POWER TALK

THE I-HOUSE: IS IT RIGHT FOR YOU?

The industrial-chic i-house may soon be available for those on a manufactured-housing budget. Clayton Homes, the country’s largest builder of manufactured homes, recently showed the cutting-edge dwelling in Omaha, Nebraska, at the annual shareholders’ meeting of investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire-Hathaway, Inc., company. Berkshire-Hathaway owns Clayton Homes.

The 1,023-square-foot model, which went on sale the first weekend in May, carries a base cost of $93,300. Perfect for the ecology-minded buyer, it includes Energy Star appliances, compact fluorescent lighting, energy-efficient windows and a v-shaped metal roof for collecting rainwater and anchoring optional solar panels. It’s the standard prefabricated trailer of two bedrooms and one bathroom with industrial airs and high-quality built-ins, such as optional bamboo floors. The long, main core house has a deck off one of the bedrooms.

For $26,600 more, you can add a flex room, which is designed for office space or guests and has a roof deck. On the floor plan, the flex room dots the lower-case “i” shape formed by the main structure of the house—hence the moniker “i-house.”

The Associated Press reports that Clayton Homes CEO and President Kevin Clayton, who claims that the
i-house is at least 30 percent more energy efficient than traditional homes, acknowledged paying homage to the iPod and iPhone for the name.

Clayton Homes plans to price the i-house at $100 to $130 per square foot, depending on amenities and add-ons, such as additional bedrooms. Clayton marketing officials say a “stick-built” house—one that’s built on-site, out of lumber—with similar features could range from $200 to $300 a square foot to start.

For a virtual tour of the i-house, and for company contact information, go to www.claytonihouse.com.

WHERE TO RECYCLE

More and more, companies are helping you recycle old electronic items. According to Consumer Reports, LG (including the Zenith and GoldStar brands) has 206 drop-off centers in 46 states; Samsung has more than 200 centers in 50 states; and Sony has 274 nationally. Sharp, Panasonic and Toshiba offer combined drop-off programs for TVs and audiovisual equipment at 280 sites in 50 states. In addition, people who buy new Dell computers from the company’s home and home office site can recycle any brand of an old personal computer at no charge.

For information on recycling cell phones, go to www.recellular.com/recycling. For information on public recycling programs, primarily in major metropolitan areas, go to www.mygreenelectronics.com.

HAPPENINGS

If you’re itchin’ for some summertime fun that packs a big, friendly bite, head down south of Houston to Clute for the 29th annual Great Texas Mosquito Festival.

Scheduled for July 23-25, the festival honors the pesky, humidity-loving mosquito in this Southeast Texas town that’s a five-minute drive from the Gulf of Mexico. The Swat Team—the festival’s executive board of directors—will be on hand to keep events such as the Mr. and Mrs. Mosquito Legs and Mosquito Calling contests running smoothly in Clute Municipal Park.

And Willie-Man-Chew, a 26-foot-tall inflatable (think parade float) that organizers claim is the biggest mosquito in the world, will give the anticipated 18,000 attendees something to gawk at as they listen to live music and enjoy food and arts and crafts from a variety of vendors.

Other events include the Dodge Ball Sting Tournament and the Skeeter Beaters Baby Crawling contest.  For more information, call 1-800-371-2971 or go to www.mosquitofestival.com. For tips on how to protect yourself from mosquito bites and mosquito-borne diseases, go to www.mosquito.org/resources/summer-safety.aspx.

RESACA DE LA PALMA STATE PARK

The 1,200 subtropical acres of Brownsville’s Resaca de la Palma State Park boast the largest tract of native habitat in the World Birding Center’s network of nine wildlife preserves along the Rio Grande. Several cities and counties, working with state and federal authorities, collaborated to create the network—no mean feat in such a densely populated area of the state across the border from Mexico.

Through the years, flooding of the river carved out resacas—small tributaries, or channels—that deepened with every flood. These resacas were cut off when the river meandered in a different direction and was dammed upstream of the state park. But during wet seasons, the area’s resacas make prime habitat for birds seeking shallow ponds and marshes. Dense stands of brush and woodland thickets adjacent to South Texas’ resacas attract other local and migrating birds and butterflies.

Resaca de la Palma, which opened in 2008, has eight miles of trails and four miles of observation decks that overlook the four-mile-long resaca that curves through the park. In addition, a 2.8-mile tram loop winds through the park. For more information, call (956) 350-2920 or go to www.worldbirdingcenter.org.

FUTURE TALK
Switch to Electricity

Switch grass is one of several forage grasses being studied in Texas and elsewhere as a potential biofuel … but maybe not to produce gasoline. Researchers at the University of California, Merced, say there might be more bang for the buck—or mileage to the experiment—if the grass is burned to produce electricity that will power battery-operated cars.

The journal Science reports that preliminary studies indicate using biomass—plant matter that’s grown and used to generate electricity—is more efficient for transportation than making biofuels. It might also do more to cut levels of carbon dioxide.

WHO KNEW?

In his book Spare Time in Texas (2008, University of Texas Press), author David G. McComb writes about the J.U.G.s—Just Us Girls—who made a literary impact in the Panhandle:

“In the Lone Star State … bright, educated, middle- and upper-class women inspired the drive to establish public libraries. Typical were the J.U.G.s (Just Us Girls) of Amarillo, Texas, an intellectual discussion group that needed books for their conversations and started a public library in 1902. Even though the J.U.G.s could not vote, no city council, no man, could withstand their determination.”