The i-House. Eco trailer park of the future?

There has been a lot of talk lately about mega mansions and suburban developments filled with oversized, overpriced homes that waste energy as well as the natural resources required to construct them.   Over the past few decades the American home has been steadily growing larger and the pricetag has grown along with it.  Sometimes it takes a catastrophe like our current global economic crisis to shake things up and make way for new ideas and new ways of doing business. Take Clayton homes for example.  Clayton homes started building modular housing and mobile homes during the Great Depression.  In 2003 the company was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway .  Warren Buffet wrote the following in this year’s letter to shareholders, “This innovative ‘green’ home, featuring solar panels and numerous other energy-saving products, is truly a home of the future.  Estimated costs for electricity and heating total only about $1 per day when the home is sited in an area like Omaha.”

The i-house is a highly functional small mobile home with a “V” shaped roof designed to collect rainwater, solar panels to offset power costs, and even a rooftop deck.  At an average cost of $100 per s.f. this is a great example of creativity and forward thinking, in a place that few would have ventured to go.  We’re sending out buttercups to Warren and the Berkshire Hathaway team as well as all the creative minds at Clayton Homes that went into this one.  The I-house is one small step in the right direction and we look hope there are a lot more to come.