Zona Verde Inc. bills itself as a solution to modern housing problems. Those problems, according to John Bunch, vice president of sales for the company, include taking too long, costing too much and not lasting generationally.
The homes ZV builds, he told Watonga City Council Tuesday night, are 40% less expensive and 30% more energy efficient. The build is ‘green’ and there is no wood in the construction. Instead it is all galvanized, powder coated metal. The roofing is prepared to host solar panels from the get-go and from the time the home is set on its foundation until the builder turns the keys over to the owner is an astounding 15 days.
The company made its presentation for a build on a lot the city owns near the Christian Church on Weigle Avenue. The home will have 1,300 sq feet and is two bedrooms, two baths. The cost is somewhere around $120,000 including the appliances and flooring.
The home will be the first build in Oklahoma – in fact, in the United States, Bunch said. Because of that there is a caveat in the contract for the home to be a showcase for 60 days following completion. Bunch said there are multiple entities, including several Native American tribes, that are interested in the concept.
The houses are built in a factory, currently producing in India. The construction is of metal panels that slide and lock together. They are, according to Mike Henson, construction manager for War-Con, the building branch of ZV, rated to withstand hurricane force winds.
The company is also looking, Bunch said, for a stateside factory location. As an Oklahoma native, he is searching for a location in the Sooner State, where some 150 people could be employed. Watonga could be considered for a factory location, as it has both rail and highway access.