i-House offers cheap, green modular housing option on clarkhoward.com

Modular homes may be the wave of the future if Warren Buffett has his way.

The nation's top dog investor is pouring his money into the i-House, an ultra-affordable, ultra-energy efficient home that's built in pieces in a factory and later assembled onsite.

Tradition holds that most homes in America are stick-built at the worksite, rather than being prefabricated. But the current housing crisis means that tradition is being upset.

Modular factory-built homes can be far more interesting architecturally because they're built with computer-aided design. We're not talking about single-wide or double-wide mobile homes here; rather, modular homes are championed by thinking man's architectural publications like Dwell.

And talk about the savings on your monthly energy bill! You can heat and cool the i-House for around $30/month!

There have been so many attempts to do factory-built modular housing in the past. But most people have never gotten away from fears about local zoning. Buffett's support may help create a new day in cheap, green housing.

What others are saying

i-homes
Come on Clark. Would you really live in a house that looks like a 1950's trailor??? I agree with Chisynda. Was was very excited when you were talking about it on the air. Now...Well, lets just leave it at I am beyond disappointed.
By Lynn W @ 07/28/09 06:13:54 PMreport abuse
Prefab home
We are planning to build one soon, and depend on the size of home there are decent priced and they are so beatiful
By christina v @ 07/24/09 11:47:38 AMreport abuse
i-houses look like portable classrooms
I'm sorry, but Clark really got my hopes up on this article, but the homes look like portable classrooms to me.
By Chrisynda @ 07/06/09 02:04:41 PMreport abuse
Prefabricated Houses
We are pretty interested in buying a pre-fab'd house. The one thing I don't understand is none of the builder's websites have pricing on them (for the upgraded houses > 3,000 sq/ft) . If they build X house it should cost Y. . . Even the builder that did our last house had a base price for the house & upgraded prices shown.
By Stephen @ 06/29/09 02:33:21 PMreport abuse
Manufacture A Dodecahedron Dome Home
Yes, we offer dome kits. A 32 footer with 800 sq ft on the ground and optional 200 sq ft in loft area can be built for $40,410. Check us out at 7th Haven Development.
By Hugh Simpson @ 06/08/09 10:05:16 AMreport abuse
Manufactured Homes
I had a 3000 sq ft manufactured home built 2 years ago. My heating/cooling bills are about half of my kids traditional home in same area. We live in the Sierras with cold & some snow. The home is beautifull inside & out. Cost was about $60/sq ft.-Try that cost for traditional homes.
By Craig from Rough and Ready @ 06/05/09 08:36:10 AMreport abuse
Cape Cod?
That roof style might work in some areas of the country, but it is too flat and slants to the middle of the roof, which won't work in locations that experience heavy snow. A hail storm would ruin that house also, as all the heavy ice would gather in the middle of the roof and cause serious damage to the home, if not collapse the roof entirely. The traditional Cape Cod style home is popular in many areas of the country for practical reasons. The steep roof allows runoff from snow, rain, hail, etc. The compact design is energy efficient, and can be built large enough for a growing family. I would love to see an i-house in a Cape Cod style...
By vlh @ 06/04/09 02:53:58 PMreport abuse
Modular Home Construction is the BEST !
In '92 I built a modular home in the Florida Keys thru ALH Homes in Indiana.
They adapted my plans to their "system". The home was part of a competition among Florida Architects sponsored by the Florida Solar Energy Center. This competition was in the Florida Cracker Style. Plans from winning homes are available to the public for only a couple hundred dollars. I would build this same home again in a heartbeat. The energy savings were a combination of the contruction style of the modular system PLUS the energy efficient requirements of the competition. This house had many "passive" heating and cooling properties.
By Ken March @ 06/04/09 09:19:35 AMreport abuse
Custom modular homes
Laura (below), that's a good question. The good news is a traditional house can be built using modular construction. Even better, they can be custom built to plans your architect creates. One builder I've been looking at for about 5 or so years is Haven. Check out some of the homes they've built at: http://www.havenhomes.com/gallery.php
By Marty McFly @ 06/03/09 11:09:30 PMreport abuse
Just Design with More Curb Appeal
I'm all for modular homes, I just wish they were prettier. The I-House design I saw was boxy with a flat roof and it resembles a trailer. I'm also not into ultra modern. I like the look of a traditional house, but I also think that a traditional house (peaked roof and lots of windows to let light in) could be built modularly. Why not?
By Laura @ 06/03/09 10:32:03 PMreport abuse
modular housing is great
i hope buffet can pull this off. stick built houses have huge quality control issues, massive overhead from multiple layers of profit, overhead and time wasted by subcontractors and much more.
i see no reason why modular homes can,t offer every custom feature, look or other feature of stick built homes. The main impediment here is the incredible political lobby of the building industry. The building industry lobby will go to no end to never, i repeat never let modular housing get a toe-hold or else the floodgates will open once the public sees what can be modular built and the cost savings.
By brian @ 06/03/09 05:21:44 PMreport abuse

i-homes

Come on Clark. Would you really live in a house that looks like a 1950's trailor??? I agree with Chisynda. Was was very excited when you were talking about it on the air. Now...Well, lets just leave it at I am beyond disappointed.

