Clayton thinks big(ger)

Manufactured home giant Clayton applies its single-family green prefab home concept to multi-family dwellings.

Thu, Jul 30 2009 at 10:59 AM EST

For those who you have been following the development of the $75K green mobile home, AKA Clayton’s i-house, here’s an interesting development:

Clayton, in partnership with Empire Construction, is building six prefab multi-family units at an apartment complex in West Knoxville, Tennessee. Construction should be wrapped up by December.

Like the i-house, these factory-built modular dwellings will generate signicantly less construction waste than if they were built on-site; they’ll be constructed using renewable materials; and, thanks to efficient fixtures like windows, toilets, sinks, showers, etc., residents can expect to save up to $450 on utility bills annually. Clayton is calling this concept e-living. I’m not sure if the six prefab units will have a special name. i-duplexes perhaps?

Clayton isn’t the first to toy with the idea of green, prefab mult-family housing as Preston over at Jetson Green points out. San Francisco-based ZETA Communities is building net-zero energy prefab residences and architect Michelle Kaufmann, since shuttering her renowned design firm, is gravitating towards multi-family prefabs. Observes Preston, “Prefab, green multi-family is certainly the new black these days.”