The two-bedroom Element 48 home was designed by Cathy and Walter Pearlman, using the Blu | 3-D Configurator™ (www.bluhomes.com/configurator), which allows anyone to go online to style, visualize and spend time in their own Blu Home before it is ever built.

Blu Homes will be demonstrating the Configurator at the ShowStoppers @ CES 2012 media event in Las Vegas on January 10, 2012 from 6-10 pm. Media is invited to visit the Blu Homes booth (#B09) in the Lafite Ballroom of the Wynn Hotel. ShowStoppers attendees will also receive a preview of the Configurator’s real-time pricing functionality, which will be available to the public in the next few months.

Unlike conventional architectural 3-D renderings, Blu is able to connect the 3-D models created in the Configurator back to Blu’s precision-building process, creating a seamless integration between design and manufacturing and advancing construction quality significantly. Blu builds each home from the client’s 3-D custom model, using precision tooling and trained craftsman in its climate-controlled factory in Vallejo, CA.

After choosing the Element, one of Blu’s seven eco-friendly, architect-designed home designs, the Pearlmans were able to personalize everything for their new Pembroke, MA home—from exterior siding and kitchen appliances to bathroom fixtures and cabinetry finishes—all in an easy-to-use, realistic 3-D environment. The Pearlmans then sent their design to their dedicated Blu representative. After just one meeting to confirm their selections – with only one minor change to the bathroom tile – they were ready to purchase their home at a fixed, pre-agreed upon price.

“At first, designing our home online seemed so high-tech that it felt more like something our kids’ generation would do. Once we tried it ourselves, we realized how fun and easy it is—especially since everyone at Blu was standing by to help us,” said Cathy Pearlman. “It turns out designing your home online—and then having it built straight from the online designs—is something anyone can do. And getting such a high quality home at a fixed price and in such a convenient way really makes things more relaxed for us!”

“Designing and building homes has historically been an expensive, arduous and time consuming process. This is particularly true for architect-designed homes that typically require months of costly design effort and numerous in-person meetings that can be stressful for all parties,” said Bill Haney, Blu Homes co-founder and president. “With the Configurator and our proprietary IP, Blu is leveraging all of the benefits of online retail, such as lower selling costs, a more convenient shopping experience, reduced need for brick and mortar presence, and streamlined sales and building processes. At the same time, we’re investing in a world-class sales team that supports our customers through the entire process. And customers get world class design support, the tools to personally choose all the finishes for their homes all for free — and then get a fixed price for the house they have chosen!”

“We hope that many more customers will choose to save time and money by building their own eco-friendly, precision-built homes this way,” said Maura McCarthy, Blu Homes co-founder and VP, sales and marketing. “The Configurator makes everything easier for both the customer, and for Blu. The customer gets a beautiful, convenient shopping experience, while Blu gets the benefit of automatically processing customer purchase requests.”

Since its October 2011 launch, almost 6000 home designs have been saved with the Configurator. Anyone can access the Blu Configurator for free at bluhomes.com/configurator and begin customizing a Blu home today.

Blu Homes’ core design and engineering technology—and the technology behind the 3-D home designs in the Configurator—is Blu | 3-D, a proprietary design software similar to that used by automotive and aeronautical designers and engineers at companies like Boeing and Volvo. To create the Configurator, Blu Homes worked with UI experts and game developers to design a consumer-friendly user interface.

Blu Homes’ design team uses Blu | 3-D technology to design and build each home. Because it provides engineering information not often considered in architectural software – such as demands on the structures from wind, snow and seismic activity – Blu is able to achieve climate-specific engineering. That information is then automatically detailed in the building plans used in construction. This means that each home is built with remarkable precision with much lower variance allowances than in average stick-built homes.

All Blu finishes, fittings, appliances and systems are selected by Blu designers for their leading environmental performance, resulting in healthy and beautiful living spaces and high indoorair quality. Offering at least 50 percent energy savings over comparably sized existing homes, Blu homes are Energy Star rated and LEED certifiable.

For more information on Blu Homes go to www.bluhomes.com, follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/bluhomes) and Twitter (@BluHomes), or email us at build@bluhomes.com.

About Blu Homes
Blu Homes, Inc. is a Massachusetts- and California-based builder of green, architect-designed, and precision-built homes. Blu has built a variety of residential and institutional eco-friendly home designs for families and organizations across the U.S., from New York to the Colorado Mountains and the California Coast. Blu’s proprietary steel framing and building technology allows Blu to build homes that are as strong as they are beautiful and then fold them for quick and cost-effective setting across the continental U.S. and Canada. For more information on Blu Homes, contact build@bluhomes.com, or visit www.bluhomes.com.

