PATH Surveying Builders, Consumers on Innovative Homes
 PATH (Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing) is conducting short online surveys among contractors and consumers to gauge their interest in the major concepts that have been included in the PATH Concept Home.
The survey includes questions related to reducing on-site material waste, alternative building products and systems, and "open building" to separate the home’s systems. The feedback will be used to help the Department of Housing and Urban Development formulate policies. PATH’s ongoing Concept Home program is focusing this year on a high quality, affordable home that can be built in 20 days. The home will be designed to accommodate the changing lifestyles of its occupants, to adapt easily to technological advances and to be easy to repair and remodel. It will look custom built. Seven innovative systems and technologies will make the home possible: a flexible floor plan, the separation of home systems, organized and accessible utilities, standardization of measurements and component interfaces, improved production processes, integrated subsystems and alternative basic materials. PATH plans to develop different Concept Homes for different home markets throughout the country — from urban infill multifamily housing to single-family homes in the suburbs. The homes will also be designed for different regional climates and household sizes. Research blueprints and specifications will be made available to home technology manufacturers that are interested in developing specific products, processes and homes in line with Concept Homes performance criteria. PATH will also be studying the institutional and regulatory barriers preventing Concept Home concepts from being introduced in the marketplace, including financing, building code discrepancies and quality certification. The project is also hoping to enlist innovative builders to build, market and sell Concept Homes. PATH says that it is applying radical concepts from the automobile and toy industries to promote thinking about new approaches, technologies and materials in the home of the future. To download the surveys, click here. | 
