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About Us
Offsite Dirt is a media and event company that showcases all the current news, techniques, technology, influencers, and conversations in offsite construction. This form of construction encompasses volumetric, modular, prefab, panelization, and single and/or multi-trade assemblies.
Offsite Dirt has a two-pronged mission: to inform the construction industry and the general public on the intricacies of what’s currently happening in the fast-growing offsite construction field, and to provide a meeting place for offsite construction professionals where information, opinions and resources can be freely exchanged.
While we will frequently highlight specific players in this industry, Offsite Dirt encourages the discussion and exploration of all offsite construction companies, products and techniques in general. We are committed to finding the best way forward for our industry, and the world, as a whole.
The adoption of offsite construction in projects requires a complete overhaul of the business models and structures of much of the traditional construction industry. Old job types and firms will die out completely, while new ones will form and flourish.
This is a pivotal moment in the history of the construction industry, where what happens in the next 5-10 years will set the stage for the rest of its future. Many recognize the unique potential this situation holds and are rushing to create the products, systems, and companies that will win and become the new standard “way things are done.”
The sudden influx of people and companies attempting to “prove themselves” in this space is the perfect prerequisite for the launch of a media and event platform. People are hungry to get the word out on what they do and how they do it, and to learn about other potential collaborators and/or competition.
Offsite Dirt will be the place where that happens.
Contributors
Editor-in-Chief
Andrea Metcalf is an experienced journalist and media professional with more than three decades of communication, television production and social media. She brings editorial and digital background experience and is a licensed real estate agent who understands B2B and B2C needs.
Modular Construction Maven
Audree M Grubesic, an offsite construction expert and the owner of Modular Sure Site. This consulting Construction company collaborates with traditional builders and land developers looking to build their first offsite project. She has first-hand experience of project management on site of their offsite projects. Over the past 20+ years, she has excelled in marketing, sales, new business development, and homebuilding.
Creative eXperience Officer
Mark Wille is the Director of Building Experiences for US Engineered Wood Tstud™ who designs and manufactures Thermally Broken Structural Framing of various measurements.
Being an avid materials geek/representative for many years you may have seen him present at The Chicago Center for Green Technology a Trade Show or as a resident carpenter for Craftsman, Tools EXPERIENCE live video series. Speaking at local Universities and working directly with the students is a passion he continues to do each semester, searching for those to carry the torch and continue pursuit of knowledge in the field of construction and sustainability.
Prefab Trail Blazer
High Performance Homes Enthusiast
Creative eXperience Pioneer
Karen Benner is a construction management consultant, GREEN Realtor, and owner of Clayton Avenue Consulting. Real estate development that serves People & Planet is at the heart of all of her work. In 25-years she has contributed to the construction of over 3,000 homes in five states. She holds several professional accreditations in sustainability, and has expertise in project management, product development, risk-mitigation & operational excellence. Karen is a connector, problem-solver, knowledge-seeker.
Edie Dillman is CEO and co-founder of B.PUBLIC Prefab—a component-based high-performance building company that prioritizes energy reduction, carbon-positive materials, housing creation, and professional collaboration. As co-founder of a decidedly disruptive woman-owned Benefit-Corp., she is committed to systems change and the rapid adoption of solutions through craftsmanship, innovative design, and building science. In her previous work at Innovate + Educate, she worked nationally on systematic problems in the education-to-workforce fields seeking critical change for equitable workforce pathways as director of communications and strategy.
Edie's path to off-site construction was windy through magazine publishing, graphic design, creative business consulting, parenting, and start-ups. She is a passionate entrepreneur who believes creativity is a business superpower. Edie is fascinated by people's career paths - especially when it comes to leaders in decarbonizing the built environment.
Based in New Mexico, Edie still calls herself a Chicagoan and often slides into her native accent when chatting with the team at Offisitedirt.
Shaun is very passionate about resilient prefab passive houses. He is the VP of Operations for Clay Construction Inc. Before this position, he was the Outreach and Education Associate with 475 High Performance Building Supply. He graduated from The University of British Columbia with a degree in Wood Products Processing. He is a certified Passive House Tradesperson. Shaun also obtained a Building Construction Technology Associate Certificate at BCIT while working at Viceroy Homes and BOSA Construction. He was a general contractor under Footprint Sustainable Housing Corp. Shaun has also been involved with the Passive House Accelerator. If Shaun isn’t talking about passive houses, he’s playing Lego with his daughters or working on his hubby-do list.
In a recent survey conducted by the National Institute for Building Science’s Offsite Construction Council, 93 percent of respondents in the architect, engineer, Contractor, & owner fields indicated that they had implemented some form of off-site construction process in the past 12 months. These processes ranged from precast concrete, wall panels, MEP systems, bathroom pods, and permanent modular building construction.
OffsiteDirt.com is devoted to bringing Offsite Construction professionals the most recent, relevant, and useful information available on industry trends, technology, design, volumetric, events, panel discussions, and more. Get OffsiteDirt.com delivered right to your inbox week in and week out.
Modular Sure Site is a consulting firm in Denver, Colorado that assists with offsite commercial and land development projects. We believe in starting the project with an experienced team from the pre-planning with a modular | volumetric architect, structural engineer, civil engineer, MEP engineer, and general contractor, along with coordinating the set and crane service. MSS is a full-service construction team that supports OffSiteDirt.com in expanding the conversation of this growing industry of building change. Thank you, Advancing Prefabrication and Hanson Wade, for one of the industry's most important events of all year.