 |
Home | Search | Browse | About IPO | Staff | Links |
|
Home | Search | Browse | About IPO | Staff | Links |
|
How To Buid A Home you can afford to live in Today's factory built homes, like this one built by Roger Huddleston Homes, come in all styles and sizes, but they don't come with wheels. By John Lowrey Everyone needs a place to call home, but in many rural areas affordable housing can't be found. There is a housing affordability gap in many rural areas. According to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, most new rural jobs pay between $7.50 and $15 an hour, which would be enough to qualify for a $37,500 to $75,000 home. That leaves a lot of people out of the housing market, when the median price is between $80,000 and $200,000. Even renting can be tough on that income. Affordable housing means that the rent or mortgage payment, plus basic utilities should be at or below 30 percent of income. Older homes might be affordable to buy or rent, but they often have little or no insulation, and old inefficient heating and air conditioning equipment. Utility bills and repairs are difficult to afford. Old homes can be rehabilitated, but often it doesn't make economic sense. Illinois electric cooperatives are working hard to help members find ways to increase their home's energy efficiency through the Certified Comfort Home program. Some are even building demonstration homes to show members new energy efficient building techniques and products. Nearly a third of Illinois' homes were built before 1939. "We need to go ahead and replace obsolete and worn out housing stock that was built between about 1880 and 1930," says Roger Huddleston, President of Roger Huddleston Homes in Mahomet. He has formed an alliance with Eastern Illini Electric Cooperative (EIEC), Paxton, to demonstrate new energy efficient, affordable housing options. Huddleston had Crest Homes of Middlebury, Ind., build a two-story Cape Cod home that Eastern Illini filled with energy efficiency options and new high-tech home options. The demonstration home proves you can build an affordable home that is also economical to live in. We need a housing eco-balance, says Huddleston. "You can't find a builder who wants to build a home for less than $100,000, but not everybody can start at $100,000. If you talk to people in most small towns, you'll find one of the biggest reasons their kids aren't staying there is not jobs, it's because they can't afford to live there. What's wrong with starting on a housing ladder and working your way up?" And it's not just an issue for young people. Huddleston says, "I know a lady, who lives on social security in a mobile home park. Her home is worth about $5,000 and she pays $170 a month. But she has her dignity and self-respect, and she is living in something that keeps her warm and dry. She can't afford a $600 a month house payment." The average cost of manufactured homes was $43,800 in 1998. The average cost of a site-built home was $136,425 (excluding land price). While there are plenty of jokes made about homes on wheels, the reality is today's manufactured home is more than a "tin trailer." Today's factory-built, modular homes are often two-story and don't look anything like a "mobile home." While Huddleston sells homes for between $20,000 and $300,000, most modular homes he sells fall in the range between $60,000 and $170,000. The Eastern Illini Electric (EIEC) demonstration home features a geothermal heat pump and wet-blown cellulose insulation for energy efficiency. The home also demonstrates all the other new home technologies ElEC's subsidiaries provide. Manager of Marketing and Economic Development for EIEC, Bob Dickey, says the new demonstration home is part of the co-op's Energy Savings Plus (ESP) program. Dickey says the Plus in the ESP program encompasses three technology areas people want. "Number one is energy efficiency, or energy solutions," he says. "Number two is telecommunication solutions. And number three is water quality solutions."
EIEC subsidiaries provide whole-house surge protection, security services, water treatment and bottled water, wireless high-speed Internet, and satellite TV service. You can take a virtual tour of the ESP model home and high-tech home technologies from the coop's Web site, www.eiec.org/news-esphometour.htm. "They are bringing tomorrow's technology to rural communities today," says Huddleston. Today's homes are being wired for more than just electricity, he says. "There is an evolutionary process going on. We started with phone jacks, and then we evolved to cable TV. Now we're pre-wiring homes for computers. I believe in five years there's going to be a control center in your home MAY 2002 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING 11
and the home will think for you." "As new technology comes, we can incorporate it," adds Dickey. Huddleston says, "The plus in Energy Savings Plus means this is a living program we can adapt day by day to our customer's needs. I get very excited about these guys and what they are doing because they're in my market, they enhance my product and they're good partners. They do customer service the old fashioned way. These days you can't talk to a real live person, but they go out and meet the customer, sit down and talk across the table just like we used to do it. Together we don't sell houses, we sell homes."
