The eco-friendly Clayton i-house, which is now available for purchase, launched nationally at the Berkshire-Hathaway Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Neb. on May 2, 2009 when Warren Buffett showed the i-house to attendees. Since that time, the i-house has been featured on numerous national cable television news shows and in newspapers and magazines across the country.

The i-house is Energy Star™ rated, which means the home is at least 30 percent more energy efficient according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Although home buyers are likely to first notice the stylish design, cutting-edge color combinations and modern furnishings, the i-house also features solar panels, a rain water catchment system, high-end “low e” windows, a tankless water heater, low-flow faucets, easily renewable bamboo flooring and many other energy saving items.

“The i-house will change the way people look at our products and housing in general,” said Kevin Clayton, CEO of Clayton Homes. “We build these homes in a controlled environment away from the weather, so there’s a huge quality benefit simply because of how we build a home. We also have far less scrap in our building process than a traditional home, so there are tremendous cost savings we pass along to the homebuyer.”

Built with an exterior of cement board and architectural metal, the home’s most distinctive feature is the V-shaped roof over the primary living space that includes the i-house’s rainwater catchment system and solar panels. The primary living area includes a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom, and a deck connects it to a separate living area that features a bedroom or den, a full bath and a roof-top patio.

Clayton Homes says the i-house’s energy costs are less than $70 a month, but that figure drops to less than one dollar per day when the optional solar panel system is installed.

The i-house is consistent with the overall environmental focus at Clayton Homes, which is in the process of obtaining LEED certification – the national benchmark for eco-friendly design – at its Tennessee headquarters. Clayton has cut energy costs at its offices by 28 percent over the last two years, and has already started implementing many of the “green” features of the i-house into its traditional homes.

Although the i-house is expected to be a popular primary residence, it is also drawing considerable interest from people who wish to have a second home or vacation home because of its affordability, unique design and energy efficiency. The $8,000 first-time homebuyer’s tax credit, is expected to attract many first-time homebuyers, many of whom will be drawn to the modern design and energy efficiency of the i-house. More information is available at http://claytonihouse.com.

Clayton, the nation’s largest homebuilder, has built 1.5 million homes since 1934. Clayton homes are precision-built in 35 state-of-the-art, climate-controlled facilities strategically located throughout the United States.

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About Clayton Homes: A Berkshire-Hathaway Company, Clayton Homes is a national, vertically integrated housing company. Through its family of brands, Clayton Homes builds, sells, finances, leases, and insures a full spectrum of affordable housing and is the nation’s leader in housing.  Visit Clayton Homes at www.claytonhomes.com.

The i-house can be viewed, toured and purchased at Clayton Homes of N. Charleston, 6581 Rivers Ave. North Charleston, SC 29418. For more information call Allison Blankenship at (843) 572-6742.

For additional information/photos, contact:
Ryan Willis
rwillis@ackermannpr.com
(865) 584-0550

Knoxville, Tenn. –  Cellular Sales, the nation’s largest retailer of Verizon Wireless, is expanding in Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia.  The eight new Cellular Sales stores opened during the past month.

Cellular Sales is a 15-year old privately held company headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn.  The company currently operates throughout the United States.  For the past two years, Inc. Magazine has named Cellular Sales one of the nation’s fastest growing privately held companies. This year, the company was in the Top 100 for retailers.

“Cellular Sales’ ranking on this year’s Inc. 5,000 list is a testimony to customer service,” said Dane Scism, founder and CEO of Cellular Sales.  “Our business model is based on treating every customer as if they were our only customer.  People notice it when you take care of them.

“How many people are there that know exactly who to call – by name – when they have a question about their cell phone or their service plan?  Our customers have a name and contact number for their own personal wireless consultant, a real person they can talk to right there in their own community.  We’re proud of the way we take care of customers, and we know it is the reason we are growing.”

For the past 15 years, Cellular Sales has consistently outperformed the rest of its industry, and is now the nation’s largest retailer of Verizon Wireless.  By year end, Knoxville, Tenn.-based Cellular Sales will open 50 new stores, bringing the company’s total number of locations to over 300.

“When the economy is booming, growth is expected,” Scism said.  “But companies that are growing in spite of the economy – like Cellular Sales – have to be doing something different.”

For more information about the new Cellular Sales Verizon Wireless stores, visit the company’s web site at www.cellularsales.com or call (865) 588-3855.

Media Contact
Rick Laney
(865) 584-0550
rlaney@ackermannpr.com