WSU breaks ground for new clean tech laboratory

WSU's Clean Tech Laboratory Building site
WSU’s Clean Tech Laboratory Building site

PULLMAN, Wash. – With representatives of the university’s Board of Regents, senior administration and College of Engineering and Architecture faculty on hand, Washington State University today broke ground for the construction of a new $52.8 million, 96,000-square-foot interdisciplinary clean technology laboratory intended to house science and engineering programs and help address a variety of global and environmental challenges.

Scheduled for completion in October, 2015, the laboratory will provide research facilities for faculty and students in key interdisciplinary areas of power engineering, renewable energy, and air and water quality engineering. In addition to state-of-the-art research facilities, common support areas, specialized core laboratories, offices, and conference areas will be located in the building.

WSU Interim Provost Daniel Bernardo said the new laboratory facility, located on the Pullman campus near Grimes Way and Quad Services Rd., will be used the development of new materials that are more environmentally friendly and economically sustainable, advances in sustainable design and infrastructure, mitigation of greenhouse gases and other threats to air quality, and ways to address threats to water quality.

WSU Regents Chair Connie Niva prepares to remove some dirt from the site.
WSU Regents Chair Connie Niva prepares to remove some dirt from the site.

“This is truly a great day for us as we celebrate the official launch of the first major construction project for our college in decades,” said Candis Claiborn, dean of the WSU College of Engineering and Architecture. ”The impact of the Clean Technology Laboratory Building will be immediate and significant. The transitional research that will take place in this space will address some of society’s grand challenges around energy and environment.”

Other speakers at the groundbreaking included Chair of the WSU Board of Regents Connie Niva, Weyerhaeuser Distinguished Professor and Director of the WSU Composite Materials & Engineering Center Don Bender and Director of the WSU Center for Environmental Research, Education & Outreach Stephanie Hampton.

Also in attendance were a number of representatives from project contractor Skanska Construction, of Seattle, project architect LMN Architects, of Seattle, and project structural engineer Coughlin Porter Lundeen, Inc. of Seattle.

Contact:

Robert Strenge, WSU News, 509-335-3583, rstrenge@wsu.edu