Page 9 - Green Builder July-August 2019 Issue

Green Building NEWS

The Latest on Sustainability and Renewable Energy
Breaking ground on

groundbreaking communities

COURTESY OF PLANT PREFAB

Ready made. Two prefabricated townhomes were
completely assembled in less than five hours, the
first of 30 planned for the Olympic Valley area near
North Lake Tahoe, Calif.
Speedy Prefab

Full-sized ‘instant’ homes

make their debut at historic
Olympic venue.

T TOOK THE THREE MEDALISTS in the biathlon at
the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley a little
over 4.5 hours combined to win their medals. That’s
I also how long it took construction company Plant
Prefab to install a 6,000-square-foot prefabricated
duplex in the same area. Break new ground with
Plant Prefab, based in Rialto, Calif., quickly assembled
the unit’s six modules to create two complete three- a geothermal community
bedroom, three-bathroom townhomes in slightly more
than half the time allotted for the project. Builders origi- Geothermal communities are gaining popularity all around
nally estimated it might take eight hours to complete the country. In fact, several of these new communities are
the job in what is now known as Olympic Valley, Calif. completely sold out and new homes are being snapped up
According CEO Steve Glenn, the build demonstrated well before construction ever begins. Geothermal is simply
how quickly and efficiently a prefab home can be built the most efficient way to heat and cool a home, and economies
and erected, even during less-than-ideal weather- of scale for all-geothermal communities make them more
related work conditions. “A traditional build would have
been nearly impossible,” Glenn notes. “Building the economical to install. Whether potential homeowners are tech
modules in [our] climate-controlled facility and having savvy, environmentally conscious, or looking to save money,
on-site contractor and surveying work completed while geothermal has something to offer. Let WaterFurnace be a
the module builds were in progress cut the total con- resource to provide best practices, help avoid mistakes others
struction time in half.” have made, and help your development become successful.
Plant Prefab is the first prefabricated home factory
in the U.S. that employs sustainable construction tech- Learn more at waterfurnace.com/neighborhoods
niques, materials and processes, according to Glenn.
That includes drywall and insulation with the highest
recycled contents commercially available, non-VOC
paints and stains, low-energy lights, low-flow water fix-
tures, and Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood.
The Olympic Valley site will eventually have 30 such
townhomes, most expected to be constructed within the WaterFurnace is a registered trademark of WaterFurnace International, Inc.
next year. They will sell for an average of $950,000 each. ©2019 WaterFurnace International Inc.

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6-9 GB 0719 News.indd 7 7/17/19 9:28 AM