Mobile homes could be a climate solution. So why don't they get more respect?
Mobile homes could be a climate solution. So why don't they get more respect?
Mobile homes house 22 million people in the U.S. and investing in them could be a solution to the housing and climate crises
Excerpt:
Newer models can also be a low-carbon solution as these prefabricated homes, which are built in large pieces for easy assembly, can include things like heat pumps and solar panels, in contrast to older models that relied on propane or natural gas. Older models can also be eligible for retrofits to make them more energy efficient and climate-friendly.
“They’re a pretty terrific solution,” said Rumbach. “Unfortunately, by law, in many places in the country [mobile homes] are not allowed to be placed anymore because there is such a cultural stigma.”
Well, watch Last Week Tonight's expose' on the mobile home industry.
These homes are built to shitty, even dangerous, standards. Or no standards at all.
Unless something has drastically changed recently, they literally use building scrap to make mobile homes.
I've worked on several of them, all of the construction is sub-par. Interior wall lumber is often shorter pieces, scabbed together.
Interestingly, John Oliver said nothing about construction standards, though I'd be surprised if it's not as huge an issue for mobile homes as it is for other recently constructed homes. The primary problem seems to be people not owning the land beneath their homes.
Obligatory fuck Frank Rolfe and the The Carlyle Group.
Admittedly I was working from memory, I could swear that his piece had at least a short discussion of the low quality materials and workmanship of mobile homes.
They tend to be built so poorly and have a shorter lifespan than a house.... Do we really need disposable housing on top of all the other stuff we make just to throw away? Harder to get a mortgage on them too (at least where I am)
Frankly, the best climate solution is a multifamily dwelling with minimized external exposure and minimized grounds that actually require much special care. Large buildings you generally only need to cool and cycle fresh air, not heat. So any single family home is by definition resource intensive.
I would rather live in a mobile home than another apartment. Shitty neighbors on 6 sides sucks.
And so would many people I think. It is not however low resource.
Classism mostly.
They are death traps in a tornado or hurricane. You think a mobile home owner is going to have easy access to, or install a $5k tornado shelter? Yeah, no.