MOD-U-KRAF DELIVERS DORMITORY FOR FERRUM COLLEGE IN VA

As the entire staff and student body of Ferrum College watched Monday, a crew from Mod-U-Kraf Homes set 21 of 42 modular units into place for the college's new $4 million residence hall, which will be ready to house students this fall.

With more than 25 units parked near the site Sunday, the crew started putting the sections into place at 7 a.m. Monday.

By 4:30 p.m., 17 of the "boxes" had been placed, and two hours later, 21 had been set. Before leaving, the crew covered the sections with heavy plastic to waterproof it. The western section of Dyer Hall, containing the stairways and end units to the three-story building, already had a roof in place.

Jeff Powell, vice president and general manager of Mod-U-Kraf Homes' Rocky Mount facility, said he hoped the final 21 sections would be in place by the end of the day Tuesday, but that would depend on the weather.

"The wind hindered us a little today when placing the sections, but the temperature was perfect," Powell said Monday. "With the forecasters calling for rain and possible storms tomorrow (Tuesday), we'll just have to wait and see."

All the units have been completed and the final ones are being transported from Rocky Mount to Ferrum.

The first student residential hall project, supplied by Mod-U-Kraf did at Ferrum College turned out very well, Powell said, and he is looking forward to this latest effort being completed as planned.

Paul Shively, local contractor, began grading the site early last month. It is adjacent to Clark Hall, overlooking Route 40 West and the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum's historic farm operation, as well as Chapman Pond.

Construction on Clark Hall, also a Mod-U-Kraf Homes project, started in the spring of 2008 and was occupied by students in the fall of that year.

Completion for the newest dorm is set for Aug. 15. The building will contain 31,000 square feet of space and will house a 1,000-square-foot conference room.

The new residence hall will house an overflow number of students who were houses in other locations on campus this school year, along with new students attending Ferrum College this fall for the first time.

Dr. Jennifer Braaten, college president, said last fall that some students had to live three-to-a-room for several weeks before being housed in rooms that were preplanned for faculty office spaces.

"We anticipated the need for additional living space with the fall term approaching," she said.

"We also are fortunate to have a strong working relationship with Mod-U-Kraf Homes, the nation's leading manufacturer of system-built housing," Braaten said. "So together, we will be able to provide it (additional space)."

Ferrum College's present enrollment is approximately 1,400, according to Braaten.

THE PERFECT MOTHER IN LAW HOME

We’ve all waited for something like this and now you can see it in Burlington, Vermont’s City Hall Park.  It’s only 100 sq ft and it’s SOLAR POWERED!  Can you imagine the possibilities for your mother-in-law?

You could put her and her cat in this house and put it next to the garage.  Oh, and it has a porty-pot and she can clean up in the kitchen sink.  “Sorry Mom, things are tight right now…it’s the best we can do.”

The Microhouse, built by Northern Timbers Construction, features horizontal cladding and corrugate roof topped off with the solar panel. The off the grid home can't fit much--just a bed, chair, kitchen area and bathroom--and the structure lacks plumbing. But the Microhouse's modular design makes it easy for residents to tack on more space if necessary. And with a price tag that is reportedly less than a compact car, the Microhouse could be ideal for wannabe rural homeowners who are short on cash.

 

SIX MYTHS OF GREEN LIVING

An Article by Jennifer Goodman is Senior Editor Online for EcoHome.
A new national study of green consumers contradicts several long-held stereotypes about them: The environment is not their top concern, their kids are not influencing them to be green, and while many know what they should do to save the planet, they often don’t do it.
As a result, marketing messages aimed at this group often fall on deaf ears, says Suzanne Shelton, whose Knoxville, Tenn., firm, Shelton Group, conducted the study.

“Most green advertising is created as if there’s one pool of green consumers and they’re all motivated by ‘Save the planet!’ messaging,” Shelton says. “We need a revolution in this thinking. Not all green consumers are the same, they’re not all motivated by the same messages, and they’re not all inclined to buy only green products.”
Released Aug. 21, the Green Living Pulse study polled 1,007 U.S. consumers who at least occasionally buy green products (77% of the population) and found there is no typical “green consumer.”

The study discovered six myths about this group:

Myth 1: Green consumers’ top concern is the environment. When asked to identify their top concern, the economy, by far, is No. 1 (with 59% calling it their top concern) and the environment falls far behind (8%).

Myth 2: Green consumers’ main motivation when reducing their energy use is to save the planet. When asked the most important reason to reduce energy consumption, 73% chose “to reduce my bills/control costs” and only 26% chose “to lessen my impact on the environment.”

