America faces a housing crisis rooted in a lack of homes to meet growing demand. Dvele, a manufacturer of high-tech prefabricated homes, is working to help solve the housing crisis by upping its production of Self-Powered homes with two new foundries.
Dvele is building the new plants, one in Monterrey, Mexico, and the other in the US at a location to be announced. It’s part of a $428 million pipeline that includes a new $80 million manufacturing facility in Butte, Montana that the company broke ground on in June.
“The expansion of our manufacturing capabilities with more robotics and automation will allow us to produce our Essential line of homes, which conservatively will cost about 20% less than our current Advanced line,” says Kurt Goodjohn, co-founder and CEO of Dvele. “It will also mean we can serve more developers, allowing them to build more net positive communities across the US.”
Dvele Smart Homes
The Essential line has all of the standardizations, climate-resilient features, and energy efficiencies of Dvele’s Advanced line, but with smaller windows than the floor-to-ceiling windows in the Advanced line, and entry level kitchen & laundry appliances by Samsung.
Dvele chose Monterrey because it's a major commercial/manufacturing/port hub that will help the company take advantage of cheaper logistics costs, and give it better access to European ports shipping the world's best “green” (eco-friendly) products. The new facilities will be asset-light, requiring little capital to get up and running. “We'll be testing and adding more automation and robotics to continue getting closer to the target of building an entire home in five days,” Goodjohn says.
By introducing more automation, Dvele is turning homes into products with precision and quality on par with everyday essentials like phones and vehicles. Automation streamlines production, enhancing home longevity for generations to come.
“Our commitment extends beyond manufacturing,” Goodjohn says. “We've carefully chosen over 3,000 planet-friendly, health-conscious materials for every home, reducing carbon emissions and eliminating harmful chemicals. It's a transformation we've been pioneering for the last five years, backed by decades of experience from our senior leaders. With each home produced we prevent 50,000 kgs (110, 000 lbs) of carbon from entering the atmosphere.”
All Dvele homes are completely self-powered by solar energy, eliminating dependency on fossil fuels and the power grid. They produce clean energy that occupants can immediately use, store in the home’s batteries, or sell back to the electric company’s grid, making each home net-positive. The Self-Powered homes technology ensures energy sustainability during emergencies, while the Dvele IQ home operating system effortlessly manages home systems, prioritizing energy, safety, and health. The combination of Self-Powered homes operated by Dvele IQ not only prevents millions of pounds of carbon from entering the atmosphere, but also produces millions of kilowatts of clean energy.
“It's time for a brighter housing conversation—one where homes meet the needs of today while preserving our planet for tomorrow,” Goodjohn says.
About Kurt Goodjohn
Kurt and his brother Kris Goodjohn previously co-founded Karoleena, Canada’s preeminent and most well-known designer prefab home company, which was successfully acquired in 2016. They co-founded Dvele in December of 2016. A recognized leader in the prefab industry, Kurt has been featured in The National Post, Avenue Magazine, Vancouver Sun, Globe and Mail, CBC and dozens of other media outlets. Because the most valuable learning comes from difficult times, Kurt’s personal motto is “Never give up.” As an innovator and visionary, Kurt notes, “I want to leave the world better off than I found it.” Kurt has a BS in Computer Engineering from Union College, where he played Division I Hockey. Kurt raises his three young children alongside his wife, a fellow entrepreneur. Learn more at dvele.com
