The manufacturing facility plan calls for 13 buildings totaling 1.7 million sq ft on a 340-acre site in Chesterfield County, Va., outside Richmond.

The $21-million three-story, four-building residential complex in Palm Springs, Fla., built by Tom Murphy, Jr., and his company, Miami-based Renco USA, hardly appears unusual from the outside.

Structural materials have not changed all that much over the years, but a Florida company offers a new alternative.