HUD introduces Affordable Housing Design Advisor

Affordable housing doesn't have to be bland and boring.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has released web-based version of the Affordable Housing Design Advisor in an attempt to bring elements of good design to low-cost housing projects.

The site includes detailed checklists for affordable housing developers, as well as an array of galleries and examples of how these techniques have been put into practice. Also, the developing trend of green affordable housing is highlighted using numerous resources.

The tools on the Design Advisor were previously only available on CD-ROM.

The website was developed in cooperation with the American Institute of Architects, the Enterprise Foundation, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the National Congress for Community Economic Development and the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation.

It is currently managed by the Center for Architecture and Building Science Research at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.