MHI Briefs Congress on Finance and Energy Issues for Manufactured Housing

Arlington, VA (January 19, 2011) – MHI industry members participated in a high-level briefing on Capitol Hill today focused on high energy performance in manufactured and modular homes. Emanuel Levy, Systems Building Research Alliance, and Kevin Clayton, Clayton Homes, Inc., presented to a standing-room only audience.

Manufactured Housing Congressional Caucus co-chair Ken Calvert (R-CA) kicked off the event remarking on the importance manufactured housing plays in employing some of the most cutting-edge building practices in the energy arena. Congressman Calvert also stressed that the lack of available financing limits consumer accessibility to manufactured housing, “Many Americans lack the ability to buy a manufactured home due to lack of credit and capital available,” he said, “that is not right and needs to be fixed.”

The briefing addressed “manufactured” housing, built in a factory to federal standards (the “HUD Code”) – and “modular” housing, made with prefabricated components and assembled on site to local code. The latest research and innovation to make housing more affordable for more American home buyers and more sustainable for everyone’s benefit was provided in addition to the many benefits of factory-built housing.

“We were pleased to have the opportunity to share with Congress the industry’s progress in making energy efficient housing available to homebuyers, but urge policymakers to focus on the balance between housing affordability and high energy performance,” said MHI Executive Vice President Thayer Long. “We believe that manufactured housing can be a leader in driving the market with cost effective, high performance energy efficient housing.”

Policymakers were urged to support the improvement of the Energy Star tax credit for manufacturers building Energy Star homes, provide a framework to help very low-income existing homeowners purchase new high energy performance homes, and remove existing regulatory barriers for adopting better energy standards for manufactured housing.

“Investing in highly energy efficient homes is a priority for the manufactured housing industry,” said Kevin Clayton. “We continue to push the envelope to find ways to deliver the best energy value for our customers. In the long term, this is not only a good thing for the industry, but it is also just the right thing to do.” Clayton also remarked on the limited ability of our customers to be able to buy energy efficient homes. “Adding any additional costs to our income challenged buyers is detrimental to their ability to qualify for a home loan. We need to advance energy efficiency in our homes, but we must also have fair and competitive financing to purchase manufactured homes.”

According to Emanuel Levy, “There is a natural synergy between the efficiency in constructing a factory-built home, and energy efficiency of the home itself. We believe reducing energy use is a practical approach for keeping homes affordable. Getting to the next generation of energy innovation responsibly will require coordinated public-private action.”

Attendees were advised that manufactured housing has accounted for over 20% of all new homes built over the past two decades, accounts for almost 100,000 U.S. jobs, and houses over 18 million Americans.

Factory-built homes have the benefits of being precision built inside a manufacturing plant, with a process that improves consistency and eliminates waste, and a design/build system that facilitates innovation and quality control. These characteristics allow manufacturers to produce high-quality housing much more quickly and cost effectively than homes that are site-built.

The briefing was hosted by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and the Congressional High-Performance Buildings Congressional Caucus. George Mongrell, President and CEO of Terradime, LLC also presented.

MHI is the national trade association for manufactured and modular housing industries, representing all segments of the industries before Congress and the Federal government. From its Washington, D.C. area headquarters, MHI actively works to promote fair laws and regulation for all MHI members and the industry. For more information on MHI, visit www.manufacturedhousing.org

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