from a Rice Design Alliance February 4, 2008 press release:

The competition announced in October 2007 called for a single-family house with up to 1400 ft.² including three bedrooms and one and a half to two bathrooms to be built for $99,000 or less. The competition challenged designers and architects to design a sustainable affordable house with special consideration given to affordability, longevity, energy savings benefits, and appropriateness for the hot humid climate of Houston.

I proposed an energy efficient manufactured home with a half unit for a renter connected by a deck. Workers who build homes in manufacturing plants have the benefit of a safe comfortable work environment, steady pay, vacation days, and health insurance.  The efficiency of factory building eliminates wood framing waste and lowers costs. The scheme was described as “economic and social sustainability”. The two piece solution creates courtyards and other defensible urban spaces.