HUD BREAKS GROUND ON AMERICA'S FIRST PATH CONCEPT HOME
Innovative, affordable home will feature high quality and energy efficient building and design features

WASHINGTON, DC - The Department of Housing and Urban Development today broke ground on America's first PATH (Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing) Concept Home, which will feature innovative products and systems with traditional design elements to create a comfortable and affordable home.

HUD breaks ground on first ever PATH concept home in Omaha, NE. (L-R in photo Fernando Pages, builder/developer, A/S Williams, PDR, Stan Quay, FOD Omaha and David Engel, PATH Director).

"With the PATH Concept Home, HUD is putting into practice the latest in technology advances to respond to changing household demographics and the realities of housing economics," said HUD Assistant Secretary Darlene F. Williams. "Our vision for the PATH Concept Home is a home for all Americans-one that is affordable, easy to maintain, and easy to renovate as families and their needs change over time."

The PATH program, a public private partnership between the U.S. government and America's housing industry, works together to advance the use of technology in the housing infrastructure throughout the country.

By building the Concept Home, PATH will demonstrate a blueprint for the future of housing in America that is flexible, efficient and sustainable. Torti Gallas Partners, an award-winning architecture firm, translated the PATH vision for the Concept Home into an applicable design which meets Energy Star, Environments for Living, Green Building and FHA Accessibility criteria.

"I build homes for real people, many of whom need affordable solutions," said Fernando Pages of Brighton Construction. "These families deserve the best quality with long term durability, low maintenance and manageable monthly utility bills. The application of improved production processes and innovative technologies enhances my ability to provide durable, comfortable, affordable homes. Innovation and vision allow me to continually improve the homes I build."

The City of Omaha donated a site for the PATH Concept Home to be built on a corner lot nestled among new affordable homes and quaint historic bungalows and convenient to downtown and Creighton University. The neighborhood is also part of a broad commercial and residential redevelopment effort.

"We are proud to have the nation's first PATH Concept Home being built right here in Omaha," said Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey. "The many economic development efforts underway across the city, from the redevelopment of our downtown and riverfront to the strengthening of our city's neighborhoods and smaller business districts, will serve as a fitting backdrop to HUD's "home of the future'."

Several leading manufacturers have generously donated their products and time including MascoCorporation and its subsidiaries BrassCraft, Merillat, Masco Contractor Services' Environments for Living program, DuPont ™ Building Innovations™, the Metal Roofing Alliance and Follansbee, Seisco and Panasonic.

For additional information on the PATH program and the PATH Concept Home, please visit www.pathnet.org.