[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 8 (Wednesday, January 13, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1637-1638]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-00520]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5924-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 third 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 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 8, 2016. The real life affordable housing design issue 
was released on December 11, 2015. The deadline for phase one of the 
competition will be February 8, 2016. Finalists will be announced on 
February 19, 2016, and will have until April 19, 2016, to prepare their 
presentations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachelle Levitt, 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 202-402-5867. 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 
U.S. 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 in order 
to receive prize money;
    (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

[[Page 1638]]

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 could register on the competition Web site, http://www.huduser.ogov/challenge . 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 11, 2015.
    Submission Period Ends: 11:59 p.m., EDT, February 8, 2016.

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 www.huduser.gov/challenge.
    Copyright and Intellectual Property: Upon submission, each team 
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 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.gov 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 
team's full and unconditional agreement to abide by the competition's 
official rules found at http://www.huduser.gov/challenge.

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 3719

    Dated: January 5, 2016.
Katherine O'Regan,
Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research.
[FR Doc. 2016-00520 Filed 1-12-16; 8:45 am]
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