Making Manufactured Homes More Energy Efficient and Affordable

With an average sales price of $64,900 (not including land), manufactured homes are the nation's largest source of unsubsidized affordable housing. But these homes can be quite expensive to operate on a monthly basis if they have poor insulation, drafty windows, or inefficient lighting and appliances. Making manufactured homes more energy efficient could help reduce utility bills for families across America and reduce some of the 20 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions caused by residential buildings.

The good news is that some progressive home builders are making factory-built homes more energy efficient and sustainable, not to mention modern and stylish. In January, EESI brought representatives from Clayton Homes, the nation’s largest home builder, and Pittsburgh-based Terradime to brief Congressional staff on the latest in high performance factory-built homes . These companies build homes that maximize the use of natural ventilation and daylight and include features such as high performance “low E” thermal pane windows that block 70 percent of summer heat and retain 70 percent of interior warmth in the winter, high efficiency air ducts, compact fluorescent lighting, low-flow faucets, and optimized insulation. Some homes are built to receive the ENERGY STAR label.

Despite providing great comfort and lowering operating costs, energy efficiency improvements can push home purchase prices up by $5,000 – beyond what many manufactured home buyers, with a median household income of $29,900, can initially afford. A $1,000 federal tax credit for ENERGY STAR manufactured homes has helped offset some of the added upfront cost, but these highly efficient homes still only number around 20,000 nationwide. Speakers at the briefing suggested that an extension and expansion of this tax credit could go a long way to drive the market for energy-efficient manufactured homes.