Emerging Technologies for Residential Construction

The Partnership for Advanced Technology in Housing (PATH) has announced its Top Ten Technologies for 2004, including:

• Frost Protected Shallow Foundations: Protect foundations against frost damage without the need for excavating below the frost line.
• Home Run Plumbing Systems: Feeds flexible piping directly to one fixture from the central manifold.
• Engineered Panelized Systems: Prefabricated panels form a structural envelope that reduces or eliminates the need for on-site framing and can be assembled swiftly.
• HVAC Optimization: To maximize efficiency and comfort, use properly sized equipment, and place HVAC equipment inside the conditioned space.
• Tankless Water Heaters: Provide hot water on demand, reducing or eliminating standby loss.
• Shared (Community) Waste Water treatment: A single drainfield/treatment area connected to each house's individual septic tank.
• Air Admittance Vents: Pressure-activated, one-way plumbing valves, eliminating the need for conventional pipe venting and roof penetrations.
• Low Impact Development: LID techniques can offer a cost-effective way to address stormwater management through site design and "Best Management Practices".
• Integrated Steel/Wood Combination Framing: Combinations of wood and steel framing within the overall building shell use the best attributes and cost benefits of each.
• Pre-cast Concrete Panels (Walls and Foundation): Made under quality-controlled factory conditions, pre-cast concrete panels are ready in a fraction of the time needed for a poured foundation.

Several of the Top 10 may be of particular interest to readers of Fundamentals of Building Construction. See the PATH page links below for additional technical background, information on regulatory acceptance, and links to additional resources and manufacturers related to these systems:

Engineered panelized systems discusses a variety of innovative insulated panel systems including composites of rigid foam/light gauge steel framing, rigid foam/concrete, and rigid foam/fiberglass/PVC. For a brief introduction to prefabricated panel systems, see also page 100 of the textbook.

Shallow frost-protected foundations are also discussed and illustrated on page 65 of the textbook. In these systems, rigid insulation installed below grade protects against soil freezing and allows shallow footings to be constructed above the normal frost line.

Combination steel/wood framing combines light gauge steel studs and joists with wood framing members such as sills, band joists, and plates. These systems offer the advantages of steel framing (light weight, recyclability, dimensional stability, resistance to moisture, etc.) while relying on traditional wood light framing connection methods and tools (nail guns, staples, etc.). Both loadbearing and nonloadbearing systems are feasible.

Pre-cast concrete foundation panels are insulated, loadbearing, reinforced concrete panels that according to PATH, allow erection of residential basements in less than one day. Panels come with concrete "studs" and metal or preservative-treated furring for attachment of finishes. [Author's note: Waterproofing of joints between panels appears to rely on conventional joint sealants, a potential long-term vulnerability.]

What is PATH?
PATH describes itself as

a voluntary partnership in which leaders of the homebuilding, product manufacturing, insurance, and financial industries join forces with representatives of Federal agencies concerned with housing. By working together, PATH partners improve the quality and affordability of today's new and existing homes, strengthen the technology infrastructure of the United States, and help create the next generation of American housing.

Its Top 10 Technologies are intended to represent "practical, easy-to-use building technologies that are on the edge of industry acceptance and are quickly gaining importance."