The Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) 2001 Assessment: Letter Report (2002)

• Mission

• Goals

• Objectives

To facilitate the development of new technology and advance the adoption of new and existing technologies to improve US housing by fostering partnerships among industry, government, and educational institutions.

I. To remove barriers and facilitate technology development and adoption.

PATH will investigate the barriers, including regulatory barriers, that impede innovation and will actively propose and develop programs to overcome those barriers by working directly with the housing industry. This work will guide the other goals and efforts.

II. To improve technology transfer, development, and adoption through information dissemination.

PATH will coordinate dissemination of innovation information directed to the housing industry and consumers.

III. To advance housing technologies research and foster development of new technology.

PATH will support “background” and applied research as well as technology development activities in the housing industry. This research will be complemented by short-term and long-term assessments of specific technologies that are on the market.

IV. To support the program through appropriate management and resource allocations.

1. Regulatory Preparation for Housing Technology

To assist technologies with regulatory preparation and technology evaluation guidance.

Relevant PATH Activity: National Evaluation Service’s Supplemental Evaluation Program.

2. Strategic Planning

To perform a full assessment of institutional barriers to housing technology research and adoption for prioritization of PATH services including barriers that relate to the building process, that relate to non-technical home and home technology development, and that relate to the housing characteristics and technological environment. These include expanded research forecasting opportunities, roadmapping, research opportunities, dissemination mechanisms and messages.

Relevant PATH Activity: No currently funded program; rather, it is done by PATH staff.

3. Strategic Operations

To develop research, dissemination, or services based on this assessment.

Relevant PATH Activity: No currently funded program; rather, it is done by PATH staff.

1. Dissemination for Underutilized Housing Technology

To assist individual innovations with the steps necessary for full commercialization.

Relevant PATH Activity: PATH Technology Inventory.

2. Demonstration of Underutilized Housing Technology

To develop annual demonstration projects which will serve as significant marketing mechanisms along with technical information gathering.

Relevant PATH Activity: PATH Demonstration Sites and Field Evaluation and Demonstration Site Dissemination Program.

3. Centralized Information Clearinghouse and Resource Center

To provide full technical information readily to the home building industry.

Relevant PATH Activity: “ToolBase” Technical Services Assistance Program.

1. Research Forecasting

To study major research projects on material, production, and other technological developments in industries outside of home building to gauge their potential application for home building.

Relevant PATH Activity: “Hause” Reports.

2. Research Roadmapping

To develop focus areas for immediate technological research in home building to serve as a guide for research investments in government and industry.

Relevant PATH Activity: PATH General Roadmap and IT, Panels, and Whole House Roadmaps.

3. Background Research for Housing Technology

To fund university-based research projects for home building that serve as background contributions to knowledge for the housing industry.

Relevant PATH Activity: PATH-NSF Program Awards.

4. Applied Research for Housing Technology

To annually fund Federal applied research projects for home building that serve as contributions to knowledge based on background research and as a step towards developmental research.

Relevant PATH Activity: DOE, FEMA, DOA, and HUD PATH Research Portfolios.

5. Development of Housing Technology

To annually fund technology development projects for home building leveraged with industrial partners.

Relevant PATH Activity: NIST PATH Cooperative Research Program (PATHCoRP); Manufactured Housing Research Program; NAHB Research Center Industry Cooperative Research Program; HUD PATH Industry Cooperative Research Programs.

6. Evaluation Measures for Housing Technology

To develop the development of quantitative standards or measures for housing attributes against which technologies can be measured.

Relevant PATH Activity: NIST Durability Research, BEES, & Affordability Measures, NAHBRC Quality Guidelines.

7. Post-Commercialization Evaluation of Housing Technology

To annually test and validate technologies that are at or immediately past first commercialization (i.e., have limited market penetration) on construction sites.

Relevant PATH Activity: PATH Field Evaluations, PATH Technology Inventory.

8. Long-Term Analysis of Specific Housing Technologies

To annually test, validate, and perform sociotechnical analyses on technologies that are well past commercialization and have successfully or unsuccessfully reached significant market penetration.

Relevant PATH Activity: PATH/NAHBRC Assessment Research (the “Field Reports”).

1. Research Support

To solicit, select, support, and administer contracts that provide research and development for the home building industry and academic community.

Relevant PATH Activity: All PATH Research Projects Administration.

2. Information Dissemination Support for Housing Technology

To determine and use the best messages for disseminating information about housing technology in general to the major home building participants (including home builders, consumers, product manufacturers, trade associations, innovators, researchers in universities and other institutional research settings, housing developers (including non-profits), non-technical housing development participants (lenders, insurers, appraisers, utilities), non-housing-specific building professionals, and the housing and general press) that included defining housing technology development, benefits, attributes, and opportunities.

Relevant PATH Activity: PATH Marketing Committee and PATH Marketing Administration/Contractors.

3. Information Dissemination Support for PATH and PATH-Related Services, Publications, & Tools

To determine and use the best mechanisms for disseminating information about PATH and PATH services to the major home building participants.

Relevant PATH Activity: PATH Marketing Administration/Contractors, PATH Partner Dissemination Work.