Source: Bennington Banner, July 27

By Keith Whitcomb, Jr.

“POWNAL — Mark Grise said he would like to turn things around at Royal Pine Villa, but standing in his way is a lack of funding.

Grise is president and general manager for Royal Pine Villa Inc. The mobile home park is owned by Grise’s father-in-law, Marcine Roy, and was managed by him up until 2008 when his health forced him to take it easy.

Grise said the plan is to start constructing affordable, energy-efficient homes, and to that end he has built and placed on the market a “proof of concept” home, which he hopes to sell for around $130,000. He said he designed and built the home himself without borrowing money from a bank. The outside materials are vinyl and aluminum, making for little maintenance, while the interior is crafted using materials at the mid-range of the cost spectrum. The foundation uses a type of foam to retain heat while the one real expense is a Boderus Boiler, a type of water heater that measures the temperature outside to maximize energy efficiency.

He said the home is 95 percent energy efficient, and estimates it would cost a person $535 per month, without utilities, to live there. In the winter, a person might see their heating costs up to around $80 per month, as the home is heated using propane…”

Full story: Man wants to replace mobile homes with houses

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