A few months ago, modular home manufacturer Clayton Homes announced the development of the i-house, a single-family prefab dwelling that is 30% more energy efficient than traditional homes. Now Clayton is expanding the efficient modular home concept to multi-family dwellings with its e-living homes, scheduled for construction later this year at Raintree Apartments in West Knoxville, Tennessee.

The multi-family dwellings, built in a partnership with general contractor Empire Construction, will use less than 2% scrap when fabricated in Clayton's factories--that's 50% less waste than is used in on-site construction. Each home will also be built using renewable materials.

No word from Clayton on how much the units will cost, but presumably they will be cheaper than similarly-sized traditional dwellings thanks to savings on construction. Clayton does estimate that residents will save about $450 a year on energy costs since the dwellings feature high-efficiency, toilets, sinks, showers, and windows.

Clayton already has some competition in the multi-family modular home arena--ZETA Communities is working on net-zero prefab housing in Northern California, with installation expected to be finished later this summer.

[Via Jetson Green]

Related:
Clayton Homes' i-house Combines Energy Efficiency with Modular Affordability