NAHB Research Center's ToolBase.org is the housing industry's best resource for technical information on building products, materials, new technologies, business management, and housing systems.

The NAHB Research Center is a full-service product commercialization company that strives to make housing more durable and affordable by helping to push new building technologies into the residential market through our integrated consulting services. With nearly 50 years of accumulated residential construction and market expertise, the Research Center provides clients with an unrivaled depth of understanding of the housing industry and access to its business leaders.

ToolBase Resources

ToolBase Resources combines product descriptions, design & construction guides, best practices, performance reports, case studies, and other resources in a way that builders and remodelers will find useful.

The Technology Inventory

Because of the huge number of housing technologies and the diversity of builders, even the best technologies do not always make a big splash when they enter the market. The Technology Inventory was created to accelerate the awareness and acceptance process.

The Technology Inventory lists over 170 technologies that demonstrate great potential for improving housing performance, but that have not been widely used or accepted. It provides builders a reliable source of information on products or processes. It lists details on each technology and contact information for the manufacturers.

Field Evaluations

Field Evaluations are used to introduce PATH technologies into the home building industry. The NAHB Research Center works with builders and remodelers to incorporate technologies in their designs for monitoring and evaluation of cost and performance. Data gathered in the field fills in the information voids on technologies, and provides valuable feedback to product manufacturers and homebuilders.

Tech Sets

Tech Sets are resources to help you implement innovations in manageable, systems-based packages. Developed by the NAHB Research Center, these Tech Sets take the guesswork out of choosing cost-effective technologies. They show you how the recommended technologies can be used together to receive benefits that are greater than the sum of the parts: the key to a systems based approach.