Factory built homes have some advantages over site built homes both in cost and energy efficiency. Huddleston says this is the way many European countries are building new homes to gain energy efficiency and cost savings. And he says factory built homes have to follow national codes and are inspected. The University of Illinois' School of Architecture-Building Research Council has researched home building materials and construction for 50 years. Their 1995 comparison of the CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Model Energy Code and the federal Manuactured Home Construction and Safety Standards found that, "On balance, the codes are comparable." Huddleston says, "Every manufactured home from the least expensive single-wide with metal roof and metal siding, to the most sophisticated three-story modular that is 18,000 square feet - is all built to a code. And it's all third party certified inside the factory. We're doing some really neat things in our factory with quality control. The homes are built on jigs, and in a way, these homes are built almost too tight. You have to make sure they are well ventilated or you'll have moisture problems." To avoid moisture problems, he says crawl spaces must have a 6-mil polyethylene plastic vapor barrier installed on the ground to prevent ground moisture. He also uses thermostatically controlled vents around the foundation. Attic space must also be well ventilated to avoid moisture condensation problems. Without proper ventilation, mold and mildew may cause structural damage and health problems. Jim Riddle, President/Chief Operating Officer for Clinton County Electric Cooperative in Breese, has lived in factory built homes. Starting out in his younger days he and his wife lived in a "mobile home." There is a stereotyped opinion against manufactured homes, but he said, "We would move back into one. It was well built, affordable and now there are larger options." Now Riddle lives in what might be the most energy efficient home in Illinois. It is a factory built, panelized home. Whole wall units are built in the factory out of polystyrene foam insulation sandwiched between strand boards. "The walls have an R-value of 30 and the ceiling has an R-48," said 12 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING www.aiec.org Riddle. The only disadvantage is the house is so energy efficient and tight that ventilation and proper air exchanges are very important. "I don't care what kind of house it is, if you build it tight, as you should, you have to have air exchanges. If you don't you'll have moisture problems. Exhaust fans in the bathrooms should be tied to the light switch and be automatic" Riddle also installed a geothermal heat pump. "I'm surrounded by neighbors who have gas and their homes are mostly smaller, but my bills are always less," says Riddle. He says that new geothermal heat pumps with variable speed compressors and fans are even better. "We have one at our office too, and it is very quiet. With my home, if I had it to do over, I would buy two smaller geothermal heat pumps instead of one large unit," he says. Riddle's two-story home is 2,160 square feet, with a utility room and basement. The panelized home only requires two center supports from the basement to the roof, making all interior walls non-load bearing. Plans can be customized and Riddle drew his own home plans. Besides the increased energy efficiency, he says the other unique advantage of factory built housing is shorter construction time. A home similar to Riddle's was featured on Bob Vila's TV show and it was built in one day. Riddle says, "They started on our house March 1, 1989. They had the basement in, and then we had a little ice for a couple of days. March 8 they set the floor trusses, and in one day they set the walls and ceiling. You can be in your home in six weeks or less." Other co-ops have built demonstration homes to promote geothermal heat pumps and the co-op's Certified Comfort Home program. Illinois Rural Electric Cooperative in Winchester is the latest to plan a demonstration home. Ron Coultas, Manager of Engineering and Operations for the co-op, says, "We will be monitoring the units after they are built using our new remote automated meter reading system." He says the co-op will build three different sized homes over the next two years, each with a geothermal heat pump, wet-spray cellulose insulation and other Certified Comfort Home energy efficiency construction standards. John Marley, Program Manager for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs' (DCCA) Home Energy Rating System, is working closely with Eastern Illini Electric Cooperative and Roger Huddleston Homes. Together they are trying to increase awareness of the EnergyWise Homes of Illinois home energy rating system (HERS). The program rates a home on a scale of 0 to 100. A home built to the energy code begins with a score of 80. Homes that scores an 86, or higher, qualify as an EPA Energy Star Home. Each point above 80 means the home will use 5 percent less energy. Homes that rate at least an 80 qualify for energy efficient mortgage benefits. Unfortunately, there are only five energy raters in Illinois. Two work for electric cooperatives. Very few bankers understand or promote the energy efficiency mortgages. Marley hopes utilities like EIEC and builders like Huddleston will help spread the word and increase the demand for energy improvement mortgages. "The idea behind the program is you can have a standardized program for rating homes equivalent to gas mileage ratings on cars," says Marley. He says if the home-owner saves $100 on energy each month that can go towards house payments, and they can qualify for more home. Everyone needs to look at the total cost of owning a home, including energy, not just principal, interest and taxes. Huddleston says, "This is another area where we can make a great impact on the cost of living. Everybody gets excited about a quarter of a percent interest rate change. But what if we install geothermal heat pumps, and instead of a $200 utility bill you have a $50 utility bill. This is measurable performance. We are even looking at how we site your home. How is it oriented to the sun and prevailing winds? What type of trees should we plant, and how should we landscape for energy efficiency?" Together we are raising the bar. We're doing things better, for less money and the consumers are the biggest winners.
MAY 2002 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING 13 |
|
|
EIEC Marketing Advisor Pat Gallahue (left) talks saving building ideas, including cellulose insulation
to Roger Huddleston about new energy and foam insulated concrete forms.
Administrator of the DCCA's EnergyWise Homes of Illinois program John Marley (right) shows Bob Dickey of EIEC how the home energy rating program works.
