Massaro TEDX SanMateo from Lisa Batto on Vimeo.

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Just a few photos to share!

Okay, so it really is just some moved dirt, but to the OTEAM this is exciting because we have worked hard to get to this point. Can’t wait to show you photos of the home being delivered in the container!

There was a recent article in the Washington Post that stated energy costs may become a factor in eligibility for a mortgage.  How exciting – more public agencies are getting on board with energy standards! We will continue to not only see a shift in our environment, and our wallets, but most importantly in the housing market, which is in desperate need of a boost!  Homebuilders now have more incentive to comply with new, updated energy codes. Thus we, the homebuyers, will be getting healthier homes at more affordable prices! (and more products made in the U.S.A.)

The OHOME has been featured as the “dream home” for energy AND budget conscious Americans for many reasons, but also because they already comply with the forecasted California energy codes of 2020! Therefore, the OHOME retains more of it’s value because of greater home buyer interest, higher possible eligibility for mortgages due to their energy efficiency, and long term savings on your energy bill.

The graph below illustrates the projected building codes for California. Notice that by 2020 all new residential buildings in California must be net zero energy, which means they must produce as much energy as they consume. The OHOMEs can meet this standard already !

Rebecca is Architectural Designer/Assistant Project Manager at HBTG, Inc. She is a LEED-AP, M. ARCH, Newschool of Architecture & Design, San Diego; BA, Psychology San Diego State University and University of Granada, Spain. She is committed to sustainable design and construction and brings a unique perspective to the team with her experience in both large and small scale residential, schools and military family housing. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and dogs!

Welcome to the OHOME Fabrication Facility!

The first OHOME, the modern 6 Series, is fabricated out of light-gauge steel frame panels and fully outfitted at the factory with plumbing, electrical and other finishes. The first version of each series will be fully built inside the factory, to detail and refine the process, to build the greenest and healthiest home available on the market today. Yes, fully built from floor to ceiling, this project took a crew of 8 just 20 working days to build! Soon the home will be dismantled and flat packed to Napa, California, where a team of just 6 crewmembers will assemble it in three weeks!

This model will fit perfectly into the Napa, California climate. This modern design is attractive and clean, featuring a rooftop garden and unique exterior features such as the fibercement siding with reglets, the premium corrugated steel siding, and the sun screen metal awnings.

Here is a close-up of the premium corrugated steel siding, and sun screen metal awning

The Energy Star insulation makes the OHOME highly energy efficient.

The OTEAM is busy putting the final touches to the walls, and finishing windows and doors. The detail and craftsmanship is apparent.

The photos below show the home at the 10 day mark, and the roof had not been installed yet.

Once the home arrives in Napa, the interior cabinets and appliances will be installed. The home will be move in ready at the end of three weeks!

Extremely energy-efficient, beautiful, healthy and highly sustainable home is fabricated in a factory, lowering the cost and maximizing quality. Delivered and completed on your site in just a few weeks. This home meets and/or exceeds all local building codes and meets FHA financing requirements!

Be on the lookout for your invitation to the OPEN HOUSE for the 2 OHOME models on Darling Street in Napa, CA!

Other Exciting News: We are finalizing our first contract for an OHOME 1600, and for the first OHOME in Hawaii. We are also exhibiting the OHOME at the Bioneers Conference in Marin this weekend, October 14-16, 2011, and we are unveiling the OCLASS to the public and private school market at the Green California Community College & School Summit in Pasadena next week, October 17-18, 2011. Stay tuned for more positive feedback from these two important events.

Only 10 days into construction, the OHOME structure is nearly complete.

The completed OHOME will be flat-packed and shipped to Napa, CA, where our first showcase homes are being built.

Bioneers is a nonprofit educational organization that highlights breakthrough solutions for restoring people and planet. Since 1990, Bioneers has acted as a hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges. A celebration of the genius of nature and human creativity, Bioneers connects people with solutions and each other. Its acclaimed annual national and local conferences are complemented by extensive media outreach including an award-winning radio series, book series, and a role in media projects such as Leonardo DiCaprio’s film The 11th Hour.

