The i-house's rooftop deck.

It’s not your father’s mobile home. The i-house combines modular construction with environmentally-friendly features and a trendy, Scandinavian-influenced design.

Clayton Homes CEO Kevin Clayton says his company gave its architects free reign to come up with the new concept. “Take it as far as you can. There are no limits. There are no boundaries. We want to see what’s possible,” he said.

The i-house costs between $100 and $130 per square foot, about half the price of a standard “stick built” home. Its energy efficient windows, insulation and appliances, which include optional solar panels on its butterfly roof, can reduce the i-house’s electric bill to $1 a day, according to the manufacturer.

The i-house gets its name from its unique shape: A long rectangular main unit with a separate “flex room” to “dot the i.” Click on the video below to watch our FOX Report.

Related links:

• View more of Jonathan’s photos of the i-house on Facebook.
• i-house virtual tour on Clayton Homes website

Follow Jonathan on:     Twitter Facebook Other Blogs

For those of you who like your glass half-full, this just in from the National Association of Realtors:

Existing home sales rose in April with strong buyer activity in lower price ranges.

Now the half-empty part: The latest S&P/Case-Shiller Index shows a 19.1 percent decline in average home prices nationwide in the first quarter of 2009 versus the same period last year. Statistics from March lead Standard and Poor’s to conclude:

We see no evidence that a recovery in home prices has begun.

Out of 20 major metropolitan areas surveyed by S&P/Case-Shiller, Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Francisco suffered the most significant decreases in housing prices over the past year — posting losses of 36, 31.2 and 30.1 percent respectively. Click on the video below to watch my report for FOX Business Network.

Joshua Keen, an agent with RealSource Brokers in Atlanta (where housing prices dropped 15.7 percent over the past year) predicts prices won’t drop much further. But he says even after the real estate sector recovers, the market will be very different from the years before the proverbial bubble burst. Keep Reading …

The most surprising information to come out of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s briefing on the H1N1 flu outbreak today does not concern the disease itself, but pubic opinion.

According to Prof. Robert Blendon of the Harvard School of Public Health, 77 percent of Americans surveyed say they continue to follow news stories about H1N1, even though 61 percent say they’re not worried about themselves or their families getting sick from the virus in the next 12 months. That’s up from last week, when 53 percent said they were not worried. Normally, people stop following diseases in the news after they stop considering those diseases a direct threat. Prof. Blendon interprets it this way:

We think what people are saying is that they are following the news closely because they’re both interested and uncertain about the risk for themselves and their families during the next year. So even though they’re not immediately worried at this point, they are uncertain. So, they’re going to pay a lot of attention to whatever comes out as the days and weeks go by.

The survey suggests 83 percent of the general public believe local, state and federal health officials are managing the outbreak well and doing a good job getting information out.

However, parents of school age children are substantially more concerned than the rest of the population about the risks of their families getting the disease. Half of these parents report not knowing what their schools are doing in response to the outbreak, according to Prof. Blendon, who said this high level of concern needs to be addressed.

For additional information, visit the CDC’s website at: pandemicflu.gov.

Follow Jonathan on:     Twitter Facebook Other Blogs

School closings are no longer recommended for controlling the spread of the H1N1 “swine flu” virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta issued new recommendations today, which focus instead on personal responsibility and keeping infected individuals at home for at least seven days. CDC Acting Director Richard Besser, MD said the changes were the result of some key findings:

• H1N1 is not as severe as originally thought and is presenting itself more like seasonal flu.
• Schools reporting H1N1 infections are in communities where the disease has already shown up in the general public.
• School closings are “incredibly burdensome and difficult,” according to Dr. Besser, who said the CDC has heard stories of working parents dropping their children off at public libraries because they lack adequate home care.

The median age of persons infected with H1N1 is 16. Why so young?

One theory is that youthful populations, such as spring breakers in Mexico, were the first to be exposed to the disease. Another possibility is that older people have developed more resistance to the H1N1 strain through annual exposure to seasonal flu or flu vaccines.

Dr. Besser said it’s unclear whether either theory is true, but the CDC is actively investigating.

Follow Jonathan on:     Twitter Facebook Other Blogs

Common sense may be more effective than school closings.

Updating reporters on the H1N1 “Swine Flu” virus, Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, summed it up with this comment:

While we’re not out of the woods, we are seeing a lot of encouraging signs.

Dr. Besser said the genetic properties of H1N1 viruses are remaining consistent and anti-viral drugs, such as Relenza and Tamiflu, continue to provide effective treatment for the disease.

Cases in Mexico appear to be leveling off. And here in the US, the disease appears to be no more severe than seasonal flu. Still, people are hospitalized and people die from seasonal flu, said Dr. Besser, who urged Americans to continue basic preventive measures:

• Wash your hands frequently.
• Cover coughs with your sleeve, not your hand.
• Stay home when you’re sick.
• Keep your children home when they’re sick.

Dr. Besser said the CDC is considering revising its guidelines for school closings, which do not appear to be effective in preventing the spread of the disease. Researchers have found that when H1N1 is detected in schools, the virus is already well established in the surrounding community.

So what would revised guidelines look like? Public health officials are taking a close look at schools in Seattle, which emphasize personal responsibility.

Parents check their children in the morning for signs of illness. If a child is feeling sick, the parents are urged to keep that child home for seven days, even if he or she starts to feel better.

Teachers emphasize hand washing and other preventive measures and are instructed to send home any students who appear to be ill.

Follow Jonathan on:     Twitter Facebook Other Blogs