Coachmen Industries to Build Smart Home for Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry

ELKHART, Ind. January 15, 2008; Coachmen Industries, Inc. today announced its continued commitment to environmentally friendly systems-built housing through its participation in the “Smart Home: Green + Wired” exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Coachmen’s systems-built residential housing subsidiary, All American Homes, LLC, will build the fully functional “Green” home that will be a central part of the exhibit on the lawn of the Museum grounds. The exhibit is slated to open May 8, 2008 and run though January 4, 2009.

Showcasing exciting new directions in sustainable living and environmentally friendly technology, the Smart Home: Green + Wired exhibit will offer guests a view into the latest innovations in reusable resources, smart energy consumption and clean, healthy-living environments in a contemporary setting within the 2,500 square-foot home and grounds. Michelle Kaufmann Designs conceived the home currently being constructed at the All American Homes’ manufacturing facility in Decatur, Ind. The design, called the mkSolaire™, was built for an urban environment and features inviting, sophisticated and family-friendly interior architecture. The home will demonstrate the benefits of energy-efficient heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems and energy efficient building components to create a healthy living environment. The fully functioning exhibit on the grounds of the museum will be powered by Chicago sponsors ComEd and heated by Peoples Gas.

Construction of the modules takes place on All American Homes’ quality-controlled assembly line and lasts approximately three weeks. The fully completed house is then “test fit” or “soft set” at the factory prior to the individual modules being transported to the Museum site to be set on its foundation at the end of February. After the home is set, final interior work, furnishing and landscaping will be completed in preparation for the home’s opening in May.

“In this, the 75th Anniversary year of the Museum of Science and Industry, Coachmen Industries and All American Homes are extremely pleased to be the builders of the Smart Home: Green + Wired. This project is perfectly aligned with our corporate commitment to building more sustainable and environmentally friendly housing and recreational vehicles,” stated Coachmen Industries CEO, Rick Lavers. “Our Systems-built Housing is by nature more environmentally friendly, using less fuel for transportation of raw materials and less waste in the manufacturing process and we are now offering our builders and homeowners ‘green’ alternatives and options they can customize and incorporate into their homes,” concluded Lavers.

Modular built in a precision-engineered and climate-controlled environment, All American Homes is able to build homes 60 percent faster and in a more environmentally friendly way than traditional site-built construction. Waste is reduced because much of the lumber arrives precut, reducing the need to dispose of waste in the field. Most waste is recycled as part of the manufacturing process. Even drywall scrap is trucked to local farmers to use in preparing soil for planting—keeping it out of landfills. Sawdust is made available for use as livestock bedding. These and other efficiencies in time and materials, in addition to being eco-friendly, can yield significant cost savings to the homeowner, making homes more affordable. For more information on All American Homes visit the website at www.allamericanhomes.com.

About the Museum of Science and Industry

The Museum of Science and Industry’s mission is to inspire the inventive genius in everyone by presenting captivating and compelling experiences that are real and educational. The Museum first opened its doors on June 19, 1933. In 2008—more than 175 million guests later—the Museum commemorates its 75th Anniversary with a year-long celebration. Located at 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive, the Museum is open every day of the year except December 25. Regular Museum hours are 9:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. on Sunday. The Museum offers indoor parking and is accessible by CTA and Metra. The Museum is supported in part through the generosity of the people of Chicago through the Chicago Park District. For more information, visit the Museum’s Web site at www.msichicago.org or call (773) 684-1414 or (800) GO-TO-MSI outside of the Chicago.

About Michelle Kaufman

Michelle Kaufmann Designs (MKD) is a full service design/build architectural firm that specializes in sustainable, innovative, high-quality modular architecture. Michelle Kaufman has become the leader in home design which creates a marriage of beauty and sustainability using modular construction. Kaufmann began designing her current style of environmentally responsible, modular homes when she and her husband were looking for a “green” home of their own. Now working under the belief that sustainable, well-designed buildings should be accessible to more people, Kaufman has simplified the process and chosen off-site modular technology as the means to create beautiful, eco-friendly homes and buildings. The goal of her company is to make it easier for people to build green and live a more sustainable lifestyle. The home being built for the Smart Home: Green + Wired exhibit is a new MKD design called mkSolaire™, a threestory, loft-style home, suitable for an urban environment. The Museum's home is the first mkSolaire™ to be constructed. More information about MKD can be found at www.michellekaufmann.com.

Coachmen Industries, Inc. is one of America’s leading manufacturers of recreational vehicles, systems-built homes and commercial buildings, with prominent subsidiaries in each industry. The Company’s well-known RV brand names include COACHMEN®, GEORGIE BOY™, SPORTSCOACH® and VIKING®. Through ALL AMERICAN HOMES® and MOD-U-KRAF®, Coachmen is one of the nation’s largest producers of systems-built homes, and also a major builder of commercial structures with its ALL AMERICAN BUILDING SYSTEMS™ products. Coachmen Industries, Inc. is a publicly held company with stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker COA.