A Green Friendly Innovative Dwelling

Visualize your idea of a mobile home … now get ready to be blown away!

Clayton i House On Saturday May 2, Maryville, Tennesse based Clayton Homes, the largest manufacturer of modular homes in the U.S., officially introduced its i-house. A green-friendly innovation from a company that has sold 1.5 million homes on wheels since its start in 1934. The ‘i’ stands for innovation, inspiration, intelligence and integration and it doesn’t hurt that the layout of the long main “core” house and a separate box-shaped guestroom-office “flex room” resemble the letter “i” and its dot.

Clayton i House The i-house went on sale nationwide May 2, conceived as a moderately priced, energy efficient, “plug and play”, prefab dwelling, with decks on the ground level and on the roof of the detached ‘flex room’. Designers hope the model will attract environmentally conscious homebuyers, retain current pre-fab homeowners, and attract new buyers to that market sector.

The house comes in two packag es: the $74,900, 723 square feet i-house I, and the $93,300, 1,023 square foot i-house II. Both homes can be configured in at least seven different ways and come with a number of standard features, including galvanized metal roofing, corrugated steel siding, a butterfly roof with rainwater collection, and non-VOC paints. Customers can also tack on solar panels, tankless water heaters, and low-flow faucets for a price. The detached flex room is 268 square feet has 1 bath and comes in at a base price of $26,600.

3501013493_b9da570fd0_o The reasonably priced, energy-efficient, Clayton i-house features include:

Standard Features:
* Energy Star appliances
* Low-emission paint
* Compact fluorescent lighting
* Water-saving appliances
* Energy efficient windows
* Rainwater catchment system
* And much, much more

Optional Features:
* Solar panels
* Bamboo floors

The key cost difference is from the savings Clayton achieves by building homes in volume in green standardized factories with very little waste. Clayton has four plants in Oregon, Tennessee, California and New Mexico geared up for i-house production.

Now what’s that do to your mental picture of ‘Green Acres Trailer Park’ ?!