By Lynn W @ 07/28/09 06:13:54 PMreport abuse

Prefab home

We are planning to build one soon, and depend on the size of home there are decent priced and they are so beatiful

By christina v @ 07/24/09 11:47:38 AMreport abuse

i-houses look like portable classrooms

I'm sorry, but Clark really got my hopes up on this article, but the homes look like portable classrooms to me.

By Chrisynda @ 07/06/09 02:04:41 PMreport abuse

Prefabricated Houses

We are pretty interested in buying a pre-fab'd house. The one thing I don't understand is none of the builder's websites have pricing on them (for the upgraded houses > 3,000 sq/ft) . If they build X house it should cost Y. . . Even the builder that did our last house had a base price for the house & upgraded prices shown.

By Stephen @ 06/29/09 02:33:21 PMreport abuse

Manufacture A Dodecahedron Dome Home

Yes, we offer dome kits. A 32 footer with 800 sq ft on the ground and optional 200 sq ft in loft area can be built for $40,410. Check us out at 7th Haven Development.

By Hugh Simpson @ 06/08/09 10:05:16 AMreport abuse

Manufactured Homes

I had a 3000 sq ft manufactured home built 2 years ago. My heating/cooling bills are about half of my kids traditional home in same area. We live in the Sierras with cold & some snow. The home is beautifull inside & out. Cost was about $60/sq ft.-Try that cost for traditional homes.

By Craig from Rough and Ready @ 06/05/09 08:36:10 AMreport abuse

Cape Cod?

That roof style might work in some areas of the country, but it is too flat and slants to the middle of the roof, which won't work in locations that experience heavy snow. A hail storm would ruin that house also, as all the heavy ice would gather in the middle of the roof and cause serious damage to the home, if not collapse the roof entirely. The traditional Cape Cod style home is popular in many areas of the country for practical reasons. The steep roof allows runoff from snow, rain, hail, etc. The compact design is energy efficient, and can be built large enough for a growing family. I would love to see an i-house in a Cape Cod style...

By vlh @ 06/04/09 02:53:58 PMreport abuse

Modular Home Construction is the BEST !

In '92 I built a modular home in the Florida Keys thru ALH Homes in Indiana.
They adapted my plans to their "system". The home was part of a competition among Florida Architects sponsored by the Florida Solar Energy Center. This competition was in the Florida Cracker Style. Plans from winning homes are available to the public for only a couple hundred dollars. I would build this same home again in a heartbeat. The energy savings were a combination of the contruction style of the modular system PLUS the energy efficient requirements of the competition. This house had many "passive" heating and cooling properties.

By Ken March @ 06/04/09 09:19:35 AMreport abuse

Custom modular homes

Laura (below), that's a good question. The good news is a traditional house can be built using modular construction. Even better, they can be custom built to plans your architect creates. One builder I've been looking at for about 5 or so years is Haven. Check out some of the homes they've built at: http://www.havenhomes.com/gallery.php

By Marty McFly @ 06/03/09 11:09:30 PMreport abuse

Just Design with More Curb Appeal

I'm all for modular homes, I just wish they were prettier. The I-House design I saw was boxy with a flat roof and it resembles a trailer. I'm also not into ultra modern. I like the look of a traditional house, but I also think that a traditional house (peaked roof and lots of windows to let light in) could be built modularly. Why not?

By Laura @ 06/03/09 10:32:03 PMreport abuse

modular housing is great

i hope buffet can pull this off. stick built houses have huge quality control issues, massive overhead from multiple layers of profit, overhead and time wasted by subcontractors and much more.
i see no reason why modular homes can,t offer every custom feature, look or other feature of stick built homes. The main impediment here is the incredible political lobby of the building industry. The building industry lobby will go to no end to never, i repeat never let modular housing get a toe-hold or else the floodgates will open once the public sees what can be modular built and the cost savings.

By brian @ 06/03/09 05:21:44 PMreport abuse

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Jun 03, 2009 -- i-House offers cheap, green modular housing option

What others are saying