New building technologies receive $1.1 million in grants

Grants totaling almost $1.1 million have been awarded to six industry projects under the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing. The projects focus on providing new or improved energy-saving and home-building technologies within 18 months.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Commerce announced the PATH grants in a June 23 press release.

According to HUD and the DoC, the research and development grants will fund further development of the following technologies:

Roofing that cools and generates electricity

Walls that snap together

Super insulating panels created from coal power industry by-products

Large-sized insulated steel forms for high-performance concrete foundations and walls

Energy-saving, programmable thermostats

System engineering building techniques that cut costs and improve the quality of rural and inner-city housing.

The awards inaugurate a new program called the PATH Cooperative Research Program, or PATH-CoRP.

PATH-CoRP forges multi-year cooperative research and development agreements with industry that are designed to further the partnership's goals.

PATH is a public-private initiative launched by President Clinton in 1998 to speed the creation and use of new housing technologies to improve the quality, affordability, durability, energy efficiency and environmental performance of homes.

The PATH's main mission is to reduce the monthly cost of new housing by 20 percent or more by 2010.

PATH is managed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

PATH-CoRP is administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department's Technology Administration.

Besides the Housing and Commerce departments, PATH partners include the U.S. departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Labor and Transportation; the Environmental Protection Agency; the Federal Emergency Management Agency; the National Science Foundation; the Federal Housing Finance Board and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Private-sector members in PATH include leading home building, real estate, product manufacturing, insurance and financial firms.

"These inaugural PATH-CoRP awards will help to transform good ideas into usable products. Home buyers, remodelers, builders and manufacturers all gain when new technology makes its mark in the housing industry," said HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo, in the release.

Commerce Secretary William M. Daley added, "PATH-CoRP taps into the American genius for technology innovation. By providing vital matching seed money for research, PATH-CoRP spurs the residential product development and commercialization effort."

HUD will fund up to 70 percent of the PATH-CoRP projects. Industry participants in PATH will match the PATH funds with an additional $984,000.

This list above details each of the PATH-CoRP grant awardees.

The selection process was highly competitive, with more than 50 applicants.

To be chosen for the PATH-CoRP grants, projects had to address at least one of the seven PATH areas of interest listed below.

Labor-saving processes to shorten housing construction time

Enhanced worker safety and simpler construction processes

Advanced materials and systems to address structural integrity

Advanced materials and housing foundation systems for all types of soil conditions

Advanced building envelope materials and systems to control moisture in walls or infestation by termites or other insects

New or innovative methods incorporating traditional exterior finishes with advanced framing systems

Advanced materials and systems for interior finishes (ceilings, walls, etc.) and advanced materials and systems for home function and operation.

For more information, on the grant program, visit PATH on the World Wide Web at www.pathnet.org or go to the NIST Web site at www. bfrl.nist.gov.