HoneyWood hopes to make EUR 2 mln out od selling prefabricated wood houses in 2013

A wood prefabricated house can be lifted from the ground in up to three days, it is cheaper to build, environmentally friendly and has reduced costs with energy of up to 75 percent, says HoneyWood, a Romanian manufacturer of such buildings who after working in Western Europe for some 10 years has launched local operations this week.

So far the company has built more than 150 such constructions in countries like France, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium. In 2012 alone it built 25 units and had total sales of EUR 1.7 million. This year it hopes to grow to 30 sold houses and a total turnover of about EUR 2 million.

HoneyWood plans to further grow and to double its production capacity to 100 units per year by investing approximately EUR 1 million in its factory over the next three years.

Starting next year it estimates that it will sell locally some 25-30 percent of the houses manufactures and once it reaches a production of 100 units per year, no more than 30 will be sold outside the country.

Leaving aside finishes, a timber-framed house can be 30 percent cheaper than a traditionally built one, said Razvan Cazacu, founder, owner and manager of HoneyWood. Overall building costs are EUR 450 – EUR 600 per square meter.

The construction can be raised from the ground in up to three days on average. In 45 days the house is finished and the owner can move in.

One of the most important advantages of pre-fabricated wood houses is that timber-frames walls are better thermal insulators than other construction materials, and thus they can be thinner gaining additional 10 – 15 percent of living space compared brick or block-built house of the same footprint area. Also compared to a regular house, good insulation means that energy related costs can be 75 percent cheaper, added Cazacu.