Plant Prefab, in Rialto, California, is rethinking prefab housing. Specializing in high-end, custom homes, Plant Prefab combines all the advantages of offsite construction with environmental consciousness: faster build times, a steady and reliable labor force, increased jobsite safety, and less construction waste with sustainable materials.

The housing construction market is grappling with how to deal with a labor shortage, and customers are increasingly expecting their houses to be built faster. On top of that, the US is now seeing more extreme and more frequent natural disasters, meaning that demand for quick housing solutions will only continue to rise.

Steve Glenn, CEO, says that Plant Prefab can often build a house in half the time it would take on a site-based job. His factory recently built a 16-unit multi-family project in just three months, a timeline that’s nearly unheard of elsewhere. And all that was going on at the same time the site work, such as grading, utilities, foundation work, was happening.

Plant Prefab envisions a growing role for prefab construction in the US housing market, especially as natural disasters occur more frequently and with greater intensity, creating a need for fast and plentiful housing. Glenn and the employees of Plant Prefab are optimistic that their company can help fill that role, and they’re not the only ones: Amazon’s Alexa Fund just invested in this construction startup, marking the company’s first foray into the housing market.

Look for Plant Prefab to continue to improve their processes and productivity. “We’re just learning a lot along the way. What processes, people and teams, and methods seem to work best, and we’re trying to be smarter about doing it, for every future project,” said Glenn. With some homebuilders facing a backlog of nearly two years in some parts of the country, that’s sure to be welcome news for a lot of Americans looking to build their own homes.