OPAL Build Press
OPAL Build in Green & Healthy Maine HOMES
Spring 2024
“Using Passive House Principles, OPAL Build in Belfast spent a decade refining its system for producing innovative, all-wood, nontoxic, high-performance panelized building shells. The panels are sandwiches of cross-laminated timber (CLT) outside and Maine-made wood fiber insulation inside; once complete they are fitted with high-performance doors and windows and shipped in flat packs to the building site.
Using advanced computer modeling and precision manufacturing techniques, OPAL constructs these roof, wall and floor systems in their zero-waste facility. The company estimates that their automated manufacturing process reduces building time by up to half compared to standard methods. They also report that their building envelope system shrinks the carbon footprint of new construction by 80-90%, thanks to the stored carbon in the CLT and wood fiber insulation. These materials are fully renewable and recyclable, unlike the 15% of construction materials that typically wind up in landfills because the building’s components are hard to separate or recycle. Little wood goes to waste because the CLT is precut by the manufacturer and OPAL returns any leftover pieces of insulation to their sister company, TimberHP in Madison, where they are recycled to produce new batches.”
Field Research Station withstands storms
Pen Bay Pilot
“An example of what sustainable construction looks like for the future, the base of the station sits 11 feet above the mean high tide line (the 100 year flood plane) per FEMA building regulations and thus was mandated to be built on vertical supports.
Belfast-based OPAL designed the building, which showcases new and innovative sustainable forestry products, including cross laminated timber panels for the main structural component, as well as wood fiber insulation. The durable, all-wood structure that supports the building was designed specifically to resist storm and flood damage. This design approach makes for a resilient structure that will last for years to come as the climate changes along the coast of Maine.”
OPAL Build in Green & Healthy Maine HOMES
Fall 2023 & Winter 2024
“Innovative offiste builder OPAL Build in Belfast is pioneering the construction of compact, energy-efficient homes using cross-laminated-timber (CLT), a climate-friendly building product technology. Adapting CLT for residential construction could expand the market for CLT and improve the economics of operating a manufacturing plant in Maine.
..the folks at OPAL Build have streamlined the construction process, employing more pre-engineering, using thinner CLT panels and dropping in bathroom-kitchen pods fully assembled… ‘We’re thinking differently about the system of construction,’ said Matt O’Malia, principal at OPAL Build… OPAL Build is pushing for further efficiencies both onsite - with more powerful cranes — and offsite.”
Field Research Station in Maine Biz
“The Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership cut the ribbon earlier this month on a new field research station.
The new field research station is one of only two in the Gulf of Maine. The goal is to serve as a state-of-the art science facility and a hub to connect local students, teachers, scientists, community leaders and fishermen in shared efforts to better understand the marine environment.
…Opal Build, constructed modular high-efficiency panels, delivered them to the island and assembled them to make a passive house envelope. “
Field Research Station Ribbon Cutting
Pen Bay Piliot
“On Aug. 5, more than 100 attendees gathered on Hurricane Island to join in a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Maine’s newest field research station, a carbon-negative facility for marine science on Penobscot Bay and one of two offshore research stations in the Gulf of Maine.
‘When you take the wood fiber insulation and the cross laminated timber, you’re talking about an all wood construction which is renewable, recyclable and carbon storing with a negative carbon footprint when we build that building.’ said O’Malia.”
Off Site Dirt Interview
Offsite Dirt hosts Audree Grubesic and Mark Wille connect with OPAL Build Executive Partner Matt O'Malia on the story of our three companies, OPAL, OPAL Build & TimberHP. They discuss high performance principles, materials, mass timber, panelized building and the development of wood fiber insulation manufacturing in Maine.
WABI 5 News
BELFAST, Maine (WABI) - This armory built in the 1940′s in Belfast for the National Guard is now home to an eco-friendly architecture company.
”We are using CLT, or cross laminated timber, which is a structural wood element, and we are combining that with wood fiber insulation or insulation boards that are made from recycled wood,” O’Malia said.
Matt O’Malia is the founder of Opal Build.
As an architect, he says the original focus with his first company was on the energy used to keep buildings warm.
Belfast Community Media
Ned Lightner of Belfast Community Media, visits OPAL Build at the Armory where he interviews OPAL Build Executive Partner, Matthew O’Malia and Head of Construction, Dave Miller. Get a behind the scenes look at what’s going on inside the Armory and an overview of our materials use and system.
Kerry Tarnow YouTube Feature
“In this video I check out a company with prefab solutions available on the East Coast building unique designs with a process I find very interesting. The company is called Opal Shelter and they design, prefabricate and build prefab shells with a goal to reduce construction time by 50%. In this video I look at who they are, what they offer and the process to get one. Watch and learn more about Opal Shelter.”
- Kerry Tarnow
OPAL Shelter TikTok Feature
Ry Angle Features OPAL Shelter Modules on his Modular and Prefabricated Tik Tok Channel.