Myth 3: Green consumers are all-knowledgeable about environmental issues. For example, the survey asked, “From what you have read or heard about CO2 (carbon dioxide), please place a check beside any of the following statements you think are true.”  Almost half (49%) chose the incorrect answer, “It depletes the ozone layer.”

Myth 4: Green consumers fall into a simple demographic profile. While the study detected some demographic tendencies, it found that green consumers aren’t easily defined by their age, income, or ethnicity. 

Myth 5: Children play a big part in influencing their parents to be green. Only 20% of respondents with children said their kids encouraged them to be greener by, for example, promoting recycling and turning off lights.

Myth 6:  If buyers just knew the facts they’d make greener choices. The study showed that knowledge does not always lead to eco-conscious behavior. Individuals who answered all of the science-related questions correctly did report participating in a significantly higher average number of green activities, such as driving a fuel-efficient car or lowering their thermostat during the winter; however, the 25- to 34-year-old age group consistently answered the questions correctly, yet, on average, this group’s green activity levels were lower than those of older respondents.

“Because green consumers are being stereotyped, and these myths we tested are embraced by marketers as facts, many green messages are falling on deaf ears,” Shelton says. “If these messages were better targeted, more people would be buying green products, conserving electricity, and doing more to save the planet.”

UNDERSTANDING FOAM INSULATION

What is the Difference Between Open-cell and Closed-cell Polyurethane Foams?

Open-cell foam is soft - like a cushion or the packaging material molded inside a plastic bag to fit a fragile object being shipped.  The cell walls, or surfaces of the bubbles, are broken and air fills all of the spaces in the material.  This makes the foam soft or weak, as if it were made of broken balloons or soft toy rubber balls.  The insulation value of this foam is related to the insulation value of the calm air inside the matrix of broken cells. The densities of open-cell foams are around 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound per cubic foot.



Closed-cell foam has varying degrees of hardness, depending its density. A normal, closed-cell insulation or flotation polyurethane is between 2 and 3 pounds per cubic foot. It is strong enough to walk on without major distortion. Most of the cells or bubbles in the foam are not broken; they resemble inflated balloons or soccer balls, piled together in a compact configuration. This makes it strong or rigid because the bubbles are strong enough to take a lot of pressure, like the inflated tires that hold up an automobile. The cells are full of a special gas, selected to make the insulation value of the foam as high as possible.



The advantages of the closed-cell foam compared to open-cell foam include its strength, higher R-value, and greater resistance to the leakage of air or water vapor. The disadvantage of the closed-cell foam is that it is more dense, requiring more material, and therefore, more expense. Even though it has a better R-value, the cost per R is still higher than open-cell foam.  The choice of foam should be based on the requirements for the other characteristics - strength, vapor control, available space, etc.

Both types of foam are commonly used in most building applications.  Some are inappropriate in specific applications. For example, you typically would not use open-cell foam below grade where it could absorb water; this would negate its thermal performance because water is a poor insulator compared to air. Closed-cell foam would be a good choice where small framing sizes need the greatest R-value per inch possible.  Basically, the choice depends on the conditions of each installation.

3 NEW GREEN PRODUCTS TO CONSIDER IN YOUR NEW MODULAR HOME

Andalay Solar
Andalay solar panels' built-in mounting rack enables snap-in-place rooftop installation for more seamless blending with a home's architectural details. Each panel is fitted with electrical wiring, reducing the chance of electrical grounding errors.

Click HERE to visit their website

Rinnai America Corp.
The LS Series tankless water heater uses 30 percent to 50 percent less energy than tank-style water heaters, supplies hot water on demand, reduces water consumption by cutting the "wait time" for hot water, and produces 30 percent less carbon dioxide emissions than tank-style water heaters.

Click HERE to visit their website

Cree LED Lighting Solutions
Using light-emitting diodes (LEDs), the LR6 light bulb offers a 20-year life span, delivers light and color rendering comparable to that of incandescent bulbs, generates less heat in use than an incandescent, and uses 85 percent less energy than an incandescent and less than half the energy of a compact fluorescent bulb.

Click HERE to visit their website

PASSIVE MODULAR HOUSE

"What if you could heat a small house with about as much energy as it takes to run a hair dryer-even during a cold winter?"

This is how the article starts out. It touches on a building spec that has seen 13 others like in the U.S. In Europe some 25,000 buildings have achieved Passive House certification. Or should I say "passiv haus" as it was created in Germany.


The challenge is, you'll not soon find developers or builders putting these up on spec in large quantities any time soon. The mortgage industry isn't there yet on financing such high-performance homes that don't necessarily have granite countertops (as opposed to 14" thick walls). It's hard enough to get an appraiser to valuate a tankless water heater. They just don't get it yet.

