MANUFACTURED CONSERVATION: TRANSFORMING NEW MANUFACTURED HOMES IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Manufactured homes, long ignored by most organized conservation programs, have received increasing attention in recent years. The sector is particularly intriguing because it offers a unique opportunity to capture lost opportunity resources. Because construction practices are standardized, and quality control oversight often more uniform than in the site-built industry, evaluators have a head start in predicting effects of organized conservation programs. Manufactured homes are factory-built according to construction and safety standards promulgated by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD 1994). These standards include provisions for thermal comfort and indoor air quality. Until recently, there was little effort on the part of the industry to produce homes that exceeded the minimum requirements. In general, the industry accepted its role of providing economical, no-frills housing and left innovation to the site-built market. In the Pacific Northwest, stricter energy codes began their rapid evolution after the passage of the Northwest Power Planning Act. Various incentive and marketing plans addressing site-built construction were begun in the early 1980s. In the mid-1980s, Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) began to investigate including manufactured housing in its growing portfolio of electrical energy conservation activities in the residential sector. Electrically heated manufactured homes at that time accounted for about 10% of the new housing stock. Over the next several years, some manufacturers participated in various marketing (Super Good Cents [SGC]) and research (Residential Conservation Demonstration Program [RCDP]) projects offered by the BPA through the State Energy Offices (SEOs) in the region. There was a growing awareness amongst manufacturers that an improved product, incorporating energy efficiency features, would enable the industry to compete with the site-built industry while offering very attractive pricing to the consumer. The Manufactured Housing Acquisition Program (MAP) was the culmination of efforts on behalf of the industry, BPA, and regional utilities to deliver energyefficient electrically heated manufactured homes to Northwest homebuyers. Manufacturers were paid cash incentives for every home built to the MAP specifications, which mandated increased levels of insulation, better performing windows, and improved air sealing practices. Over the four-year life of the program, over 55,000 homes were built to the MAP standards, and over $100 million in incentives were transferred to the region’s manufacturers. Thermal standards specified by MAP were about 60% more efficient than the 1976 HUD standards, based on the overall heat loss rate of the home and subsequent