What's being billed as the "next generation" manufactured home will be unveiled tomorrow in Danbury, Conn.

Though rather modest in size, the innovative structure holds great promise by demonstrating how the factory-built homes many people still refer to as trailers or mobile homes will perform in the future, and how they will be virtually indistinguishable from conventional, site-built houses.

Actually, it's already tough to tell manufactured houses the only dwellings built to a national building code administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development from stick-built houses, at least when they are sited and landscaped properly. Unfortunately, many still aren't.

And for the most part, they're still sold on the side of the road from what looks like used car lots, which also contributes to their negative image, at least in more heavily populated areas.

But NextGen, a demonstration project for the Partnership for Advanced Technology in Housing is intended to redefine the conventional wisdom of what a HUD-code home can be.

PATH is a voluntary, private-public initiative administered by HUD. From a design and engineering perspective, for example, one of the greatest achievements could be the home's remarkable energy performance.

The test results aren't all in yet, but recent computer modeling shows the test house not only qualified for the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star rating, it exceeds those requirements by nearly 20 percent. An Energy Star rating means a dwelling uses 30 percent less energy for home heating, cooling, and water heating than homes based on the national Model Energy Code.

This amounts to a $180 reduction in annual energy costs. That's not a lot of money for many people, but in the world of affordable housing, it can mean the difference between paying your monthly mortgage or freezing in the cold winter months.

The three-bedroom, two-bath house is comprised of two factory-built sections that were trucked to the site and joined to form a 28-foot wide, 48-foot long "shot gun-style" building. The upstairs holds the third bedroom plus unfinished attic space which can be used for a fourth bedroom and another bath.

With 1,300 square feet of finished living space, NextGen cost $90,000, including land. But a new, conventionally-built home of comparable size and quality in Danbury would sell for close to $200,000.

Fast turnaround is another hallmark of manufactured housing, and the demo house is no exception, even by HUD-code standards. According to New Era, the home's Strattanville, PA, manufacturer, it can be produced, delivered and installed in as little as four weeks. Three to five- months is standard for a site-built house.

Published: May 8, 2000

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When Lew Sichelman first started writing about housing in 1969, he was the youngest real estate writer in the country. Now, 37 years later, he's one of the oldest -- and most decorated. He has been rated the top housing columnist in the country by the National Association of Realtors as well as by his peers in the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Indeed, NAREE has recognized his work on numerous occasions. One year - due to his advancing age, he can't recall which one - he earned top honors in the annual NAREE Journalism Contest in three out of the four major writing categories. It was the first time one writer has won so many NAREE awards in a single year. Known for his ability to make even the most difficult topics understandable, Sichelman also has been honored by the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association. He began providing in-depth coverage of and consumer-oriented information about housing and housing finance at the Washington Daily News, where he was real estate editor. He held that same position for nine more years at the Washington Star, which purchased the News in 1972. The Star, a so-called "writer's newspaper" which also had the misfortune of being an evening paper, was put out of its misery in 1981, and Sichelman, who had begun self-syndicating his column in 1978, decided to become a full-time columnist. Today, his column, "The Housing Scene," is distributed by United Media to newspapers throughout the country. He also is on the staff of National Mortgage News, an independent newspaper which is considered the bible of the mortgage business. And he writes for numerous other publications, including MarketWatch.com, where he answers readers questions once a week, Sports Illustrated (don't ask), RealtyTimes.com, BigBuilder and others. Sichelman is married, the father of five and grandfather of eleven.