The new barracks building is still wrapped in white plastic. The walls and floors are exposed wood, and the building is months away from housing hundreds of Fort Lewis Stryker soldiers.

But the barracks – which measure almost 83,000 square feet – are being touted by some as a model for new construction at the growing post.

“We probably saved six months because we used modular construction,” said Bud Cooper, project manager for Alutiiq International Solution, the Alaska-based contractor that is constructing the barracks. “Look, I’m a taxpayer. If it’s possible, I want the federal government to get things done six months sooner.”

The barracks are part of a contract worth about $31 million, according to the Department of Defense. Both Cooper and Jim Packard, a project engineer from the Army Corps of Engineers, believe using modular construction could help reduce costs for large-scale projects.

But it’s not substantially cheaper yet.

“There is a savings, but there are additional costs – like transporting the modules up here (from Southern California),” Packard said. “There will probably be substantial savings once the bugs are kicked out of the system.”

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