With half a million manufactured homes in the northwest, and over 200,000 in Washington state, an energy efficient manufactured home prototype funded by Puget Sound Energy (PSE), Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King County, and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) could help northwest utilities meet future energy conservation goals. The home, built for a family buying it through Habitat for Humanity’s affordable homeownership program, features a ductless heat pump and heat pump water heater, efficient lighting, triple-glazed windows, exterior foam sheathing and beefed up insulation. This level of energy efficiency can save up to 50 percent of heating and cooling expenses over a typical manufactured home, according to bothell-reporter.

“Manufactured homes built to this new high-performance spec have durability and performance features that could change opinions about factory-built homes and be an integral part of our super-efficient 21st century utility system,” said Christopher Dymond of Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, an alliance of more than 140 Northwest utilities and energy efficiency organizations. The project is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction” program, and includes Community Frameworks, Ecotope, Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star New Homes Program, Manufactured Housing Associations and Washington State University. MHProNews understands that more and more MH will be built with similar cost savings features, especially if energy costs rise faster than MH production costs. ##

(Editor’s Note: more information about the NEEA and super-efficient manufactured homes are linked here.)

(Photo credit: seacoastonline.com–Ken Cantara, energy auditor)