Cost-Effective Housing Systems for Disaster Relief volume 4

This report examines the entire spectrum of lightweight industrialized housing systems and selected subsystems and evaluates them as temporary accommodations for disaster relief . The purpose of the report is to isolate potentially applicable housing systems and, through a process of pre-selection, identify a limited number of systems that can be rigorously analyzed for cost-effectiveness in Task II.

Four main segments of the industrialized housing industry are identified:the mobile home segment, which produces mobile homes and travel trailers ; the manufactured housing segment, which produces packaged or panelized housing as well as a variety of modular systems; manufacturers of special relocatable systems, such as those used by the military and oil companies for semi-permanent housing; and manufacturers of selected subsystems who produce mechanical cores and special foundation systems. Each segment is described in a separate report which traces the origin, development and nature of the industry; its current role in housing production, with emphasis upon its share of the market; and an evaluation of the applicability of its products to disaster relief .