We need to build housing fast. Factories could help

As the housing crisis continues in Massachusetts, developers in states like Pennsylvania, California and neighboring New Hampshire are leaning on factory-made construction to make new housing, and make it fast. With this method, entire portions of buildings are created in a factory, off-site and shipped to the construction site to be pieced together into one cohesive building, like a giant game of Legos.

The efficiency of factory-made construction means a building project can be completed in about half the time of a traditional project, saving developers money, and getting them onto the next project faster.

So why hasn't Massachusetts embraced this approach?

WBUR reporter Yasmin Amer joins The Common to tell us more about off-site, modular construction and how it could potentially be used as a tool to combat the state's housing shortage.