On October 15, 2024, Prof. Hyun Woo “Chris” Lee presented findings of his research project to the Washington State Transportation Commission, focusing on the application of public-private partnerships (P3) for converting electric bus bases to support a zero-emission fleet. Funded by King County Metro through the UW Mobility Innovation Center, the project aimed to assess…

Transportation is responsible for 39% of Washington’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Strategically expanding electric vehicle charging infrastructure (EVCI) is crucial to support the electrification of this sector, as existing research consistently demonstrates a strong correlation between public EVCI availability and EV ownership at both national and municipal levels. However, reports have revealed that EVCI planning often neglects the specific needs and challenges…

The UW Campus Sustainability Fund supported investigation into the New Work of Building Operations in the Digital Age.  Students interviewed staff from across campus facilities to understand the impact of the Internet of Things technologies on facilities management and operations.  These reports summarize both the organizational and technical impacts these new technologies have on work….

Using Four-Wheel Carts in The Roofing Trade This animation is based on the real-life story of a roofing apprentice who left the industry after getting injured while overcoming a poorly-setup ramp with a material cart.  Three scientific, evidence-based solutions are provided to inform supervisors how a similar incident can be prevented through ergonomic workplace layout…

Using Four-Wheel Carts in the Roofing Trade: This animation recreates the real-life story of a roofer who ruptured his Achilles tendon while maneuvering a heavily loaded cart.  Three solutions are recommended with embedded scientific evidence showing that even a simple solution like team pulling could have prevented this injury.  The moral of the Tortoise and…

Journal of Cleaner Production 257, 120527 Abstract: Precast concrete structures (PCs) are widely used in the construction industry to reduce project delivery times and improve quality. On-time delivery of PCs is critical for successful project completion because the processes involving precast concrete are the critical paths in most cases. However, existing models for scheduling PC…

Journal of Management in Engineering 36 (3), 04020004 Abstract: This study applies empowerment theory to production planning at the level of frontline managers in a construction project. Using structural equation modeling, we investigate how empowering frontline managers impacts their planning performance. In contrast to prior studies, we find that although psychological empowerment of frontline managers…

Production Planning & Control 30 (13), 1064-1071 Abstract:  The research investigates the relationship between the production plan reliability and the project cost performance using project data in the heavy civil construction sector.  The research also investigates the attributes of a make-ready process using statistical analysis.  This study shows that production planning reliability (i.e. Per cent…

Supported by CPWR–The Center for Construction Research and Training (https://www.cpwr.com/), a UW CM research team recently completed a funded study regarding Prevention through Design (PtD) for Solar.  The team consisted of Prof. Hyun Woo “Chris” Lee (PI), Prof. John Gambatese (Co-PI, Oregon State University), and Yohan Min (UW PhD student researcher).  The study aims to…

Our annual New Frontiers in Construction Conference has been postponed. We have decided to postpone this year’s event as a precautionary measure due to the coronavirus. As we do every year, we plan to engage industry, academia, and government in meaningful conversations surrounding emerging technology, industry best practices, policy, safety, and health. Session Topics to…

DOWNLOAD ARTICLE Abstract: Building energy benchmarking policies require owners to publicly disclose their building’s energy performance. In the US, the adoption of such policies is contributing to an increased awareness among tenants and buyers and is expected to motivate the owners of less efficient buildings to invest in energy efficiency improvements. However, there is a…

DOWNLOAD ARTICLE Abstract: The soaring number of natural hazards in recent years due largely to climate change has resulted in an even higher level of investment in flood protection structures. However, such investments tend to be made in the aftermath of disasters. Very little is known about the proactive planning of flood protection investments that…

The Engineering Project Organization Society presented Prof. Carrie Dossick with the Pathfinder Award on June 27, 2019, at their annual conference in Vail, Colorado. This is the highest honor of the society, and it is in recognition of work with high impact and influence. Professor Dossick reflects, “It was very meaningful for me to get this…

Project Funded by:  Turner Construction CERC Applied Research Fellowship Faculty Advisor:  Carrie Sturts Dossick Ph.D. Canddiate:  Sadra Fardhosseini Turner Partners:  Renzo DiFuria, Sean Beatty “Digital fabrication is an emerging approach to transforming design to physical products. While a number of studies have been carried out to highlight the use of digital technologies in construction, there…

On June 6, Prof. Chris Lee presented a “Lean and Safety Manual” to AGC (Associated General Contractors) member companies at the AGC-WA Building.  Funded by the WA State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I), the manual is the final product of his research project, entitled “Develop a Lean Practice Manual for Improving the Safety of…

