After Hurricanes, Rebuilding for Energy Efficiency and Storm Survival

"Builders of prefabricated zero-energy homes equipped for solar power have seen a spike in calls, particularly from the Florida Keys and Virgin Islands."

"The scope of the damage to mobile home parks and older neighborhoods along America's hurricane-ravaged coasts is enormous. More than 15,500 homes were destroyed in Texas alone, and the count hasn't even begun in Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

The homeowners who plan to stay face a choice: They can rebuild what they had before, knowing the warming climate will bring more devastating storms, or they can build for energy efficiency and resilience. The decision often comes down to cost, but an innovative type of post-disaster construction is creating new options.

In the Asheville, North Carolina, offices of Deltec Homes—one of several builders of prefabricated, energy efficient houses—the phones have been ringing insistently with questions about the hurricane-resistant, net-zero-energy homes the company manufactures and ships around the world. The homes are designed to reduce energy loss and are built ready for solar panels to allow customers to go off-grid and still power up when the grid goes down in a storm."

Lyndsey Gilpin reports for InsideClimate News October 2, 2017.