No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The factory-built housing industry, while originating from mobile homes, has seen new industry-segments emerge such as, for example, modular, panelized, and pre-cut homes. These new segments have promoted the ability of existing producers to diversify. As producers of factory-built homes merge their production capabilities amongst these industry-segments the structure and the capacity of the industry is profoundly changing. This study looks at both the manufactured home industry-segment as well as the entire factory-built home industry to analyze how the current state of the industry is positioned to drive these foreseeable changes. Analysis of the manufactured home industry-segment is highlighted by econometric modeling of market share data across manufactured housings' product life-cycle curve. Results of this modeling mimic three periods of product life cycle change that ends with the current market share decline. Being so, it is concluded that manufactured housing firms are currently seeking fight or flight strategies to combat deepening market share losses. Producers of manufactured housing who persist in this industry-segment will confront mounting consolidation whereas producers who flee are likely to undergo strategic transformations. A mail questionnaire alternatively targeted the U.S. factory-built home industry to assess how diversification currently impacts industry structure and market share positioning. Results of this questionnaire reveal that two-product producers are strategically diversifying to hedge current demand fluctuations in the U.S. residential home market while also promoting market share positions. As a result it is concluded that product diversification positively impacts market share growth within the factory-built home industry. / Master of Science

Decent housing available to the working class in America is in very short supply. Manufactured housing could help to meet this basic need. But community groups and politicians often reject manufactured housing because they fear it will have a negative impact upon property values and the aesthetic character of their community. This thesis examines the reasons behind these fears, how the history of manufactured housing has fed into these fears and what design elements can allay these fears. Three site planning typologies are developed using the factors found in the research, that create a good neighborhood for both the residents and outside observers. The typologies inform three designs that illustrate how manufactured housing developments can be designed to fit compatibly into existing communities. / Master of Landscape Architecture

No description available.

Currently 10% of all single family homes produced in the U.S. are manufactured homes with 75% of these households making less than $50,000 in annual income (Manufactured Housing Survey). Manufactured homes typically use twice as much primary energy per square foot than site built homes yet there is no agenda within the industry or its governing bodies to address this excess energy consumption. The research presented in this thesis compares the thermal envelope performance of the typical wood stud framing used in the manufactured home industry to the thermal envelope of structural insulated panels (SIPs). This comparison examines the energy savings a SIP manufactured home could create for a home owner while speculating on the financial and technical feasibility of using SIPs in the manufactured housing industry. Ultimately, the comparison reveals the short comings of the Manufactured Homes Construction and Safety Standards (HUD Code) regarding thermal envelope requirements and energy use intensity. These short comings are revealed when the energy use of HUD compliant manufactured homes is scrutinized and compared to the energy use of a similar home built with SIPs for the thermal envelope. The continuous insulation and airtight qualities of the SIP home allow it to use 32%-46% less energy than the HUD compliant homes in the same locations. Manufactured homes require much more energy to heat and cool because the HUD code does not require a certain performance criteria be met for the airtightness of manufactured homes and the overall U-values it requires for the thermal envelopes of such homes is too high for the varying climate zones found in the U.S. If SIP panels were to be used for the thermal envelope of the manufactured housing industry, low income manufactured home owners could be saving $300-$700 annually in energy costs. These savings are not insignificant to low income households and could create a 5-8 year payback period of additional ownership costs under $2500. Unfortunately, the SIP industry cannot offer its product at a low enough price to compete with the economies of scale achieved by the manufactured housing industry when buying raw construction materials. The value of this research then, is the exposure of the manufactured home’s inferior envelope performance when compared to more modern construction technologies and the speculation of how the manufactured housing industry could begin to incorporate a more robust building envelope without putting its customers at a monetary disadvantage.

A key consideration in the human migration process to a destination country is the need to secure suitable and affordable housing. As housing costs have increased in the United States in recent decades, mobile homes – also known as manufactured housing or "trailers" – have become a significant source of affordable housing for people living in the United States. In rural communities, mobile homes have become a substantial portion of the available housing stock. This research project explored mobile home living specifically in relation to Mexican migrants who lived in a rural county in central North Carolina. Consideration was given to the practical issues of this type of housing, as well as any influence the American stigma of mobile homes might have had on the ways people experienced their homes and communities.