Transitioning Manufactured Housing to More Efficient Solutions

Two people hold a tube as they work in front of a mobile home.

Photos from EXP U.S. Services, Inc.

A person works on a duct on the floor of a mobile home.

Project Information

Partners

Team Lead: EXP U.S. Services Inc.
Research Member: New Building Institute
Implementation Member: Community Housing Partners
Industry Members: Comfort Squad, Advanced Water Heating Initiative, A.O. Smith, Daikin Applied, Santa Fe Indoor Air Quality Solutions, Friedrich Air Conditioning Co.

Location

Alexandria, Virginia

Anticipated Completion

Late 2026

Challenge to Solve

This Building America Retrofit Solutions team is targeting the unique challenges of retrofitting manufactured homes.

Heating systems fired with propane and natural gas can be expensive, inefficient, and carbon intensive while also potentially contributing to poor indoor air quality. But options for electrifying manufactured homes’ heating systems have been limited, inefficient, and expensive. Other challenges include:

Electric service constraints
Space limitations
Limited industry training and resident education

Approach and Impact

Recent advances in technology have made heat pumps for manufactured homes more affordable than ever, and the team aims to increase residents’ access to this technology. With a focus on under-resourced communities, the team will:

Provide technical solutions, which may include weatherization, heat pump water heater installation, space conditioning, and kitchen appliance replacement.
Validate the solutions with pre- and post-retrofit data measurements.
Collect, analyze, and share data to document solutions’ benefits.
Train the industry workforce on best practices.

American communities may benefit from the team’s work through:

Decreased monthly and annual energy costs.
Decreased environmental exposures and improved indoor air quality.
Improved access to low-cost capital.
More quality jobs due to workforce training and education.

About Building America Retrofit Solutions

As part of a Building Technologies Office initiative, the nine cross-sector Building America Retrofit Solutions teams are working on one- to three-year community-focused field validation and demonstration projects that will address hard-to-solve technical challenges of increasing efficiency, affordability, and comfort of existing homes.