When we last focused on Zeta Communities’ push into prefab construction, back in June, the company was leasing and operating the space it would need to make modules for its projects, which included a 30-unit building of student efficiency housing, some planned commercial projects in the San Francisco Bay Area, and, most prominently, two net-zero-energy demonstration townhomes in nearby Oakland.

On Monday, however, Zeta opened a 91,000-sq.-ft. factory of its very own in Sacramento County, in north-central California, further anchoring its commitment to – and financial investment in – prefab design and construction. At least part of the justification for the move, a New York Times Green Inc. blog noted last week, is that interest in the demo townhomes has left Zeta “flush with orders.”

Plans for growth

What’s more, the company has ambitions to open factories throughout the country to more efficiently service developers interested in the Zeta product, which is designed to be built, delivered, and installed for less money, and with a more tightly sealed envelope, than comparable onsite construction. The two-bedroom Oakland townhouses, at about 1,540 sq. ft. apiece, priced out at about $165 a square foot, or $258,000, not including land, foundation, and other site work costs, according to Zeta CEO Naomi Porat, who added that the overall price is about 10% to 15% under those for comparable site-built urban infill projects.

Once it’s running at full capacity, the factory, which was an Air Force hangar before it was converted for prefab construction, could employ as many as 200 people and produce as many as 400 prefab homes a year. Zeta wants to be the country’s first large-scale builder of net-zero-energy homes and, if interest in its product holds up, would like to open as many as 15 other factories over the next five to seven years, notes Greentech Media.