GE is leading a $22 million investment in San Francisco-based green builder Project Frog, which helps speed up and reduce the cost of traditional construction by using a combination of new technologies. The company improves on current methods by combining semi-custom designs with a pre-engineered kit of energy-efficient building materials. The end result are building that use at least 25% less energy than the strictest building codes in the U.S., and as much as 80% less energy in some parts of the country.
GE was joined by other investors including Claremont Creek Ventures, Greener Capital Partners and RockPort Capital Partners, but the investment amount for each participating firm was not disclosed.
In addition to the creation of the prefab materials, Project Frog also performs advanced 3D modeling to analyze buildings in each location. This process allows customers to optimize their building kits for the greatest energy efficiency.
Project Frog’s kits take one to six months to produce – less than half the time as required for traditional construction – and are delivered to project sites ready for assembly. This helps keep construction costs down while finishing projects more quickly than before. Typically, projects take 6 months, says the company.
The new investment will be used to expand Project Frog’s sales, execute on orders and will help pay for the installation of one of the company’s prefab buildings at GE’s Learning Center in Ossining, N.Y.
Project Frog was one of the winners of GE’s smart grid challenge in June, which awarded 10 startups with ideas on how to reduce energy usage $63 million to split.