This is the sixth Glidehouse built in Washington state and the second on Vashon Island, which, with its rugged landscape and multitude of organic farms and wineries, is a stunning location for the eco-conscious Glidehouse. Overall, the Glidehouse is a great fit for the Pacific Northwest’s climate and culture.

“We first fell in love with the Glidehouse after seeing it in the pages of Sunset. With its 60-foot ‘wall of glass,’ 14 foot-high ceilings, and abundant clerestory windows we knew this was a house that would allow us to take full advantage of the spectacular views from our lot,” said Rich Mintz, who with his wife Diana, is the owner of the new Glidehouse on Vashon Island. “We’ve waited to build on our land for 30 years, so we wanted our new home to be perfect. In addition to showcasing our breathtaking views, we love the way the home lets in the light and cool breezes, saving on energy costs as well as creating an uplifting living environment.”

Ami McElroy, who has lived in her Seattle-area Glidehouse for the last six years continued, “Even when I’m inside my Glidehouse, I feel like I’m connected to nature. The floor-to-ceiling windows work in harmony with the clerestory windows on the back wall to balance the natural light inside. Even on the grayest Seattle day—and there are plenty of those—it’s light and bright in my house.”

Making a Great Home Even Better

The new Glidehouse is constructed with Blu’s proprietary steel framing, making the home extraordinarily durable, which is particularly important in challenging coastal and marine climates. The steel framing also results in more spacious, light-filled floor plans that are almost 30% wider with 20% higher ceilings than the original. The Glidehouse, like all of Blu’s homes, is now available nationwide and is durable enough to comfortably handle a wide range of challenging weather conditions—from the snow loads of the Rockies and seismic activity on the San Andreas Fault to high winds of the Coasts. Blu’s proprietary building science technology allows its homes to be finished completely and to precision quality in its weather-controlled factory by trained, well-tooled craftsman. The homes are then folded for quick and cost-effective setting on-site.

“We plan to live in this home for the rest of our lives, so we wanted something strong that requires minimal maintenance. The steel framing and engineering behind the construction of the Glidehouse is remarkable for its durability and precision,” said Mintz, who served in the Air Force and then as an engineering manager for Boeing. “Given my engineering background, the cutting-edge technology used in the building and unfolding of our Glidehouse was of great importance to me. That technology also made the building process so much faster than it would have been with an average home, which was a huge draw for us.”

Customers like Mintz begin the Blu homebuilding process by customizing their own homes for free online and in 3-D with Blu’s proprietary Configurator™, which allows users to style, visualize and spend time in their own Blu Home. After selecting from a wide variety of designs, floor plans, interior design ‘palettes’ and appliance packages, homebuyers are able to visualize their new home in real time—all from the comfort of their home or office. Blu then builds each home with precision tooling and trained craftsman in its climate-controlled factory to meet the highest quality construction standards.

After leaving the factory, Blu’s homes are installed on-site in one day and completed in just two weeks by Blu’s teams of craftsmen. This speed and convenience is a result of Blu’s proprietary building science technology, which allows its homes to be folded for quick and cost-effective setting on site. All of this is done at a pre-agreed, fixed cost.

All Blu finishes, fittings, appliances and systems are selected by Blu designers for their leading environmental performance, resulting in healthy and beautiful living spaces and high indoor air quality. Blu homes offer at least 50% energy savings over comparably sized existing homes and include high-end features like luxurious radiant floor heating, Energy Star appliances, low-flow fixtures, an energy recovery ventilation system, sustainably forested flooring, healthy Greenguard finishes for indoor air quality and a roof with a 50-year life.

For more information on Blu Homes go to www.bluhomes.com, follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/bluhomes) and Twitter (@BluHomes), or email us at build@bluhomes.com.

About Blu Homes
Blu Homes, Inc. is a Massachusetts- and California-based builder of green, architect-designed, and precision-built homes. Blu has built a variety of residential and institutional eco-friendly home designs for families and organizations across the U.S., from New York to the Colorado Mountains and the California Coast. Blu’s proprietary steel framing and building technology allows Blu to build homes that are as strong as they are beautiful and then fold them for quick and cost-effective setting across the continental U.S. and Canada. For more information on Blu Homes, contactbuild@bluhomes.com, or visit www.bluhomes.com.

