Project FROG jumps to it

The picture is bleak and getting bleaker for the non-residential building industry. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in October, private, nonresidential construction starts fell for the third time in four months. In the same month, an index produced by the American Institute of Architects to measure inquiries into new projects dropped to its lowest level ever. None of this has Adam Tibbs, president of Project FROG, particularly worried. In late November, the company closed on an $8-million Series B round.

The San Francisco-based startup designs and installs pre-fab, modular buildings for what it calls “smart buildings” in the commercial and institutional sectors. Tibbs says the company is well-positioned for the coming rough economic times.

“In general, if there is going to be a complete cessation of building, it's going to be difficult for everyone,” he says. “Our value proposition is that we provide a better product for less. In that sense we are very well-positioned when money is scarce.”

Project FROG uses 1,200-square-foot modules manufactured to United States Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy Efficient Development (LEED) Silver standard as a baseline. They contain 80 percent post-consumer content and use up to 75 percent less energy than the greenest building codes in the country, a company spokeswoman says.

According to Tibbs, the keys to the company's success are working from the same basic design on every project and dramatically reducing the time from design to occupancy for commercial buildings. The first piece makes the company “one of the most experienced builders out there,” Tibbs says, so its design is constantly being modified. Shortening the timeline cuts cost tremendously, Tibbs says. Instead of three to five years from design to occupancy, Project FROG's process takes about six to eight weeks.

“My approach is what everyone is going to be doing 20, 30 years from now,” Tibbs says.