was not a temporary experiment but a permanent realignment in how we produce housing. Yet Modular 2.0 was never meant to be static. From the beginning, it was designed as an operating system that could evolve as the industry matured.

The FoD&D website is that evolution. Instead of a single downloadable PDF, we now host a framework that can grow with each passing year. Sections on Vision, Philosophy, Modes, and Research Roadmap will be updated as new discoveries, collaborations, and whitepapers emerge. This format allows us to meet the needs of a fast-moving industry where lessons from one year can — and should — reshape the next.

Anchored by CfOC Interviews, Industry Feedback, and smart Senior Research Fellows

A cornerstone of this work has been the Senior Research Fellows (SRFs) program. Each year, the CfOC convenes a retreat with a select group of SRFs — mid-career leaders from architecture, engineering, construction, finance, manufacturing, and technology. At these retreats, Fellows work in concentrated sessions to draft, critique, and refine the foundational essays that appear in the FoD&D Philosophy section.

These retreats are not conferences in the conventional sense. They are working gatherings, modeled on the symposium tradition: small, invite-only sessions where participants sit around the same table and argue out the ideas that matter most. The goal is not to present what has already been done, but to push forward into what comes next. The Philosophy essays on the site — from design rules and network theory to economic models of innovation — are the direct outcome of this process.

By bringing practitioners and researchers into the same room, the SRF program ensures that every essay is anchored in both theory and practice. They are written to clarify the intellectual challenges facing the offsite sector, but also to serve as guides for action — the kind of material that industry leaders can rely on to sharpen their own strategies.

The Philosophy Essays: A New Standard

The Philosophy section of the FoD&D site is, quite simply, a first of its kind operating system. We collected critical lessons from outside the construction industry, to help offsite practitioners apply lessons from economics, technology diffusion, and startup best practices. The result is a carefully-written collection of essays that draw from world-class thinkers (Herbert Simon, Kim Clark, Carliss Baldwin, Eric Beinhocker, Melanie Mitchell, and more) and apply their frameworks directly to the challenges of building.

Each essay follows a disciplined structure: theory first, then application to architecture, engineering, and construction. This design ensures the essays are not parochial reports limited to one project or company. Instead, they become tools for anyone in the field — providing ways to think, rather than prescriptions to follow.

We see these essays as top-of-the-line explanations of what challenges face the industry today. They map the intellectual landscape with clarity, giving decision-makers the ability to see beyond immediate constraints and into the structural forces that will define construction in the decade ahead.

A Roadmap for Engagement

Beyond the Philosophy essays, the FoD&D website serves as a research roadmap. It organizes our ongoing projects — from standards development to workforce training, from legal reforms to digital file types — into a clear structure. Each item is explained in plain language, with budgets, partners, and phases described so that anyone interested can see where they might engage.

This roadmap is not just an internal plan; it is a public invitation. By making our priorities visible, we aim to accelerate alignment across the industry. Whether you are a modular manufacturer, a general contractor, a financier, a policymaker, or an academic, the FoD&D roadmap highlights opportunities to participate in shaping the future.

Looking Ahead

The launch of the FoD&D website marks a milestone for the CfOC. What began as Modular 2.0 — a single document — has matured into a platform. Each year, as SRFs gather and as new projects advance, this platform will evolve. Over time, it will become the most comprehensive record of how the offsite sector transitioned from today’s fragmented practices to tomorrow’s CTO Marketplace.

We invite you to explore the site, read the essays, and consider where your own expertise connects to this work. The future of design and delivery is not being written in isolation — it is being co-authored by the entire ecosystem of people determined to build smarter, faster, and more sustainably.

See everything at CenterForOffsiteConstruction.org.