New Mexicans looking to buy a manufactured home will soon have the option of choosing a "green" version, complete with bamboo floors, tankless water heaters and a roof rigged to hold solar panels.
Clayton Homes, a company acquired by investment guru Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, recently announced plans for the energy-efficient homes at its annual shareholders meeting.
Karsten Homes in Albuquerque is one of four manufacturing sites in the state that will build the i-house. One is under construction, according to Karsten Homes general manager Clay Latimer.
Standard features of the new Clayton i-house are similar to those of Karsten Energy Star homes, which claim to save homeowners 30 percent on energy bills over standard manufactured houses.
The standard i-home offers programmable thermostats, windows that reduce heating and cooling loss, high-efficiency heat pumps and dual-flush toilets.
Customers can request upgrades such as solar panels, a Rheem tankless water heater, bamboo flooring and Energy Star washers and dryers.
The base price of a one-bedroom, one-bathroom, 731-square-foot i-house is about $75,000, or $102 per square foot. A two-bedroom, one-bath 1,023-square-foot i-house starts at about $91 per square foot, according to the company's Web site.
The exterior walls are sided with corrugated steel and concrete fiber.
The company has 14 flexible floor plans listed on its Web site at
claytonihouse.com. Most are the simple rectangular shape common in manufactured homes.
Contact Staci Matlock at 986-3055 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.
You must register with a valid email address and use your real name to comment on this forum. Previous usernames are no longer valid as of Feb. 5. Once you've logged into the system, you'll be able to contribute comments. If you need help logging in or establishing your new user name and password, please
visit this tutorial.
All users are expected to abide by the
forum rules and and be courteous to other users. Comments can be accepted up to eight days following publication. After that, comments can be read but no new submissions made. Send questions to
webeditor@sfnewmexican.com IMPORTANT: After registering, please check your e-mail for a message to confirm your e-mail address. Comments will not post immediately until you've confirmed your e-mail address by clicking the link in the e-mail. Postings under false names will be removed per forum rules.