What's enlightening is that this home is MODULAR. Coach mentioned recently that if you want to survive as a small builder you have to find a niche and get good at it. Any home that gets you closer to going off-grid (or completely via solar or wind power) could be a very attractive offering to someone in your market. Even better, the affordable housing industry - Habitat for Humanity - did this one.

Don’t forget to support Home Star. You just might get somebody hired.

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Harris Woodward is a Principal of Finish Werks Green Builders, a central Maryland based design/build firm focused on high performance modular construction. He is a Board Member of the Maryland Residential Green Building Council and speaker on home energy efficiency initiatives.

A GUIDE TO MODULAR HOMES

Searching the Internet for modular homes is quite an undertaking.  There are so many possibilities that by the time your done looking for the evening you simply aren’t much more informed than when you started.  So here are just some of the types of homes and where to buy them that you will encounter on the net.
TYPES AND STYLES  Let’s take a look at what is being offered as far as styles.
First you will find manufactured homes or “HUD” homes.  These are built to Housing and Urban Development standards and are often called trailers, single wides and double wides.  Some of them are very attractive and look very similar to site built homes.

Then within these single wide types there are the eco-friendly, Green homes built by some of the leading Architects in the country.  Most feature a flatter pitch roof than a traditional home and are built to the tough IRC for the state they are being shipped.  Many are multi-module units but they still look a lot like double wides.

The next modular type is the “HUDULAR”, a home typically manufactured in the same factories that build HUD single and double wides.  These homes are built to IRC standards but have a metal undercarriage and share a lot of the same materials as their HUD cousins.

Next on the list are what can best be described as semi-custom modular homes.  Built to exacting IRC building codes, these homes offer a good value for the new home buyer.  But there is a major downside to these homes.  They are designed to allow only pre-designed options to be added, such as modified kitchens, family rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms.  If you are looking to build a home you personally designed, this may not be the best choice.

Custom modular homes fall into two categories. The first one is the most popular type of modular home in the country.  Take your plans to a factory authorized builder and more than likely you will get a home that can be modularized.  They are built to IRC standards but offer a ton of standard options and allow the homeowner to get some special order items as well.  Here is where Energy Star and Green building methods find their true homes.  Here are an examples of this type.

 
The second type of custom modular home is the “Architect designed” home.  There are a couple of these type of factories throughout the US and you can find their homes in the $200 and up per sq ft range.  Everything about them is pure custom design and I’ve seen as many as 25 modules delivered to the jobsite for one house!

As you can see there are homes to fit anyone’s style and budget. 

WHERE TO BUY A MANUFACTURED AND MODULAR HOMES. Here again the choices are numerous.
Almost all HUD homes (double-wides, etc) are sold through street or lot dealers.  They usually have the homes set with furniture. 

The Eco-friendly, Green Architect designed “single and double” style are usually bought directly through the Architect or company that is building them. Even though you are buying direct and the company is setting and finishing the home, the price tag can quickly approach $150-300 a sq ft.

The HUDULAR and Semi-Custom homes are available through either smaller builders or street lot dealers.  Because these homes don’t demand as much attention to detail as their totally custom cousins, they are the choice of small builders and dealers. 

The custom modular and Architect designed modular home builders are usually experienced site builders that have made the switch to modular and are hands on during the ordering, set and finish of y0ur home. They stand behind their work and many will only build a few homes a year because they are detail oriented builders and take full responsibility for your new home.

Lastly there are the “direct to the buyer” web sites.  If you are willing to do most of the hands-on work and be responsible obtaining financing and for setting your new home along with all the finishing and subcontracting, then this is a good option.  The “direct to you” dealer is just that…a dealer.  They help put together the home plans and factory order but after the home is delivered they usually are only available in an advisory capacity.  Getting factories to make repairs to a home that was owner-built can be quite arduous. 

“Direct to You” homes usually end in problems for the construction challenged person or couple.

NATIONWIDE HOMES INTRODUCES NEW LINE OF INFILL HOMES

Nationwide Homes, the modular home arm of Palm Harbor, isn't letting any grass grow under their feet during this housing downturn.  Even though Palm Harbor is in serious financial trouble with speculations that they may be purchased by one of the biggest HUD manufactures, they have introduced their latest series of homes...The Renew Collection.

Redwood Shores model

This series is targeted for city infill lots with the houses being narrower than a lot of their competitors homes.  Nationwide has resisted the change to major commercial work like some of the other big names in our industry.  Excel Homes for example has contracts to build 600-800 modules this year for projects in NY state.  That's a major chunk of their capacity.

Nationwide has always focused on the single family market and has been quite successful in it.  It will have to be seen if they can continue to target this market now that the company will soon be absorbed into the wonderful world of HUD.