Events

Upcoming events

New Home for ESBL! : UO Acoustic Research Lab Approved by Port of Portland

by | Jan 14, 2025 | , ,

January 8, 2025

Today, the Port of Portland approved a lease for the University of Oregon’s state-of-the-art acoustic research laboratory at the Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus (MTHIC) located at Terminal 2 in Portland’s Northwest industrial district. This milestone marks a significant step in the transformation of the former marine terminal into a manufacturing hub to bolster Oregon’s growing mass timber industry, create jobs, and address the region’s housing shortage.

Advancing Oregon’s Industries and Housing Solutions

“The Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus brings together leaders from all sectors to transform and grow Oregon industries. Together we are committed to creating good jobs, promoting sustainable forestry practices, and supplying housing that’s desperately needed in our region,” said Kimberly Branam, Port of Portland Chief Trade and Economic Development Officer. “The University of Oregon’s leadership in acoustics testing and on-site presence will be key to the manufacturing hub’s success.”

The Oregon Acoustic Research Laboratory (OARL), the first of its kind in North America, will serve as a research and development anchor tenant for the MTHIC. The lab is designed to perform advanced testing of sound-dampening products and construction methods, focusing on reducing sound transmission in multistory, multifamily housing units.

A Facility for Industry and Innovation

“The lab will be a cutting-edge facility capable of high-performance and high-throughput testing, benefiting both university researchers and private-sector partners,” said Anshuman “AR” Razdan, University of Oregon Vice President for Research and Innovation. “Its primary goal is to certify acoustic test results needed for code compliance, accelerating the adoption of mass timber assemblies in housing and commercial buildings.”

The OARL will also become the new home for the Energy Studies in Building Laboratory, reinforcing the University’s commitment to sustainable construction and research. Design and permitting for the facility will begin in 2025, with construction set for 2026 and completion expected in 2027.

Supporting a Growing Industry

The Port and the University of Oregon are members of the Oregon Mass Timber Coalition (OMTC), which in 2022 received a $41.4 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge. This includes $14.6 million toward developing UO’s acoustic research lab and other OMTC initiatives statewide. Additional funding of $4 million from Housing and Urban Development and $5 million from the Oregon Legislature has further supported the MTHIC’s development.

Zaugg Timber Solutions Joins the Innovation Campus

The Port Commission also approved an agreement with Zaugg Timber Solutions (ZTS), the Oregon-based arm of a Swiss company specializing in timber engineering and manufacturing. ZTS will open an interim manufacturing facility at a previously renovated warehouse on-site, setting the stage for a new mass timber modular factory. A long-term lease for the factory is expected to be approved by spring 2025.

About the Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus

The 39-acre MTHIC is a transformative project designed to:

  • Support modular housing production.
  • Advance mass timber research and development.
  • Provide workforce training and small business support.

With infrastructure improvements and soil stabilization underway, Phase 1 of the campus is set to be operational by 2028, with housing production expected to begin in early 2026.

For more information on the Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus, visit Port of Portland’s Mass Timber Page.

Grow(in)’ On! — A visioning summit to advance Agriculture in the Built Environment

by | Jun 21, 2024 | ,

The goal of this Visioning Summit is to identify critical challenges, barriers, benefits, and opportunities as we create a network of professionals to further develop building-integrated agriculture. We will work together to: 

  • identify key challenges of building-integrated agriculture;
  • explore approaches used in other cities across the globe to address these challenges; and
  • synthesize this information to identify priority research, education, and implementation areas for improving design, adoption, and economic sustainability of building-integrated agriculture.

The Visioning Summit will be organized to facilitate collaborative learning, research, education, and extension program development, and collaborative networks across disciplines and domains involved in building-integrated agriculture. The physical location of the meeting will be Portland, Oregon, but there will also be a hybrid option.

PLEASE SAVE THE DATE: September 17-19, 2024

Build Health 2023 event announced, November 3rd, 5-8PM

by | Oct 2, 2023 | , , ,

Our annual research consortium event, Build Health, is a time during which we convene a diverse transdisciplinary group from academia, industry, government, and non-profit sectors to present and share research at the intersection of health for individuals, communities, and planet. During this event, we share findings from applied research conducted during the previous year, build unconventional collaborations and target high impact research that we wish to pursue together in the coming year. Past events have fostered conversations between  practitioners ranging from surgeons, infectious disease researchers, evolutionary biologists, chemists, engineers, architects and contractors. This year,  topics will include indoor light and human health, building integrated agriculture, plants and indoor microbial health, biomimicry, Living Building Challenge retrofits, low-carbon healthcare and more!

If you would like to be part of this research consortium and attend Build Health 2023, email ihbe@uoregon.edu for more information.

Full agenda will be announced soon.

Students Collaborate to Create Taskshade: The Sustainable Solution to Office Glare

by | Jul 26, 2021 | , ,

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Do you work in a naturally-lit office? You probably have an issue with screen glare. The current fix? Put down the shades and turn on the lights, which undermines energy efficiency.

Our Director Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg and a fantastic team of University of Oregon product design students worked together to invent a solution to this design flaw, creating Taskshade.

Taskshade tackles the universal problem of glare from the sun, while not compromising the health benefits of daylight. The Taskshade is a “personal shading companion,” an intentional product that fits easily on a desk to adaptively provide shade for its user.

By helping shield sun glare, Taskshade can help prevent light-induced migraines, eye strain and fatigue, all without throwing off your natural circadian rhythms and while lowering building energy use and costs. With Taskshade, you get a healthier workspace, where the natural and built environment coexist.

Support our students and help get Taskshade into your offices, homes, and elsewhere by donating to the Taskshade Kickstarter Campaign.

To learn more, check out https://www.thetaskshade.com/.

Past events

Health + Energy Research Consortium, May 2018

by | May 16, 2018 |

TRANSFORMING THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: A RESEARCH COLLABORATION BETWEEN INDUSTRY AND UNIVERSITY The University of Oregon Health + Energy Research Consortium aims to dramatically reduce energy consumption and maximize human health by conducting research that transforms...