Industry-Government Partnership Funds New Energy-Saving and Building Technologies

The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Commerce today announced grants totaling nearly $1.1 million for six industry projects under the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing that promise new or improved energy-saving and homebuilding technologies within 18 months.

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. As a part of PATH, PATH-CoRP forges multi-year cooperative research and development agreements with industry, designed to further PATH's goals. PATH is 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. 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 HUD. PATH-CoRP is administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the Commerce Department's Technology Administration. In addition to HUD and DoC, PATH partners include 10 additional federal agencies and a number of housing industry representatives.

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

Commerce Secretary William M. Daley said, "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 will match the PATH funds with an additional $984,000.

Following is a list showing each of the PATH-CoRP grant awardees, the company location, the PATH-CoRP project, the amount of the federal cost share, the amount of company cost share, and the total partnership investment:

W. Brandt Goldsworthy & Associates, Inc. Torrance, Calif. Automatically machined and snap-locking insulated wall panels

$157,221 Federal

$67,562 Company

$224,783

Total AeRock, LLC Littleton, Colo.

Fiber-fly ash composite building system

$187,770 Federal

$125,180 Company

$312,950 Total

Benchmark Resources, Inc. Auburn Hills, Mich.

Insulated concrete panel technology

$200,000 Federal

$374,691 Company

$574,691 Total

PowerLight Corporation Berkeley, Calif.

Solar roof cooling and electricity generation

$197,780 Federal

$131,154 Company

$328,934 Total

Steven Winter Associates, Inc. Norwalk, Conn.

Energy-saving thermostat with variable deadband control

$186,346 Federal

$90,000 Company

$276,346 Total

Persimmon Homes, LLC Atlanta, Ga.

Optimized building system for locations where construction personnel are scarce

$133,500 Federal

$195,660 Company

$329,160 Total

The selection process was highly competitive, with over 50 applicants. To be chosen for the PATH-CoRP grants, projects had to address at least one of the following seven PATH areas of interest:

• 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.

In addition to the Departments of Commerce and HUD, other federal agencies participating in PATH 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 include leading homebuilding, real estate, product manufacturing, insurance and financial firms.

For more information, visit PATH on the World Wide Web at www.pathnet.org or go to the NIST Engineering Laboratory web site.

Additional Contact: Stephanie Carnes, PATH, (202) 708-4277