Energy efficiency study of single-wide manufactured homes

This Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) was among Tennessee Technological University, Clayton Homes, Inc., and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Manufactured homes now make up a substantial portion of the new home market, and improving the energy efficiency of these homes would save significant amounts of energy. This project explored the impact of differing levels of attic insulation, the use of evacuated insulation panels, and the application of a solar reflective roof coating. The performance of the installed roof cavity insulation compared favorably with that predicted by laboratory measurements. The more heavily insulated of the two units used about 30% less energy over the period of the project than the standard unit. Based on the experimental data, computer simulations for nine cities were completed for a single-wide manufactured home with the solar reflective roof coating. Annual electric power savings ranged from 894 kWh in Rapid City to 2119 kWh for the same roof area in Los Angeles. The field performance of vacuum insulation panels was compared with laboratory performance. The panels will perform as expected if protected from puncture