Washington is a major supplier of construction materials nationally and internationally. The construction industry within the state makes a significant contribution to Washington’s economy. The total value of construction and materials used and shipped represents well over 10% of the state’s gross domestic product.

The industry is experiencing massive changes in construction techniques and products. These changes have created significant opportunities for research that leads to economic growth. The area where the future is brightest is in the development of sustainable construction technologies. These include such things as the use of composite materials, the use of recycled contents in new products, application of non-traditional materials that have less recycled content, new construction techniques that reduce waste, and innovations in the management and scheduling of projects.

The market for sustainable construction products and processes is growing rapidly. Recent conferences on sustainable construction have attracted literally hundreds of presenters and attendees. In spite of this growth, research has lagged. The U.S. lags behind European and Asian counterparts in construction research. Sweden alone, for example, spends as much on construction research as the U.S. The domestic construction industry has a poor history both of investing in research and for developing innovative construction materials. One consequence is massive product failure. In one recent case, for example, a composite material was marketed before proper long term testing was done. Failures occurred in thousands of homes and have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in replacement costs, enormous legal costs, and untold homeowner suffering.

Our goal is to become the most important center for sustainable construction technologies in the United States. Further, we seek to become a leader in testing new materials and construction techniques. The College of Architecture and Urban Planning is already in a unique leadership position. Our faculty is already engaged in research in sustainable construction technologies. We are, for example, currently working under a contract from the City of Seattle to evaluate stress in straw bale construction systems. Another researcher is exploring the use of recycled plastics in offshore structures. Still others are examining fiber-reinforced plastics. Through the ATI, we seek to expand this effort with new faculty and interdisciplinary collaborations with units in the College of Engineering. We will develop a new undergraduate program as well as a retraining program for workers already in the field. These research, testing, and education programs will be housed in a new Northwest Center for Construction Research.

The Northwest Center for Construction Research promises significant economic benefits in a wide variety of areas. For example, our current research on straw bale construction technology could create new markets for straw grown in Washington’s rural areas. New prefabricated housing construction systems will save on housing costs and create jobs. Developments such as these also have secondary economic impacts. For example, new products that recycle waste materials at demolition sites could save up to 80% of the building content thus reducing landfill needs and reducing costs. Pollution and waste could also be reduced significantly by new generations of construction products made from recycled plastics and other materials. Smart building technologies using microchips to operate the intelligent functions of buildings can significantly improve the efficiency of mechanical systems such as heating and air conditioning, elevators, and electric lighting. Just as new industries have traditionally located near research centers, we expect that the Northwest Center for Construction Research will become a magnet for companies focusing on construction materials and systems. These possibilities have attracted the support of the Association of General Contractors, the national Association of Home Builders, and a variety of material manufacturers. We seek to use the ATI to catalyze this support into a center that will have a major economic impact on our region and make the Northwest a center for advanced research and development in construction technology.