A developmental study of a low cost housing system

In this thesis, a low cost housing system was developed that will sell for under seven thousand dollars per dwelling. The housing system consists of factory produced and finished modular volume units that are combined at a housing site to create the dwelling unit. The goals and problems that low cost housing must attain and solve were discussed. Recent low cost housing trends were surveyed with respect to their construction method, materials used, and cost. Pre construction of modular volume units by a process similar to that used by the mobile home industry was found to be the most promising approach for a low cost housing system. The housing system as developed in this paper utilizes chemically prestressed concrete components for the construction of each modular volume unit. Each volume unit is assembled and finished on an assembly line, transported to a housing site, and attached to a prepared foundation at which time utilities are connected. In this study two volume units were combined to create a dwelling. Minimization of work done at the housing site, use of chemically prestressed concrete components to construct volume units, and an assembly line method for producing the volume units were the prime factors through which economy was achieved.