North Bay Business Journal

WINDSOR — As construction with factory-built wood and light-gauge steel panels gains popularity for reducing labor costs, project timetables and waste, a 5-year-old company is betting demand will grow like a weed for studless, highly strong and energy-efficient walls made of bamboo panels.

NOVATO — Blu Homes, a Vallejo and Massachusetts-based manufacturer of energy efficient, prefabricated homes, has entered into an agreement with Homeward Bound of Marin to construct a $4 million affordable and supportive housing project in Novato.

NAPA and VALLEJO — A new phase of North Bay home manufacturing is rolling out of factories in Napa and Vallejo.

VALLEJO — Massachusetts-based Blu Homes today opened a 250,000-square-foot factory in Vallejo, where the company plans to eventually employ 500 and turning out that many of the company’s high-tech, high-green manufactured dwellings annually.

NAPA — In a south Napa industrial park, Healthy Buildings Technology Group is putting the final design tweaks on a steel-framed panel construction system set to be assembled this summer into two prototype ultragreen homes in the city.

NAPA — Bob Massaro, long a strong advocate for green-building projects and standards in Napa Valley, has constructed a new venture to bring environmentally conscious features more affordably to homes, apartments and classrooms via factory-built building panels.

ROHNERT PARK — Codding Steel Frame Solutions, a light-gauge metal stud panel manufacturer, has enjoyed strong revenue growth and is lining up projects next year that could double that growth and require a second shift.