This session focused on HUD’s Partnerships for Advanced Technology in Housing (PATH) Program. It provided information on new technologies to improved energy and environmental efficiency, reduced maintenance and repair costs, and better housing affordability. The session also highlighted developers that have successfully contributed to the construction of sustainable communities by combining advanced technologies and subsidies that reduce housing costs and improve the overall quality of life.

The Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) is a public/private initiative whose primary objective is to accelerate the widespread use and creation of advanced technologies in order to improve the durability, quality, energy efficiency, environmental performance, and affordability of housing in the United States. PATH is a voluntary partnership in which industry leaders (i.e., product manufacturing, home building, financial and insurance industries) join forces with housing representatives from federal government. PATH offers technical assistance to individual builders and remodelers willing to utilize innovative technologies in their housing projects. Likewise, manufacturers participating in the program can ask for feedback on changes needed to improve their products' ability to meet PATH goals. By working together, PATH partners have successfully increased both the quality and affordability of today's new (and existing) homes; strengthened the U.S. technology infrastructure and assisted in building "foundations" for the next generation of American housing.

Carl Franklin Homes, constructs 50 to 100 homes a year, with eighty percent of their business derived from the affordable housing market. Because they primarily develop large affordable housing communities, they usually partner with a charitable housing organization that acts as developer. The homes range in size from 1,400 to 2,000 square feet, and feature one to two car garages, two full baths and three or four bedrooms. The homes are also equipped with geothermal heat pumps, tankless hot water heaters, stained concrete floors, seamless sheetrock corners, stackless vents, SIPs, low maintenance exteriors, and affordable utilities.

The Hillside Oaks development in East Dallas, Texas, is just one example of their successful construction projects. The houses at Hillside Oaks sold for $77,000 (half the median home price in Dallas) and residents meeting assistance qualifications receive a $2,000 down payment from the Dallas housing department. Low operating costs can be attributed to the exceptional performance of the exterior skin and heating system. The company has completed similar affordable housing projects in the Kensington Village subdivision and in Plano, Texas. Furthermore, the company has already started production of smaller new component construction homes, which will sell for less than $50,000.