I am very pleased to report that the National Modular Housing Council held an excellent meeting in St. Louis earlier this month, where we discussed several long-range initiatives intended to improve the modular housing industry and enhance our position in the marketplace.

First, I believe our efforts towards creating a modular home green building certification program for the National Residential Green Building Standard developed by the ICC/NAHB will yield extremely positive results. The modular industry, MHI, and the NMHC in particular, was instrumental in the development of the NAHB standard, and ensured our method of building was properly represented. What is equally as important is that the certification program is also sensitive to the needs of modular manufacturers and builders alike. I’m excited that the NMHC is taking the lead on developing a certification program for green building that takes into account factory-construction methods, and such a program will be usable and cost effective. Be assured that this certification program will use the same Green Building Standard site builders will be using, and under our program, we as modular builders, will be able to market and sell homes to consumers that have been certified to the NAHB Green Building Standard. An additional bonus is the certification program that is currently being developed will also include certification for Energy Star modular homes using the new protocol developed by MHRA, the industry’s research arm, and approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). I encourage all industry members to support this project and you can contact Thayer Long at tlong@modularcouncil.org for more information on how to get involved.

Secondly, the NMHC is also dedicated to streamlining the process through which homes are approved throughout the country. Which is why I am also pleased to report that the industry members in St. Louis agreed that an effort to collect data in each state on how homes are approved and labeled was an essential step to making such an effort possible. Over the coming months NMHC staff will be launching an effort to examine how modular homes are regulated and approved from a building code perspective. They will also make recommendations on how these programs can be streamlined and unified to promote the use of modular homes by removing regulatory barriers that may currently exist.

In closing, I would like to thank the members of the National Modular Housing Council for their hard work and dedication during these challenging times in the housing market.

Please contact me with any thoughts or comments you have at rlyons@pennlyon.com.

Sincerely,

Roger Lyons
Penn Lyon Homes