“The Configurator puts homebuyers in the driver’s seat, helping them to visualize their design in a first-person perspective, 360-degree, hyper-realistic environment,” said Blu Homes’ VP of sales and marketing and co-founder, Maura McCarthy.  “Blu is committed to using technology to solve several common homebuilding challenges. Knowing that homebuyers struggle to visualize their new homes as they are being designed, we built the Blu Configurator from the ground up so that our clients know exactly what they are getting before engineering begins. This goes way beyond the typical renderings and architectural drawings that have been used in custom homes up until now.”

“The Blu Configurator demonstrates novel intellectual property by connecting a 3-D model directly back to Blu’s manufacturing process. Plus, we’ve created a beautiful 2-D interface that makes it easy and fun for clients to make a Blu home their own,” explained Bill Haney, co-founder and president of Blu Homes.

“The Configurator is just the latest in a long list of ways Blu is bringing advanced technology to the homebuilding process and helping to move forward an industry that is long overdue for innovation.”

After choosing from one of Blu’s modern home styles, Configurator users select their favorite exterior finish and floor plan. Then, they “fly” inside the home to view and choose interior options designed by leading architects, such as appliances, finishes, color palettes and cabinetry packages. Coming soon, users will also be able to receive instant pricing information that reflects each selected option.

To create a truly realistic experience and give a sense of space, each room has been furnished by Blu’s design team with exact 3-D models of popular and iconic furnishings and finishes. Users can even set their height before getting started to ensure an accurate perspective as they “walk” from room to room. Or, it’s easy to get a bird’s eye view, with or without the roof.  

Blu Homes’ core design and engineering technology—and the technology behind the 3-D home designs in the Configurator—is Blu|3-D, proprietary intellectual property based on design software typically used by automotive and aeronautical designers and engineers at companies like Boeing and Volvo. To create the Configurator, Blu Homes worked with experts and gaming developers to design a consumer-friendly user interface.

“In addition to being a truly fun way to design a home, the Blu Configurator is able to provide critical construction information straight to our factory, so we can make the manufacturing process more efficient and pass on those savings to our customers,” said Joshua Appleman, Blu Homes’ digital tooling manager and lead engineer of the Blu Configurator.

Blu Homes’ design team uses Blu|3-D technology to design and build each home. Because it provides engineering information not often considered in architectural software – such as demands on the structures from wind, snow and seismic activity – Blu is able to achieve climate-specific engineering. That information is then automatically detailed in the building plans used in construction. This means that each home is built with remarkable precision with much lower variance allowances than in average stick-built homes.

Blu’s homes are precision-built by factory craftsmen in weather-controlled conditions to meet the highest quality construction standards. All Blu homes are constructed with Blu’s proprietary structural steel frames that allow for high ceilings, open spaces and generous natural light. In addition, the steel construction is fire-, mold- and termite-resistant.

After leaving the factory, Blu’s homes are installed on site in one day and completed in just two weeks by Blu’s teams of craftsmen. This speed and convenience is a result of Blu’s building science technology which allows its homes to be finished—completely and to a high quality—in its factory, then folded for quick and cost-effective setting on site. All of this is done at a pre-agreed, fixed cost.

All Blu finishes, fittings, appliances and systems are selected by Blu designers for their leading environmental performance, resulting in healthy and beautiful living spaces and high indoor air quality. Blu homes offer at least 50% energy savings over comparably sized existing homes.

For more information on Blu Homes go to www.bluhomes.com, follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/bluhomes) and Twitter (@BluHomes), or email us at build@bluhomes.com.

About Blu Homes

Blu Homes, Inc. is a Massachusetts- and California-based builder of green, architect-designed, and precision-built homes. Blu has built a variety of residential and institutional eco-friendly home designs for families and organizations across the U.S., from New York to the Colorado Mountains and the California Coast. Blu’s proprietary steel framing and building technology allows Blu to build homes that are as strong as they are beautiful and then fold them for quick and cost-effective setting across the continental U.S. and Canada. For more information on Blu Homes, contact build@bluhomes.com, or visit www.bluhomes.com. 

“I am delighted that Blu decided to locate the factory for its state-of-the-art homes in California,” said Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom. “Blu’s beautiful, green homes align well with California’s ‘Net Zero Homes’ goals. Their Mare Island factory, which will be producing its first homes before the end of the year, will provide important industrial jobs in California’s growing green economy.”

