, and many other specialists and advocates of sustainable construction, the NextGen project reflects how technological advances and marketplace demands have changed the standards for American home building—and made them more affordable.
One of the keys to keeping the houses affordable is building them off-site in manufacturing facilities. The homes, also known as HUD-code housing, are assembled in sections or 'modules,' and then trucked to the site for final assembly—a process that takes advantage of the cost savings resulting from volume production, continuous quality control, and the prevention of vandalism and theft of materials and tools.
In areas where construction-labor costs are high, manufactured housing can often be the "make or break" solution to the demand for affordable housing. Even bad weather is no problem in the production process, at least until the house arrives at the site.
Theory into practice
One example of a NextGen home is a three-bedroom, two-bath house in Danbury, Conn. Two factory-built sections joined in the field form a 28' by 48' home. The upstairs floor plan includes the third bedroom and unfinished attic space, which can be remodeled as another bath and fourth bedroom. Downstairs, the open, flowing spaces of the kitchen, dining room, and living room are separated only by a balustered stairway.
High-efficiency appliances and windows are complemented by enhanced insulation, earning NextGen an Energy Star designation, which means that the home's energy performance will improve on the requirements of the Model Energy Code by 30% or better.
The house also features compact fluorescent lighting. For those who cringe at the thought of standard-issue office fluorescent lighting in the home, these compact fluorescent light fixtures are an entirely new breed. The light quality is virtually identical to that of an incandescent bulb, but with considerable advantages over incandescents: They use one quarter as much electricity and last between five and ten times as long.
Another impressive aspect of the NextGen project is that such houses can be built and completed in several weeks, compared with the several months it typically takes to finish a site-built residence.
Both the retail price and final installed cost demonstrate that the NextGen house is affordable to a broad spectrum of potential buyers. Furthermore, the use of energy-efficient materials and the results of energy software simulations and on-site energy testing show that this very efficient house will have a reduced demand on environmental resources–and its owners' budget–over its lifetime.
This information is provided by the Department of Energy’s Building America program, a private/public partnership that develops energy solutions for new and existing homes. The Building America program combines the knowledge and resources of industry leaders with the DOE’s technical capabilities. Together, they act as a catalyst for change in the home-building industry.
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