Sustainable Living | Hallmark Southwest

Elegance and Efficiency in Modern Manufactured Housing

November 22, 2011 | No Comments | by admin | Get to Know Hallmark, Sustainable Living

Modern manufactured and pre-fab homes are still gaining in popularity regardless of the economic conditions. High end home buyers place far more emphasis on features in a home than your average consumer because they can afford it. Features that many high end buyers gravitate towards include energy efficiency systems, sustainable building materials and customizations to the floor plan.

All of these features are available in modern manufactured and pre-fab homes but not all designers are built the same. Most designers place emphasis on design primarily and their infrastructure for scalable manufacturing is limited. In turn, consumers pay extraordinarily high prices for custom features including solar photovoltaic and solar thermal systems.

Hallmark-Southwest is unique among high end manufactured and pre-fab home builders because we maintain the infrastructure sufficient for scalable manufacturing. Our homes are completely customizable and the company has spent more than many other manufacturing companies on the development of smart home systems. Our newest project, a home built for Our Lady of the Desert Monastery, features solar photovoltaic and solar systems and smart home technology that monitors environmental conditions throughout the home and in each individual living space. This new home was built with extreme environmental conditions in mind as the Monastery is located in Gobernador, New Mexico, known for extreme winds, extreme heat and extreme cold.

Elegance and efficiency in modern manufactured housing is available from a wide range of manufacturing companies, but Hallmark-Southwest has made the process of customization and adding energy efficient systems easy to integrate and less expensive than other companies that place more emphasis on design than on construction.

You can learn more about our energy efficient systems by downloading our free Net-Zero Energy Efficiency guide at: http://hallmarksouthwest.com/net-zero-energy-efficiency-guide/. The free guide discusses in detail most of our new energy efficiency options in detail so you can see for yourself exactly what the Hallmark-Southwest difference is.

Energy Efficient California Manufactured Homes

October 19, 2011 | No Comments | by admin | Sustainable Living

According to SolarBuzz.Com, the largest market for solar photovoltaic installations is, by far an away, California. By 2014, it is estimated that solar photovoltaic installations will be ten times the figures posted in 2009 and the growth rate per year thereafter is expected to be 30.00%. Given our present economy, this is an incredible figure. What’s even more interesting is that the vast majority of these installations will be on existing homes. Our question is why more home builders and manufacturers have not made the leap in to installing photovoltaic and solar thermal systems as options when buying a new California manufactured home or a new site built home in California?

If the growth rate by 2014 is projected to be 30% per year, then it clearly indicates a strong demand in California. Given the demand, it makes sense for manufacturers to incorporate solar systems as options for new homeowners, especially if the home is factory built. Building a home in a factory from start to finish is widely known to decrease overall construction costs and these savings, especially in the manufactured home industry, are passed on to consumers. So why don’t more manufactured home builders add solar systems as options? The answer, unfortunately, is quite simple.

Incorporating solar photovoltaic and solar thermal systems as regular options for manufactured home buyers isn’t exactly an easy feat to pull off. You need engineers, capable of designing solar systems, to incorporate their designs in to existing and/or new home pans. These engineers need to work with design teams to insure the installation meets the esthetic demands of the design team. Manufactured home companies then must decide on a price-point for these options that consumers will find valuable and find means of installing these systems affordably. This is a process of incorporating energy efficiency options in factory built homes requires capital investment, research and development that can take years before a profit is ever realized. This is the main reason why many home builders, factory or site built, cannot incorporate energy efficiency options in their product lines.

Top Five Reasons to Buy a Manufactured, Modular or Prefab Home

July 22, 2011 | No Comments | by admin | Manufactured Homes, Sustainable Living

While most people find buying a site built home is preferable, there are a number of people buying new manufactured, modular and prefab homes. What’s the reason? Often times you get more for your money, you can customize the home more and they are exceedingly energy efficient. Here’s a brief list of the top five reasons why you should consider a manufactured, modular or prefab home.

#1 Value. More often than not, you can have a lot more home for the money when buying a manufactured, modular or prefab home. They typically cost less to produce, meaning, your dollar will go a lot further in terms of acquiring a home with the greatest amount of square feet possible and interior and exterior upgrades.

