Collectively called factory-built homes, they are built partially or completely in factories, then delivered to home sites by truck. We watched one come together in hours.

A framed window section is lowered into place as carpenters reach to steady it in the wind. (Chris Walkerr/Chicago Tribune photo)

Driver Dan Oliver carries a framed section to the second floor. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune photo)

Neil Fortunato, president of Green Building Technologies, steps through a window opening as carpenters guide in a component of the home. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune photo)
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An exterior view later that day shows the crew’s progress after only a few hours of assembling the component house. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune photo)

Carlos Venegas wears drywall stilts to finish the ceiling on a Green Building Technologies home. (Dave Shields/Photo for the Chicago Tribune)

At right, Venegas puts mud on joints while drywalling the modular home. (Dave Shields/Photo for the Chicago Tribune)