Green pays off for modular homes, too
Everyone wants a “green” home these days. Homeowners want energy-efficient appliances, windows that don’t let hot or cool air escape, bamboo floors and even small-scale solar power.
Builders, of course, have jumped on this trend. They recognize that not only is green building good for the environment, it’s good for their pocketbooks, too.
Now the manufacturers of factory-built modular homes are jumping on the green bandwagon, too. The New York Times recently wrote a long feature story about how modular housing companies, especially those operating in the higher end of the market, are including trendy green amenities in their factory-built homes.
According to the Times story, modular companies such as Michelle Kaufmann Designs and LivingHomes are offering environmentally friendly items such as grey water reuse systems, rainwater recycling, bamboo flooring and tankless water heaters.
We all remember, I’m sure, when modular homes meant dinky, ugly, square buildings with little character and even less luxury. These modular homes, obviously, are not of this type.
But even those modular builders who don’t cater to high-end clients can boast of their green credentials, according to the New York Times story. Modular homes are usually built with thicker walls than are traditionally built houses. And these walls are held together with screws and glue rather than the nails favored by traditional home builders. This leads to more energy efficient homes: The thicker walls provide more insulation, while the seams are held together more tightly, preventing hot or cold air from escaping.
The Times story also mentions that a growing number of modular builders are moving away from the use of toxic paints and PVC materials that have long been a part of the industry.
I’m often skeptical of the green building movement. I’ve seen too many homeowners demolish a perfectly good, but smaller, home only to build a sprawling 4,00o-square-foot mansion with some environmentally friendly features and call that “green building.” To me, it would have been greener to have kept the home that was previously standing, right?
But I am excited about green modular homes. Though many deride modular homes, they are actually a model of efficiency. They are built quickly in factories. They don’t use as many materials as do traditionally built homes. And they’re usually more affordable. You might say that this country needs more modular housing, not less. A more efficient homebuilding industry is, by definition, a greener one, too.