#2 Efficient Construction. Manufactured, modular and prefab construction is fast and efficient. How often have you heard of friends, family or associates complaining that a general contractor quoting X amount of time to build a home but actually came in late on the final project? Time delays cost money and since the factory build process is controlled and efficient, the likelihood of additional expenses is limited.

#3 Quality of Construction. Many manufactured home builders exceed the building standards of many site built developers. In fact, Hallmark Southwest not only exceeds regulatory and industry standards, but also exceeds most site built standards in even the most affordable homes Hallmark offers. Manufactured, modular and prefab builders must remain competitive and offer superior products to stay competitive with their site built counterparts.

#4 Energy Efficiency. Most site built homes are not engineered, planned or designed to incorporate solar photovoltaic or solar thermal systems. Many manufactured, modular and prefab homes have energy efficiency in mind from the drawing table. Almost all of the competitive manufactured, modular and prefab homebuilders offer some access to energy efficiency options. Hallmark Southwest provides every buyer with a Net-Zero energy efficiency option that can reduce energy consumption by as much as 50% and provide the electrical needs of the homeowners based on average consumption rates.

#5 A Unique Home. Customization is far easier with a manufactured, modular or prefab company. If you walk on to a major site built developers lot, you’ll find a few models and floorplans available with different elevations. However, these site built developers will not move walls or make significant changes to design. This is not only possible with manufactured, modular and prefab homes but quite regular.

Manufactured Housing: Can it Save the Environment and Solve Humanitarian Problems?

July 20, 2011 | No Comments | by admin | Manufactured Homes, Sustainable Living

Manufactured and Prefabricated homes aren’t just good for the environment, energy efficient and built to higher standards than many site built homes in the United States, they may turn out to solve many of the world’s housing problems.

It may sound like a bold claim, but global corporations, engineers and architects are planning and building homes that can sell for as little as $720.00 USD. One designer even feels that cooperatives may be able to build homes made of earthen brick for absolutely nothing.

Today, TATA Motors of India announced plans to offer a prefabricated home complete with windows, doors and a roof for an anticipated sales price of only $720.00 (source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43809684/ns/business-personal_finance/). While the home is not a permanent structure by any means, the company believes the home will last for 20 years. That’s just $36.00 USD per annum to own a home minus the cost of land and installation.

Ingersol-Rand promotes The $300.00 house challenge; a contest awarding $25,000.00 USD for the best home design that will cost a person only $300.00 USD to build. One of the best designs proposes collectives to make earthen brick to construct homes based on their specific design plans. You can learn more about the $300.00 challenge at: http://www.jovoto.com/contests/300house/landing .

Why do architects, designers, and multi-billion dollar corporations care about building homes that will solve global housing problems? One would like to believe altruism is perhaps the primary motivation, but there is a great potential for significant earnings in inexpensive design and fabrication. The salient problem is this: design is an idea that costs nothing more than a keen intellect and training in the fields of engineering; manufacturing is a completely different ballgame.

To make these design ideas come to fruition, it takes a great deal of time and, perhaps much more importantly, investment capital. The benefits can be enormous. Manufacturers may be able to obtain government contracts for building inexpensive housing for emergency shelter, NGO contracts and foreign government contracts for building inexpensive housing.

Manufactured and prefabricated housing holds promise for the future on a number of different levels. Will these forms of housing help save the environment and conserve energy? Yes. Can the industry solve major humanitarian problems? We shall see.

California Manufactured Homes: Why Energy Efficiency Matters

July 19, 2011 | 1 Comments | by admin | Manufactured Homes, Sustainable Living

Buying homes in California is big business. Major site built developers make billions from the site built home industry. However, many of these same developers that earn billions of dollars in profit are way behind the energy efficiency ball when it comes to giving people solid energy efficient design. This is odd, given the fact that the California climate varies so much and energy efficient design could greatly reduce the overall cost of buying and owning a home in California.

There are climates in the state that are exceedingly hot almost year round, e.g. Palm Desert/Palm Springs and the Inland Empire. Moreover, there are areas where it is exceedingly cold almost year round. You would think major developers would see the fluctuation in climate and the energy demands these climate variations impose as a reason to offer energy efficient homes.

