PATH - A Public Private Partnership for Advancing Housing Technology

September 12, 2005

NSF-PATH Program Awards Winners Announced:

Grantees Selected for Research Endeavors to Further Innovation

PATH and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have awarded 10 researchers a total of $3 million in grants to continue their work forging new ground in interdisciplinary energy-efficient housing technologies.

NSF-PATH Program Awards provide funding to spur innovative background research, a key component to technology development. First given in 2000, the awards have not only led to interesting developments on a variety of technological fronts, but have brought increased attention to housing within the broader university research community. The 2005 awardees are:

• Florida International University (Principal Investigator: Forrest Masters), Advancing Performance Based Design through Full-Scale Simulation of Wind, Water and Structural Interaction;
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Principal Investigator: Marilyne Andersen), Video-Based Assessment of Advanced Light Redirecting Components in Windows and Luminaries to Optimize Lighting in Buildings;
• Ohio University (Principal Investigator: Gerardine Botte), Feasibility of Developing Self-Sustainable Ammonia Power Houses;
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Principal Investigator: Steven Van Dessel), Thin-Film Active Building Envelopes;
• University of Alabama (Principal Investigator: Nasim Uddin), Innovative Multifunctional Structural Panels for Cost-effective Panelized Construction;
• University of Kansas (Principal Investigator: Mario Medina), Optimal Integration of Renewable and Phase Change Materials in Insulation Systems for the Reduction of Thermal Loads Across Building Walls and Ceilings
• University of Michigan (Principal Investigator: Harry Giles), Technological Innovations in an Industrially Designed and Manufactured Modular Housing Concept for Low Energy, Prefabricated, Low-Rise Low Income Housing Units;
• University of Missouri-Rolla (Principal Investigator: K. Chandrashekhara), Core-filled Bio-composite Panels for Energy Efficient Housing;
• Virginia Tech (Principal Investigator: Charles Koebel), Modeling Adoption and Diffusion of Residential Construction Innovations;
• Virginia Tech (Principal Investigator:Walid Thabet), Facilitating Supply Chain Support for the Commercialization of Innovative Products in the Residential Construction Industry.

The grants, which are for $300,000 each for a cycle of three years, were available to researchers from academic institutions and partnerships between academic institutions, research organizations, industrial enterprises, state and local governments, and other research endeavors relevant to the housing and homebuilding industries. Researchers were asked to explore one of the following themes:

• Construction Management and Production
• Structural Design and Materials
• Building Enclosures, Energy, and Indoor Air Quality
• Community and Economic Impacts of Housing Technology
• Systems Interactions and Whole House Approaches

The goal of the project is to encourage greater collaboration among disparate industry stakeholders in order to advance innovations in home building and to create new avenues of research and development. Applicants were asked that projects dramatically contribute to the advancement of technology, engineering, or the social and economic studies of them, as well as have significant long-term impact for the homebuilding industry. They were also asked to identify potential areas of application for each innovation and their potential impacts.

Proposals were evaluated based on their potential to advance knowledge and understanding within their own field or across different fields while promoting teaching, training, and learning. Special consideration was given to proposals that fostered integration of research and education and broadened opportunities for underrepresented social groups.

For more information:
Kate Fried
301-628-2090

Content updated on 9/12/2005

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