Every year, the Bioneers Conference draws thousands of people together who are passionate about solutions. From how mushrooms can save the world, to how Google Earth is protecting the rainforests, the practical solutions that come from the Bioneers Conference address many of our most pressing environmental problems. In addition to its main conference in San Rafael, California, the Bioneers Conference is transmitted to more than 18 locations nationwide—acting as a hub of information for people who are hungry for change and working to make a real difference in their local communities.

The Bioneers Conference location is Marin Center, 10 Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael, California. For information on attending this conference click HERE. For a 20% discount on admission, use the discount code below (Exhibitor20).

We closed the Building exhibition in Hawaii by winning third place in the People’s Choice award for the best booth!

The Healthy Buildings Technology Group booth at the Building and Design Expo, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

First, let me thank Sam Timas and his wonderful team – Michelle Johnson, Ceri Copeland and Ron Mitchell for their outstanding work and support to make this event the great success that it was. I have been fortunate to spend the past few days with these great people and cannot imagine more dedicated, hardworking and talented group, and they are a real pleasure to be around. In addition to all of the trade show prep, Michelle and Ceri provided refreshments for the visitors and Ron provided home made dishes for the OHOME team, all delicious!!!

Logistics were smooth. We were busy with visitors from the start to the end. Everyone on the island knows Michelle, Ceri and Ron, so it was a gathering of old friends. Just about everyone who passed our booth was welcomed by their first name and given a hug, quickly followed by information regarding the OHOMES.  Our booth had by far the highest attendance.

We were all pleasantly surprised by both the attendance and the real interest in sustainability in general and OHOMES in particular. No one disliked the aesthetics, they were pleased and we had many complements. Many people thanked us for bringing OTECHNOLOGY to the Islands,” Why has it taken you so long?” was a common theme. Many people wanted to demolish their existing homes and replace them with OHOMES.

I learned that VOG, which is caused by volcanic gasses and which creates smog, is a very serious health problem. VOG comprises two elements:  Particles that

Michelle Johnson, Hawaii Sales Agent, shows off the People's Choice Award

are easily removed by filters and Sulfur Dioxide that is difficult to remove, but there are appropriate filters available. The Government states on its website that “the long term effects are unknown.” And goes on to advise that people suffering from respiratory issues “should move to a different location” (i.e. another island). VOG causes a haze similar to LA smog. With the VOG issue, we have a very worthwhile solution to an extremely serious future heath issue. It is clear that Healthy VOG-free OHOMES can provide a lifeline to people on the Big Island with VOG induced problems.

The day before the exhibition, we had a meeting with the Executive Director of a large Community project (thanks to Michelle), which includes homes, schools, health facilities etc. He invited us to present to his annual conference the following Tuesday, we accepted.

We were also invited to be part of the next Green Homes Tour in April 2012, which, of course, we accepted. If for no other reason, we need a completed OHOME on the island by them.

After the event we visited a Japanese-influenced modern green home outside of Kona and a bamboo house, both of which where on the green home tour this year. They are both wonderful examples of sustainable construction.

In summary, we have a wonderful, enthusiastic and increasingly knowledgeable team, many real sales prospects and an incredible network of friends who support our mission and can help to see it realized on the Big Island. With the VOG issue, we have a very worthwhile solution to an extremely serious future heath issue. Healthy OHOMES can provide a lifeline to people on the Big Island with VOG-induced problems.

Mahalo,

Malcolm Davies
Executive Vice President
Healthy Buildings Technology Group

Meet our Hawaii Sales Team by clicking HERE.

People would often walk up to our booth with a look telling us “this better be good” only to leave shaking our hands and thanking us, or coming back repetitively to ask for more information regarding O-technology

The DWELL on Design Conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center exceeded our expectations and was a riotous success! We worked it all three days, Friday through Sunday. We estimate that about 1,000 people visited. By the end of Day 1 we were so popular that we had run out of paper flyers, had more printed, and by the end of Day 2 we had been cleared out of all flyers (again) as well as every business card in sight! People were so interested, fascinated, excited and stimulated by our O-technology™ that at one point we stood in front of a wall of people who all held their badges out at us shouting “scan me” while we furiously pushed the lead scanner button.

