UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Housing Research Center (PHRC), housed in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State, will be hosting the 27th Annual PHRC Housing Conference on March 13-14, 2019, at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center, in State College, Pennsylvania.
This two-day event with multiple tracks brings together all sectors of the housing industry to provide valuable information and updates on issues of interest to those in the residential construction field. Invited speakers will present on a wide-range of topics about innovative technologies, regulation and best practices in the industry.
The first day of the conference, Wednesday, March 13, will focus on session tracks pertaining to high performance homes, construction and code updates through the PCCA Symposium Central. The keynote speaker will be Lynn Fisher, resident scholar and the co-director of the Center on Housing Markets and Finance at the American Enterprise Institute. She is also a three-time alumna of Penn State with a doctorate in business administration with a concentration in real estate finance; a master of science in business administration; and a bachelor of arts in international politics. Fisher's presentation, entitled “Update on Housing and Mortgage Markets,” will focus on assessing the macroeconomic drivers of interest rates, current demographic trends and the current state of housing and mortgage market activity, including risks. She will also discuss some of the barriers to homebuilding and lessons from history regarding factory-built housing.
Sessions on Wednesday will discuss topics such as advanced framing, low carbon/net zero energy single-family housing and airtightness of building enclosures.
An evening reception, "A Night on the Town," also is planned for Wednesday night, with food, drinks and transportation provided. Conference attendees will be shuttled to Champs Downtown for an evening of networking, pinball, pool and arcade games. Do not miss out as this event is included in every two-day registration.
The second day of the conference, Thursday, March 14, will focus on topics related to residential systems, land development and code updates. Brian Wolfgang, associate director of the PHRC, will provide a welcome over breakfast before the conference sessions. Sessions on Thursday will discuss topics such as ductwork in attics, zoning for infill and redevelopment and a full-day review of the 2015 International Residential Code update for Pennsylvania.
Up to 12 continuing education credits are available for this conference through AIA, ICC, L&I, NARI, PDH and Landscape Architecture.
For more information about the 2019 conference or to register, visit the PHRC website at www.PHRC.psu.edu.