Compared to their site built counterparts, manufactured home builders offer the flexibility and energy efficiency to meet energy efficiency demands quite easily, especially in a state like California. Buying a California manufactured home for energy efficiency makes a great deal of sense. Companies like Hallmark Southwest are able to offer customized energy efficiency packages that will meet the unique needs of consumers in almost any climate. And with a state larger than most countries with a wide variation of climate types, it makes sense to buy a manufactured home in California if you really want the savings an energy efficient home brings.

Perhaps the major site built developers will catch on one day that energy efficiency is what many consumers want because they appreciate anything that will reduce their overall cost of ownership and features that benefit the environment. Maybe they won’t. The point is, however, that if you want an exceedingly energy efficient home in California, you should take a serious look at the craftsman quality, manufactured home options available on the market today.

Net Zero Manufactured Homes: Not Just Solar

May 23, 2011 | 1 Comments | by Chelsea | Get to Know Hallmark, Manufactured Homes, Sustainable Living

Look whose Net Zero manufactured homes have caught the attention of Green Technology World! Hallmark Southwest is proud to be recognized for our new Net Zero energy efficiency option, which is capable of providing environmentally sustainable energy production for valued buyers of our manufactured homes.

How does the option work? Along with solar photovoltaic systems, Hallmark Southwest also provides other Net Zero features, which include:

-Proprietary ventilation systems

- Efficient heating and cooling systems

- Solar hot water systems

- Industry leading insulation

- Programmable thermostats

Not to mention exceedingly tight construction designed to maximize thermal efficiency, vinyl Low-e energy efficient windows, tankless water heaters, energy efficient lighting and on-demand hot water. As you can see, this is a far cry from throwing up some solar panels and calling it Net Zero! Our Director of Business Development, Luca Brammer, explains:

“Any builder can say their home is ‘Net-Zero’ by placing an excessive amount of solar panels on their roof, but this is not the most efficient way of making a home Net-Zero… At Hallmark, we make our homes extremely energy efficient through the use of proprietary elements, drastically reducing each home’s electrical demands without altering the lifestyles of the people who live in our homes. We then use the minimum amount of solar panels to accomplish Net-Zero efficiency.”

That’s it, in a nutshell. Solar panels, yes; but so, so much more. To learn about Net Zero manufactured homes, contact Hallmark Southwest today. We will be glad to send you more information.

Manufactured Homes Help Save the Environment

May 22, 2011 | No Comments | by admin | Manufactured Homes, Sustainable Living

Manufactured homes are not only high quality and built to stand the test of time these days, but they are extremely important during and after natural emergencies.

Over the last decade, the world has witnessed more natural disasters than one would like to remember and manufactured housing, due to its ease of transportation, has come to the rescue of many an American in need.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regularly uses manufactured homes as temporary housing units for victims of natural disaster. These units are described as “temporary” in press releases and in the descriptions you read on the FEMA website and in news articles, but the reality is, many victims of natural disaster live in these units for a very long period of time.

During hurricane Katrina, FEMA utilized over 101,000 manufactured home units (source, FEMA.Gov) and spent well over 4.2 billion in these housing related expenses. Moreover, many residents of the areas affected by hurricane Katrina spent well over a year in these so called temporary housing units.

While the recent hurricane Irene did not pose as great a threat to the environment as hurricane Katrina, vast damage to housing and the environment did occur. FEMA indicates it will begin installing more manufactured homes as temporary housing units in North Carolina as soon as possible to provide relief for local residents that have lost their homes.

Manufactured homes currently play a significant role in emergency management in the United States. As history has shown, these temporary structures are being used far longer than originally intended. In order to serve the needs on natural disaster victims, these units need to be used with the intent of providing a short term solution, but built to the standards that will provide long term use if necessary. After years of using manufactured homes as emergency shelters and after experiencing frequent natural disasters, it is refreshing to see the government feels the same way.

Manufactured Homes Save Energy, Says HUD

April 28, 2011 | No Comments | by Chelsea | Manufactured Homes, Sustainable Living

Today, thousands of Americans are tuned into what Washington has to say about energy saving practices. When the federal government gets behind an energy saving concept, people pay attention – and for the past several years, government agencies have promoted the benefits of saving energy with manufactured homes.

