University of Texas Research Center of Excellence

University of Texas at Austin Research Center of Excellence

In 2023, HUD awarded the University of Texas at Austin $2,459,527 to support the UT Austin Equitable Technologies for Housing Innovation Center (ETHIC). ETHIC is led by the University of Texas at Austin, partnering with Virginia Tech, ADL Ventures, and Texas Southern University. ETHIC aims to be the technological engine for shaping innovative products, policies, and people that provide equitable, affordable, and sustainable housing options for underserved Texans, including Hispanic and Black communities. The objectives of the Center's initial work are three-fold: (1) gaining a better understanding of the spatial patterns that affect housing inequity to improve planning, development, and resilience of affordable housing infrastructure; (2) developing targeted programs to create a new industrialized construction ecosystem to increase the scale of affordable housing production, while empowering and creating more equitable opportunities for a new workforce; and (3) addressing the effects of climate change on housing inequity through sustainable approaches across the housing supply chain.