Modular Living – say bye to double-wide!

Modular homes.   

That thought leaves most of us shuddering, then snickering about that dream double-wide trailer—hey, live large and maybe you could have a triple wide!  Years ago, a dear friend of mine was struggling to buy a home in her beloved, but unaffordable, Santa Cruz County.  She dealt with a real estate agent who waxed eloquently about modular homes, leading my friend to grumble, “It’s just a fancy word for a trailer home.  Yuck!”  Thankfully, she and her husband were able to buy a nice townhouse near downtown Santa Cruz.

  We live in a nation fueled by innovation and love for new products.  At home, I think we are amongst the minority that still owns one of the older (2003) boxy TV sets—amazing since now consumers are pretty much relegated to buying flat screen TVs now at a Best Buy or Costco.  Cell phones get smaller and smaller with more and more features:  now no one sports those Nextel clamshell phones (I think).

So we buy new and improved, smaller and lighter products in our homes; but the homes in which we live are stuck in the nineteenth century.  We have progressed from the horse and buggy days of gaslight lamps and outdoor toilets, but at a fundamental level, the way in which we build our homes really has not changed.  We may blanch at Inland Empire McMansions and romanticize Brooklyn brownstones, but the bones of both are very similar.  Home builders still use wood frames, dry wall, cement, stucco, and tile.  And that is just the start of a long process, taking weeks if we are lucky, months and even years if we have the typical homebuilding experience.  Then we are left with waste—too many materials and excessive energy are consumed in the process.

At last month’s AQMD Green Tech Connect Conference, Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido discussed one of his green building initiatives, which would encourage home builders to streamline processes and materials so that homes could be build in as quickly as two weeks.  According to Pulido, a reduction in construction time reduces waste, energy, and an increased use in materials that are more uniform, easier to ship . . . and therefore, more "green."

More companies and communities see modular building as the way to go, and we will see more modular homes in the coming years.  And no, we are not talking trailers.  These homes have plenty of “cool” in them.  But what are the advantages of building pre-fab, modular homes?

• Absolute precision when designing these homes, creating less waste, and less energy and pollution from shipping because the components can be shipped in flat, uniform packaging.
• Expensive green products, which can also be difficult to procure, can be purchased in bulk, lowering prices.
• Less of a footprint, and less intrusion:  there is no need for large amounts of space for storing building materials.
• Uniform building materials do not mean cookie-cutter homes, but more consistent construction, meaning better-sealed homes that waste less energy over time.

By the way, you are not necessarily stuck with a “modern” home.  You can go for that mountain cabin look if you desire.  You can also build incrementally, whether you need a backyard shed or a car port to shade your car.

One company finding opportunities in modular home construction is the Polish firm BUMA Group.  BUMA scored a huge break five years ago when it entered into an agreement with the Hyde Housing Association in London.  Focusing on London neighborhoods needing affordable housing, BUMA designed “flat-pack homes” that only required small construction crews to assemble the flats.  Residents around the neighborhoods found releif because they would not have to wait a year or so dealing with closed streets and construction noise--the homes would be completed in several days.  The homes were very affordable, too.  BUMA manufactured the house sections in Krakow, then shipped them to the UK.   

The modular road has not been easy, however.   Consumers still have their baises and are not convinced that these homes offer quality.  The housing industry is a large beast that moves slowly.  There are other moving parts that are slowing this trend:  local regulations often do not consider these homes viable; real estate and mortage lending professionals misunderstand and therefore look down on these homes; and we still have a love affair with bricks, stucco, brownstones, and . . . McMansions.   But if you could live in a home that could be assembled quickly, use sustainable materials, had high quality, and looked ultra-chic or downhome country depending on your style . . . wouldn't you go for one?