OWLS HEAD – A local builder is using modular housing to create energy-efficient homes.

Jim Leach of Bay Point Homes LLC of Rockland on Wednesday worked with crews assembling a six-room modular combination cape and chalet home on North Shore Drive in Owls Head.

The two-story home will be energy-efficient, using oil, propane and passive solar for heat.

According to Leach, a modular home is constructed using smaller components called modules or boxes that are created inside a controlled environment. They then are placed on the foundation with a crane.

The modules for the Owls Head home were manufactured by AvisAmerica, a division of Excel Homes, a modular manufacturer. Prices for Excel Homes begin at $135,000.

In June, Excel Homes announced its intention to expand in Maine with the purchase of the former Oxford Homes, a modular manufacturer in Oxford, Maine.

The home at 327 North Shore Drive is being built for Jim and Steffany Tribou, who plan to occupy the house in four weeks.

“They actually had a role in designing the house for efficiency,” Leach said.

The windows he described as “very tight, low E argon, which means they’re superinsulated,” he added.

The Tribou family started with a standard modular cape and made changes, which included a cathedral ceiling at one end, a 36-foot “farmer’s porch” on the front, interior pine doors and double-hung windows all around.

Heating systems in the homes vary, Leach said, and soon Bay Point will offer solar hot water systems for modular homes.

The base power plant at the Owls Head home will be oil-fired. Backup heat will be provided by a propane fireplace in the living room and a trapezoidal windowed gable on the second floor for solar power.

Assisting Leach with the assembly were Richard Hott, operations manager for Keeley Crane Service in Portland, and Kerri Kondisko of Excel Homes.

For information, contact baypointmodularhomes.com.

gchappell@bangordailynews.net

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