[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 189 (Tuesday, September 30, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58795-58796]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-23279]



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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[FR-5818-N-01]


Announcement of Requirements and Registration for ``Innovation in 
Affordable Housing Student Design and Planning Competition''

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and 
Research, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the second year of the Innovation in 
Affordable Housing Student Design and Planning Competition. The 
competition requires teams of graduate students from multiple 
disciplines to submit plans in response to a real life affordable 
housing design issue. The goals of this new competition are: To 
encourage research and innovation in quality affordable housing design 
that strengthens the social and physical fabric of low and moderate-
income communities and neighborhoods, to raise practitioner and future 
practitioner capacity to produce more livable and sustainable housing 
for low and moderate-income people through disseminating best 
practices, and to foster cross-cutting team-work within the design and 
community development process.

DATES: February 20, 2015. Although teams may begin registering now, the 
competition will officially launch on December 19, 2014, when the real 
life affordable housing design issue is released. The deadline for 
phase one of the competition will be February 9, 2015. Finalists will 
be announced on February 20, 2015, and will have until April 2015, to 
prepare their presentations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Claire Desjardins, Research 
Utilization Division, Office of Policy Development and Research, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW., Room 
8110, Washington, DC 20410, telephone 202-402-5945. Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Subject of Challenge Competition

    Entrants in the Innovation in Affordable Housing Design are 
requested to present their plans for a site owned by a public housing 
authority (PHA). This presentation will include architectural designs, 
neighborhood planning, and financial plans.

Eligibility Rules for Participating in the Competition

    The competition is open to any contestant, defined as a team of 
United States citizens or permanent residents of the United States who 
are currently enrolled in a graduate level program at a university in 
the United States. The team members must represent at least three 
related academic disciplines and will be supported by a faculty 
advisor. Individuals may not participate in more than one team.
    To be eligible to win a prize under this challenge (Challenge), an 
individual or entity--
    1. Shall have registered to participate in the competition under 
the rules promulgated by HUD;
    2. Shall have complied with all the requirements under this 
section;
    3. In the case of a private entity, shall be incorporated in and 
maintain a primary place of business in the United States, and in the 
case of an individual, whether participating singly or in a group, 
shall be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States;
    4. May not be a Federal entity or Federal employee acting within 
the scope of their employment;
    5. Shall not be a HUD employee working on their applications or 
submissions during assigned duty hours;
    6. May not be a judge of the competition, or any other party 
involved with the design, production, execution, or distribution of the 
Challenge or their immediate family (spouse, parents or step-parents, 
siblings and step-siblings, and children and step-children);
    7. Federal grantees may not use Federal funds to develop challenge 
applications under the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2011 
(COMPETES Act) unless consistent with the purpose of their grant award;
    8. Federal contractors may not use Federal funds from a contract to 
develop COMPETES Act challenge applications or to fund efforts in 
support of a COMPETES Act challenge submission.
    An individual or entity shall not be ineligible because the 
individual or entity used Federal facilities or consulted with Federal 
employees during a competition if the facilities and employees are made 
available to all individuals and entities participating in the 
competition on an equitable basis.
    By participating in this Challenge, contestants agree to assume any 
and all risks and waive claims against the Federal Government and its 
related entities, except in the case of willful misconduct, for any 
injury, death, damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits, 
whether direct, indirect, or consequential, arising from participation 
in this prize contest, whether the injury, death, damage, or loss 
arises through negligence or otherwise. By participating in this 
Challenge, contestants agree to indemnify the Federal Government 
against third party claims for damages arising from or related to 
Challenge activities.
    Registration Process for Participants:
    All Contestants can register on the competition Web site, http://www.huduser.org/portal/challenge/home.html. Interested parties can also 
read all official rules and sign up to receive more information and 
competition updates on this site.
    Submission Period Begins: 12:01 a.m., EDT, December 19, 2014.
    Submission Period Ends: 11:59 p.m., EDT, February 9, 2015.
    Amount of the Prize:
    The winning team of the competition will be awarded $20,000. The 
runner-up team will be awarded $10,000. Prizes awarded under this 
competition may be subject to Federal income taxes. HUD will comply 
with the Internal Revenue Service withholding and reporting 
requirements, where applicable.
    Basis Upon Which Winner Will Be Selected:
    Submissions to the competition will be assessed by an informed jury 
of approximately five practitioners and experts in the fields of 
architecture, urban planning, affordable housing, and other relevant 
areas, in compliance with the requirements of the COMPETES Act. Jury 
members will be named after the commencement of the competition.
    The jury will make decisions based on the following criteria: 
Completeness of design, applicability, financial and economic 
viability, planning criterion, and innovation and creativity.
    Additional Information:
    The finalists will be invited to a site visit of the PHA in early 
March, with expenses paid for two team members. All rules and 
competition information and updates can be found at http://www.huduser.org/portal/challenge/home.html.
    Copyright and Intellectual Property: Upon submission, each teams 
warrants that the team members are the sole owners of the submission, 
and that the submission is wholly original to the team and does not 
infringe on any copyright or other rights of any third party of which 
the team is aware.
    Submission Rights: By participating in this Challenge, each Team 
grants to HUD an irrevocable, paid-up, royalty-free, non-exclusive 
license to post, link to, share, and display publicly on the

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Web. The Public Housing Authority may use ideas from submissions in 
their future efforts to address the affordable housing design issue.

Compliance With Rules and Contacting Contest Winners

    Finalists and the Contest Winners must comply with all terms and 
conditions of these Official Rules, and winning is contingent upon 
fulfilling all requirements herein. The initial finalists will be 
notified by email after the date of the judging.

Privacy

    Personal information provided to HUD by Contestants registering or 
filling out the submission form through huduser.org is protected by the 
Privacy Act, and is used to respond to Contestants in matters regarding 
their submission, announcements of entrants, finalists, and winners of 
the Contest. Winners are permitted to cite that they won this contest.
    General Conditions:
    HUD reserves the right to cancel, suspend, and/or modify the 
Competition, or any part of it, for any reason, at HUD's sole 
discretion.
    Participation in this competition constitutes a contestant's and 
teams full and unconditional agreement to abide by the competition's 
official rules found at http://www.huduser.org/portal/challenge/home.html.

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 3719.

    Dated: September 23, 2014.
Katherine M. O'Regan,
Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research.
[FR Doc. 2014-23279 Filed 9-29-14; 8:45 am]
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