Date: December 1991

Author(s): J. H. Willenbrock

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), headquartered in Washington, D.C., is recognized as the authoritative voice of America's residential and light building construction industry. The NAHB Research Center (NAHB/RC), a wholly-owned subsidiary, supports NAHB by providing the technical background and documentation on a wide range of housing issues and by identifying and addressing emerging technological opportunities that affect the residential building construction industry.

On July 1, 1988, the NAHB Research Center announced that a group of 13 major research-oriented universities had been selected to join the NAHB/RC's National Consortium of University-Based Pennsylvania Housing Research Centers. Four additional universities were added to the NAHB/RC Consortium after that date.

This report documents the first 3 1/2 years of progress of the Consortium, which was the first attempt in the United States to create a nationwide network of cooperation between the residential building construction industry and a number of major universities. Hopefully this documentation will provide a firm foundation for the consortium's continued growth in the future.

The information provided in the report will provide builders in Pennsylvania with information about the leadership activities of the PHRC at the national level with regard to this academic/industry cooperative effort in the areas of research and technology transfer.

It will also be of interest to universities and state builder associations in states that presently do not have a Pennsylvania Housing Research Center that is affiliated with the national consortium.

The consortium continues to exist in a somewhat modified form which now consists of an equal partnership between the universities and the NAHB/RC. Members will continue to build on the relationships established during the formative years of the Consortium and will hopefully become a strong force at the national level with regard to research and technology transfer for the residential building industry.