A Colorado manufactured home community is getting more energy efficient » Yale Climate Connections

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At a manufactured, or mobile, home community in Colorado, some residents may soon see their energy bills drop dramatically.

Paulo Tabares-Velasco, an engineer at the Colorado School of Mines, has partnered on an effort to make 16 homes more energy efficient.

He says some low-income residents there have been spending 15% of their income just on energy.

Tabares-Velasco: “If we can reduce that by half or even more, we’re making … a significant impact there.”

He says manufactured homes often have aboveground pipes that freeze in the winter, and they have little space for insulation in the roof.

So last year, the team started with retrofits like air sealing the homes and adding insulation to the floors. And in winter, these upgrades started to pay off.

Tabares-Velasco: “Residents were pretty happy about having their pipes not freezing anymore, houses were much warmer and more comfortable.”

This year, the team installed appliances like heat pumps and induction stoves, which run on electricity instead of fossil fuels.

And to power these appliances with clean energy, they helped families subscribe to a community solar farm.

Residents are already seeing their bills start to drop.

So this project is demonstrating how manufactured homes can become more climate-friendly, comfortable, and affordable.

Reporting credit: Ethan Freedman / ChavoBart Digital Media