Our booth was in the back rear corner, directly adjacent to the “sustainability stage.”  The booth visitors came in waves, due to the influx of sustainably minded people attending the various presentations. People would often walk up to our booth with a look telling us “this better be good” only to leave shaking our hands and thanking us or coming back repetitively to ask for more information regarding O-technology.

By the end of each day we had an overflowing box of hand written requests and business cards plus the additional scanned leads. These inquiries were for both single and multi family residences and ranged from Japanese government relief housing to developers in Mexico, to the the City of L.A., and the U.S. Navy. Many had hundreds of units planned and were interested in OHOMES. We also had several interested in resort or eco-villages or in using our classroom as offices and art studios.

Several people commented:
1.    That OHOMES are “better looking” and “less expensive” than our competition.
2.    That we have an incredible and amazing product that is needed desperately right now.
3.    That O-technology is the future of construction.

We also heard many people ask about the “Sustainable Elements Chart™” and asked us to get it out ASAP to educate others.

We were approached by an interested attendee of the show who stated “I’m really interested in this but I think I’m sold on another product. How are you better?” We explained that, as partners in a more sustainable future, we are not interested in tearing down our competitors – BUT this why OHOME is the clear choice to fit her needs. At the end of a very long conversation with this very interested client, the client responded that the OHOME had moved up to #1 in her mind and that the OHOME was what she wanted. We loved this circular (one might say O-shaped) example of the realized possibilities that existed at Dwell!

When we got to the airport on Sunday night and checked in the bag of materials, the bag was 9 lbs overweight. We are returning with 9 lbs more than we came with – 9 lbs of contact information from interested consumers!

The OTEAM went into this experience with a knowledge and passion for the product and returned with it having grown 100 fold! Not only has the product grown, but so has our team. We had so much confidence in one another – relied so heavily on the varied experience that we each have had with the product and its realization. We worked as a well-oiled machine, supporting each other and learning from each other. Everyone on the OTEAM left with a feeling of pride. All of our hard work and passion, selfless sacrifice of time, devotion and energy for what we do is evident in the response of the general population to our product. Reflecting on all of the comments received over the past few days at DWELL, we realized there was not one person representing the OHOME that we could point to and say – this person was solely responsible.  Every person had a hand in making it a success.

THANK YOU to everyone who visited us at DWELL, we enjoyed talking to you, we learned a lot about what you want, what you like and what you would like us to work on next.  To everyone who asked us to follow up, we are doing so as quickly as we can. Please call or email us (md@hbtg.com) if you need a faster response.

O my my, O yes – The Future is O!

Laura Conemac and Heather Jackson

Crowds of people were interested in the OHOME booth at PCBC in San Francisco, June 2011

We had a very successful start to this exhibition, meeting many great visitors on the first day, including one developer of a senior housing project in Arizona, many individuals wanting a new home, a vacation home or a second unit. The team worked hard, with enthusiasm and great knowledge to effectively communicate our message and information on our products to interested attendees. A French interior designer wanted to work with us because she thought that we had “the most interesting booth in the whole show.”

The second day brought in even more interested people. Visitors ranged from developers and builders with multi-family projects, to custom home builders that wanted to build greener and faster. We had a visitor who wanted us on the East Coast ASAP. She asked why we were better than our competitors and was really impressed with our answers!

We closed our third day of PCBC with several hundred people who wanted to be put on our mailing list, and wanted to be invited to visit our OHOME model homes in the fall. There were several more multi-family opportunities in San Francisco and on the peninsula, as well as affordable multi-family projects. One visitor from wanted to work with her and her family to develop a small family eco-village. What an exciting endeavor! One architect ended his discussion with us by saying “Now I am really inspired, I would love to work with you and want to visit you as soon as possible.”

THANK YOU to everyone who visited us at PCBC, we enjoyed talking to you and we learned a lot.  To everyone who asked us to follow up, we are doing so as quickly as we can. Please call or email me (md@hbtg.com) if you need a faster response.

Malcolm Davies

See the full article: http://www.hudsonprinting-digital.com/Publications/NapaValleyLife/NVLife_JunJul_2011/#/40/