In fact, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released a comprehensive guide to “Manufactured Homes: Saving Money by Saving Energy” in 2005. The tips, techniques, and information contained therein on improving heating and cooling system performance, improving lighting efficiency, and insulating walls, floors and ceilings – not to mention reducing solar heat – are just as applicable today as they were six years ago.

However, it’s worth noting that with the significant advancements in manufactured home fabrication and energy efficiency that have occurred since then, there are even more great benefits to choosing manufactured homes. For example, today’s solar grids can be more effective (even when you choose a DIY solar grid), and the manufactured home builders of today (like Hallmark Southwest!) have far more energy tools at their disposal. We can incorporate Energy Star® appliances, low-flush toilets, and advanced insulation. In short, there are even more reasons to consider energy efficient manufactured homes today.

We recommend downloading the HUD report “Manufactured Homes: Saving Money by Saving Energy.” Then, we suggest you contact Hallmark Southwest to inquire about your energy efficient manufactured home options.

Why Manufactured Homes are Typically More Energy Efficient than Site Built Homes

April 26, 2011 | 2 Comments | by Luca Brammer | Sustainable Living

If you have been searching the internet for keyword phrases like “green living”, “sustainable housing” or “green homes” you are most likely well aware that the majority of news and articles related to green homes is all about manufactured homes, modular homes, prefabricated homes and tiny houses. What’s interesting about these homes is that they are all made in a factory and transported and installed on a site or transported in pieces to a site and installed. There are a number of different reasons why the trend in energy efficient living is moving towards manufactured homes. This article discusses the various reasons why factory built homes are typically more energy efficient than site built homes.

The first clue as to why these types of homes are more energy efficient is based on a common value shared between all of the different kinds of homes aforementioned: they are all factory built. Homes that are built in a factory produce less waste. As such, less materials are required to complete a home than a site built home and the so-called “waste” produced when building a home in a factory can often times be used in another home within the factory. The factory itself is a controlled environment. This means that the entire build process is not exposed to the natural elements which can warp, deteriorate or render useless some of the building materials. This saves not only product, but time and money as well. The standardized building process itself produces time savings and cuts waste.

Another reason why factory build homes are often much more energy efficient than site built homes is that many builders focus specifically on energy efficient design. Not only is energy efficient design good for the environment, it’s good for homeowners and good for business. Energy efficient design is good for homeowners because it lowers the cost of supplying all of the energy needs of the home. Energy efficient design in heating and cooling systems combined with energy efficient design in insulation can save people hundreds to thousands of dollars each year. Designing energy efficient homes is good for business for two related reasons: (1) offering a product that will reduce the out of pocket expense of a homeowner when compared to a site built home is a significant benefit to the homeowner but an excellent selling point that manufactured home builders can point to in the sales process; (2) Efficient design is not limited to heating, cooling and insulation; it is also applied to a wide range of building materials that are used in the process that may be less expensive than others, more durable and environmentally friendly. You can, therefore, benefit the bottom line of a business while supporting the environment and cut the expenses of a homeowner.

The last reason that factory built manufactured homes are often more energy efficient than site built homes is due to the fact that energy efficient options, like solar photovoltaic systems, are more often offered by manufactured home builders than site build developers. Most site build home developers offer a wide range of options like flooring, exterior and interior upgrades. Some site built developers also include landscaping as an option. However, offering solar photovoltaic systems as an option on a new site built home has not taken off with the majority of developers. Manufactured home builders, like Hallmark Southwest, offer a wide range of energy efficiency options like the Net-Zero energy efficiency option that incorporates solar photovoltaic systems making it possible for a new homeowner to buy a home and upon moving in have most or all of their electricity needs taken care of by the energy efficient system itself based on normal occupant usage.

In short, factory built homes are typically more energy efficient than site built homes because the factory environment itself is conducive to energy efficient home building, consumer demand for energy efficient living in manufactured homes is increasing and manufactured home builders incorporate energy efficient design and options in to their homes because it’s good for the environment, for the consumer and good for business.

