How do you make building procedures more efficient and more coordinated in order to reduce the cost of housing? TIAX, a collaborative product and technology development firm, has been selected by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to look into this question.

The HUD project was commissioned to examine procedures and technologies to improve the overall building process in an effort to make housing costs more affordable. To address this goal, TIAX is teaming with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to look at various construction techniques - including the installation and integration of plumbing, HVAC systems, etc. - to identify ways to make the construction process less cumbersome and reduce costs for home buyers.

Explaining his company's involvement, Dick Topping, director, Appliance & Building Technologies Group at TIAX, noted, "We provide engineering consulting, R&D, and product development services for clients including the government and also HVAC and appliance companies." Formerly Arthur D. Little's Technology & Innovation business, TIAX has had a long relationship with MIT, he said. Since the college's Department of Architecture studies advanced housing concepts, the department joined as TIAX's subcontractor on this project.