“Blu Homes’ focus on innovation and environmental responsibility makes the Bay Area the perfect choice for their manufacturing facility,” said Tom Steyer, Co-Chairman of Californians for Clean Energy and Jobs, and Founder of Farallon Capital Management. “By building to the highest environmental standards, Blu offers American families what they want - beautiful homes, healthier living, better economics and a significantly reduced carbon footprint. If Blu’s production facility expands as planned, hundreds of green industrial jobs for Californian workers will be created over the next few years.”

Originally slated to be centered in Nevada, Blu shifted its sights to a California plant location after discussions with Mr. Steyer. “Tom made a very persuasive case for integrating Silicon Valley’s talent for developing and supporting innovation with the industrial strength of communities like Vallejo,” said Bill Haney, President of Blu Homes. “And with the commitment of Lt. Governor Newsom and Tom Sheaff’s extraordinary team at Lennar Mare Island, we were able to find a fantastic location in the Bay Area. This facility represents an important growth landmark for Blu. The West Coast market for our precision-built homes is growing rapidly and the Mare Island factory will allow us to serve our customers in the best possible way.”

“Blu Homes’ new factory is a big step forward in the re-industrialization of the Bay Area,” said State Senator Lois Wolk, representing California’s 5th Senate District. “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.”

By combining cutting-edge technology with operational innovations, Blu is revolutionizing the way homes are built in North America. For the homeowner, the benefits are undeniable: The opportunity to live in one of the strongest, most beautiful and energy efficient homes available. Additionally, Blu’s model of fixed prices, a short more predictable construction timeline, and the chance to personalize designs for free offers customers a superior experience.

Blu’s customers begin the homebuilding process by customizing their own homes for free online and in 3D with Blu’s proprietary 3D Configurator™. After selecting from a wide variety of designs, floor plans, interior design ‘palettes’ and appliance packages, homebuyers are able to visualize and receive pricing information for their new home in real time—all from the comfort of their home or office. Blu then builds each home with precision tooling and trained craftsman in its climate-controlled factory.

High-quality structural steel frames and precision-built construction are key to the Blu Homes process and enable Blu to build homes that are washed in natural light and extraordinarily strong. The same proprietary steel frames allow Blu Homes to comfortably handle the high snow loads of the Rockies, seismic activity on the San Andreas Fault, and high winds of the Coasts. They are fire and termite resistant. The steel framing also results in spacious, light-filled floor plans with widths of up to 34 feet, and ceiling heights reaching 16 feet.

All Blu finishes, fittings, appliances and systems are selected by Blu’s design team to create beautiful living spaces, high indoor air quality, LEED-certifiable environmental performance and healthier living spaces. Additionally, the factory building environment virtually eliminates concerns over mold and other allergens, which are common issues in the traditional site-building process.

“I couldn’t believe it when I watched my four-bedroom vacation home go up in South Lake Tahoe in only one day,” remarked the Bay Area’s Milli Josifovska, who was so impressed with the company she came out of retirement to join as a Blu sales representative. “The high quality of construction and environmental performance are what drew me to Blu initially, but the beauty of their work, the incredible convenience and the attractive life cycle costs have made me a true believer. My house was valued by my insurance appraiser just after Blu finished its work at almost twice what I paid for it!”

“I visited my home at the factory on several occasions during the building process, which allowed me to see the progress and the remarkable technology that was at work,” said Rich Mintz, a Seattle-based former Boeing engineer and purchaser of a Blu Glidehouse. “No one would build a car or airplane outside in the weather – and after seeing the quality of Blu’s factory, and the fact that everything is fully constructed before the house leaves the factory —the electrical, plumbing, and sprinkler systems, the floors, doors and windows, HVAC, bathrooms, kitchen cabinets, the appliances—everything!—well, I think Blu is building houses the way they should be built.”

After leaving the factory, Blu’s homes are put up on-site in one day and completed in less than two weeks by Blu’s own team of craftsmen. This speed and convenience is a result of Blu’s proprietary building science technology, which allows its homes to be finished completely and to high quality in its factory—then folded for quick and cost-effective setting on-site.

About Blu Homes
Blu Homes, Inc. is a Massachusetts- and California-based builder of green, architect-designed, and precision-built homes. Blu has built a variety of residential and institutional eco-friendly home designs for families and organizations across the U.S., from New York to the Colorado Mountains and the California Coast. Blu’s proprietary steel framing and building technology allows Blu to build homes that are as strong as they are beautiful and then fold them for quick and cost-effective setting across the continental U.S. and Canada. For more information on Blu Homes, contact build@bluhomes.com, or visit www.bluhomes.com.