Between the high cost of motor fuel, and the health concerns about formaldehyde, there’s talk of changes in the world RV manufacturing. Out in Elkhart, the RV manufacturing center of the world, the word on the street is that changes will have to be made if the industry is to survive.

It could be that change is already in the works. One RV manufacturer, Pilgrim Industries, has already started changing over from “wood and tin” manufacturing, heading into the world of composites. The company says by the end of 2009 about three-quarters of it’s units will be manufactured from composites, and predicts that in the next three years, nearly all RV builders will make the switchover.

Why composites? First, they’re much lighter. Officials from TekModo, a composite manufacturer, says that if RV builders shook off their love affair with wood and fiberglass, they could drop nearly 2,000 pounds from the typical RV. Their product, CosmoLite is what Pilgrim uses already. CosmoLite, they claim, contains no formaldehyde, a definite plus for an industry that’s taken a serious public relations hit from folks concerned about health hazards encountered in living in FEMA emergency trailers.

Loggers may not look at the switchover with a great deal of reverence though. According to a story in the Elkhart Truth newspaper, the RV industry chews up 40 million square feet of wood products every three weeks. The newspaper recently published a story on the industry’s consideration of the switch.