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JENKINS TWP. – Nine years ago, Terry Cesare thought an energy-efficient home-building technology he manufactured would sell like hot cakes. But demand was low and the “green movement” hadn’t yet put the pedal to the metal.

He and a group of partners believe the time has come to reintroduce the product to the construction sector.

“I think we’re looking at the right timing for this,” said Cesare, 61, of Saylorsburg, Monroe County.

He’s in the process of purchasing a 47,000-square-foot building along Westminster Road in Jenkins Township that’s now owned and used by La-Z-Boy as a warehouse and transfer hub. He said he will lease 17,000 square feet back to the furniture maker, and his Eco-Earth Building Systems will use the remaining 30,000 square feet to manufacture building panels.

Those panels are made by using rigid planks of solid expanded polystyrene reinforced with tubular galvanized steel struts and angled steel top and bottom corners.

There is little to no wood used in the product.

“It doesn’t get much greener than this,” Cesare said. “It’s an extremely energy-efficient way of building.”

The company has requested a $2.4 million recovery zone facility bond through Luzerne County and if that’s secured, Cesare said, 20 people will be hired and the business could start churning out finished product by the end of the year.

Though his first endeavor failed, he said times have changed and energy efficiency and green building is trendy. He hopes to capitalize on that.

“I believe the market is ready for the product we have,” Cesare said.

There are a few other companies in the country that manufacture similar building panels but none in the area, said Cesare, who serves as president and chief executive officer of the company.

He said Luzerne County was chosen for the facility because it’s close to where his partners live. He declined to name any of them.