Housing and Community Development

Early efforts focused on evaluating affordable housing programs in New Jersey and on analyzing and demonstrating new housing technologies. More recently the scope has widened to also include affordable housing design and community development research activities.

The mission of the Housing and Community Development research team is to examine the interactive impacts of design, planning and technology on the production of green housing and the development of sustainable communities.

Current activities include: supporting the Affordable Housing Design Advisor, a web-based tool created to help community development organizations understand what good design is, why its valuable and how they can achieve it in their own developments; the Affordable Green Online Academy, a resource that provides practical instruction on the creation of energy efficient, durable, healthy, affordable housing; updating the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Energy Efficient Rehab Guidelines; and providing training, technical support and building monitoring for the New Jersey Climate Choice Homes program.