User:Theresa.oneil/sandbox

Blu Homes is a leading green home building company that uses unique computer modeling and revolutionary folding steel frame technology to make beautifully designed homes more economical to ship and quicker to set up than other modern, green homes.

Launched in 2008, Blu is one of the largest players in the prefabricated modular home industry. Their unique folding technology allows for affordable shipping. Blu is able to deliver homes across North America, unlike more traditional prefab methods.

Blu homes built to the highest green standards and they are energy efficient, quiet, well ventilated. Factory construction minimizes waste and is less destructive to the natural habitat.

Vision and Founders
Blu Homes was launched by Bill Haney and Maura McCarthy in 2008. It began as a research project with Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Rhode Island School of Design that challenged graduate students to revolutionize today's housing industry using technology. Vision: for design accessible to those who cannot afford an architect.

Blu purchased the designs for the Glidehouse and Breezehouse models from Michelle Kaufmann Designs in 2009. Blu Homes adapted the designs to their proprietary folding technology and were able to make the homes even more spacious while making them easier to ship. Blu and Michelle Kaufmann are not now affiliated.

Factory
Blu constructs the homes in their advanced manufacturing facility on Mare Island in Vallejo, California. Completed in 1940, the building contains an impressive 223,600 square-foot factory floor and a central bay approximately 10 stories tall, making it one of the largest buildings on Mare Island. With an extremely durable steel frame, high quality teak ceiling and lots of natural light streaming through all of the original windows, the building fully embodies many of our own building principles.

California State Senator Lois Wolk comments on the facility, “Blu Homes’ new factory is a big step forward in the re-industrialization of the Bay Area, it helps us rebuild our industrial base, while offering Californians something they clearly want—high-value, beautiful, green homes that are convenient to get, healthy to live in, and offer very attractive life cycle costs.”

Idea House
Blu Homes is currently building the 2012 Sunset Idea House in conjunction with Sunset Magazine in Healdsburg, California. (image of sunset breeze)