What is Parallel Building?

The construction process has five principal parts: Foundation, framing, plumbing and electrical, sheet rock and plaster, and finishes.  In a standard linear building process, each of these parts is done one after another. 

In Parallel Building, the foundation is built while large components of the home are being constructed in an off-site controlled environment. In this controlled environment they are concurrently being framed, plumbed, wired, sheet-rocked, and plastered. When these components and the foundation have been completed (often in about two months) the components are transported to the construction site where they are craned and attached to the foundation and to one another. At this point, the same finish details are applied to the home that would be used in standard linear construction. The result is that a parallel built home can be built from start to finish in approximately six months as opposed to eighteen to thirty six months for standard linear construction. Other advantages include a reduction in waste, increase in precision, increase in strength, and increases in overall sustainability.