Panel People

Brian Bishop says things changed after the recession. The economic downturn shifted people's thinking and started a conversation about living more simply, saving energy, driving a Prius. And it wasn't just talk.

Bishop, 59, is the founder and president of New Panel Homes, an Englewood-based company that manufactures sturdy, energy-efficient structural insulated panel building kits. His approach to house construction is gaining traction in the marketplace.

He got national attention after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when he was involved in efforts to develop an alternative to Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers for survivors of natural disasters. Bishop kept one of those products, a Katrina Cottage, at his Englewood headquarters. People would drop by his factory to see the innovative structure.