The skyline in Natick, Mass. just west of Boston is being altered by a three-story, 12-unit modular apartment building that will have a stucco siding. The 27 modules were manufactured in an Excel Homes facility in Pennsylvania, and will be assembled in three days, according to metrowestdailynews. The units have windows, heating systems and interior items already in place when the units are sited, and workmen will then make all the wiring and water connections. Developer Brendan Carr says modular construction compresses a typical one-year project into a couple of months. Tracey Daniels of the Modular Building Institute says modular building represents only 1.5 percent of the commercial construction industry, but expects significant increases over the next five to ten years, as MHProNews has learned.

(Photo credit: Art Illman/wicked local and daily news–modules being sited in Natick, Mass.)