WASHINGTON - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today announced grants totaling nearly $1.1 million for six industry projects that promise new or improved energy-saving and homebuilding technologies within 18 months.

The grants are funded through the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH), which is managed by HUD. 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.

Companies receiving grants are located in Berkeley and Torrance, California; Littleton, Colorado; Norwalk, Connecticut; Atlanta, Georgia; and Auburn Hills, Michigan.

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

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.

HUD will fund up to 70 percent of these projects. Industry participants in PATH-CoRP will match the PATH funds with an additional $984,000.

PATH-CoRP is administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the Commerce Department's Technology Administration. In addition to HUD and the Department of Commerce, PATH partners include 10 additional federal agencies and a number of housing industry representatives.

"PATH-CoRP taps into the American genius for technology innovation," said Commerce Secretary William M. Daley. "By providing vital matching seed money for research, PATH-CoRP spurs the residential product development and commercialization effort."

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.