Manufactured Home Energy Efficiency Certification

April 26, 2011 | 3 Comments | by Luca Brammer | Sustainable Living

Who rates and certifies energy efficiency in manufactured home building these days? There are a wide variety of organizations and websites that help people understand what an energy efficient home is but in this article, we are going to focus on four groups that classify homes as energy efficient or help consumers make decisions about living as efficiently as possible.

The first group is the United States Environmental Protection Agency running the well known Energy Star program and they maintain guidelines for what meets the definition of an Energy Star certified product and their own definition of an energy efficient home.

The EPA maintains strict standards for what qualifies as an Energy Star Home. These four variables are:

Effective Insulation

Energy Star qualified homes must have highly efficient insulation in doors, walls and attics to insure even and efficient temperatures throughout the home thereby reducing energy consumption providing for the most comfortable environment possible at the lowest cost.

High Performance Windows

Energy and expense saving windows installed in Energy Star Home must comply with their standards employing new technology, highly evolved framing technology and protective window coatings.

Tight Construction and Ducts

A tight seal throughout the home insures that the home’s envelope, especially within the heating and cooling systems, provides for the highest levels of energy efficiency. Homes that meet these standards benefit from higher quality construction and lower maintenance costs as well.

Efficient Heating and Cooling Equipment

The heating and cooling systems employed must meet the standards of Energy Star rated heating and cooling systems.

Hallmark Southwest manufactured homes currently exceed Energy Star Standards. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, new home construction compliant with today’s standard building and energy codes produces homes that are up to 30% more energy efficient than homes built as recently as the 1990s. If the home is fully Energy Star qualified, the savings can be as much as 45%.

Another important group that rates and regulates “Green Home Builders” and offers another level of certification is the U.S. Green Building Council, a registered 401(c) 3 non-pro$t organization (http://usgbc.org). The U.S. Green Building Council originated the LEED
program, an internationally recognized green building certification system. According to the USGBC the LEED system provides “building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design,
construction, operations and maintenance solutions (source: USGBC.Org, http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?
CMSPageID=1988).

Southern California Edison provides a completely free guide to help consumers and builders benefit from best practices in their efforts to design communities and homes that meet their standards of energy efficiency. The free guide provided by Southern California Edison can be downloaded for free at: http://asset.sce.com/Documents/Shared/2010_CAHPHandbook.pdf.

The last mention in green building certification programs that can help consumers make informed decisions is BuilditGreen.Org.
BuilditGreen.Org is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping consumers and professionals build green living environments focusing on
both consumer and commercial applications. This non-profit agency has developed guidelines for both building construction and landscaping. On their website you will find a wealth of information, however, their building guides are not free. While the building guides are for sale they are rather inexpensive. They do offer a free construction guideline spreadsheet that helps consumers with site plans and preparation, foundation guidelines, landscaping planning and infrastructure, structural framing and building envelopes, siding, insulation, plumbing, heating ventilation and air conditioning, renewable energy concerns, building performance, finishing, flooring, and finally a lighting and appliance selection. You can download the spreadsheet free of charge from the following URL: http://www.builditgreen.org/guidelines–checklists/.

If you would like a free resource guide that takes you through not only all of these resources but serves as a guide for manufactured homes in general, you can download our free guide providing homeowners with a wealth of information about manufactured homes and energy efficient living free of charge. Follow the following link to download our free guide now: Manufactured Home Guide.

First Name: *

Last Name: *

Email Address: *

Home Phone: *

Description:

Elegance and Efficiency in Modern Manufactured Housing

Energy Efficient California Manufactured Homes

Top Five Reasons to Buy a Manufactured, Modular or Prefab Home

Manufactured Housing: Can it Save the Environment and Solve Humanitarian Problems?

California Manufactured Homes: Why Energy Efficiency Matters

Net Zero Manufactured Homes: Not Just Solar

Manufactured Homes Help Save the Environment

Manufactured Homes Save Energy, Says HUD

Why Manufactured Homes are Typically More Energy Efficient than Site Built Homes

Manufactured Home Energy Efficiency Certification

Contact Us

Categories

Search

Recent Posts

Archives