Tradelines
A publication of the Tampa Bay International Business Council
Member Profile
An unusual start-up company has just joined the Tampa Bay International Trade Council. Headquartered near downtown Clearwater, FL, Environmental Building Products (EBP) is pushing its innovative modular building system into countries around the world. Preliminary agreements have been signed on multimillion dollar contract in a half dozen countries, with much interest expressed at both governmental and private levels.
What exactly has the attention of the housing and other ministers in these countries? It is the fact that the modular houses can be built at a fraction of the cost of regular houses; they can be erected in a matter of days by unskilled labor; they require almost no maintenance and have life span far exceeding that of most modern buildings; and to cap it all off, up to 80% of the materials used come from recycled materials, rather that relying on scarce or dwindling natural resources. Given the environmental, financial and labor problems facing many countries, it is not surprising that governmental agencies and concerned citizens are signing up.
EBP's building system was developed by Bill Loftus, a Boston builder who sold his business and moved to Clearwater in 1989. He began searching for solutions to what he felt was a surmountable problem - affordable, quality housing that could be built with existing financial and environmental resources. After much research, he not only invented a new building material but developed a complete, new, modular building system for which several patents are pending. EBP was formed a year ago and has been concentrating on making its solutions real to the sizable market in which it finds itself a main contender.
Faced with monumental manufacturing and logistics hurdles, as well as the desire to make it as easy as possible for the building to be constructed, company management is offering countries the option to build the houses under license with their own nationals trained at EBP offices.
The long term goal is to provide a real solution for the governments of the world, faced with a lack of adequate housing for some or many of their citizens.
If you would like more information on Environmental Building Products, contact us.