DOWNLOAD REPORT Authors: Enrico Rigotti, Giovanni C Migliaccio, Alberto De Marco Description: When new delivery methods are introduced in public procurement, it is customary to analyze and compare their performance against traditional methods. Many early studies compared performance of different project delivery systems, and often developed decision support tools to help owners follow a structured…

DOWNLOAD REPORT In the United States, most highway projects have been with using the traditional design-bid-build delivery system. Moving on to regular conditions assessment, maintenance of a road is then performed on the basis of the availability of funds and the priorities established for road maintenance. When maintenance funds are scarce, serviceability of roads is…

Memo Created for Port of Seattle Executive Summary The increased sophistication of networked Building Automation Systems (BAS), integration of Internet of Things (IoT) devices into new construction and legacy buildings, and the creation and maintenance of Building Information Model (BIM) data and information located within a common data environment (CDE), heightens security risk and provides…

VIEW TEXTBOOK Authors: John E Schaufelberger, Giovanni C Migliaccio Description: This revised and updated edition of Construction Equipment Management fills a gap on this subject by integrating both conceptual and hands-on quantitative knowledge on construction equipment into a process that facilitates student learning. The first six chapters summarize interdisciplinary concepts that are necessary to ground…

On Saturday our Reno competition teams returned from four big days in Reno at the ASC student competition. Our Mixed Use team earned third place and our Sustainability team won the Judges Selection award. A great learning experience for all! Mixed Use: Back row:  Mitchell Stafford, Wyatt Tetz, Henry Corrado, Joe Worley, and Bryce Mullen;…

Ahmed Aziz published and presented “The USA PPP Payment Mechanisms – the Path Toward Comprehensive Systems” at the Construction Research Congress in New Orleans, Louisiana. Bill Bender published “A Model for Collecting Replacement Cycles of Building Components: A Hybrid Approach of Indirect and Direct Estimations” in ASCE’s Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering. Carrie Dossick…

The Messy Work of Making Technology Useful for Architecture, Engineering and Construction Firms and Teams WATCH PRESENTATION VIDEO Through the study of visualizations, virtual worlds, and information exchange, our research reveals the complex connections between technology and the work of design and construction. Our studies focused on architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) teams as they…

On June 5th, IPDA, CIDCI, and the Charles Pankow Foundation released:  Integrated Project Delivery: An Action Guide for Leaders. This guide offers practical information for project leaders concerning the commencement and execution of IPD projects and represents IPD as it is currently practiced throughout the industry in Canada and the United States. This guide itself is the…

VIEW REPORT CM Associate Professor Dr. Hyun Woo “Chris” Lee and Runstad Endowed Professor of Real Estate Dr. Sofia Dermisi were awarded a College of Built Environment Innovation Collaborative Award. Launched in January 2017, the work continues through March 2018. Title: Impact of Energy Benchmarking and Disclosure on the Performance of Office Buildings Abstract: The…

DOWNLOAD REPORT In this report, we introduce rebaselining as a workflow for collecting and verifying data for existing assets based on evolving or emerging data needs or changes in the status of assets. We conducted two action research projects in two public owner organizations in the U.S. to explore the rebaselining tasks that owners need…

DOWNLOAD POWERPOINT This PowerPoint presentation was created for the WSBA Construction Law Section–Annual Dinner and CLE. Learning objectives include: BIM definition BIM history Common current uses BIM Execution Planning Contracts and Data Requirement Specifications Hands on Demonstrations

A funded research project performed by CM Faculty Dr. Chris Lee and PhD student Chung Ho, along with a collaborator from Oregon State University, was recently featured in Safety and Health Magazine. Check it out below!   http://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/16452-prevention-through-design-methods-can-make-solar-panel-installation-safer-cpwr-report

Dr. Chris Lee presented a FREE webinar on improving solar construction safety from the design process: Applying Prevention through Design (PtD) to Solar Systems in Small Buildings Solar technology has grown cheaper and more economically attractive in recent years, and a growing number of homeowners are having rooftop solar panels installed. Employees of the small…

DOWNLOAD REPORT Project cost estimating is an important part of construction project management. Traditionally, estimators use project drawings and specifications to create quantity takeoffs (QTO) and subsequently calculate sub/total costs based on their judgments and historical cost information. During the past decade, BIM practitioners in academia and industry have aimed to leverage BIM capabilities for…

DOWNLOAD REPORT This report features an applied research consortia project that analyzed the potential value of VR for operations staff training. To accomplish this task, the project team developed a Virtual Environment (VE) for the West Campus Utility Plant on the University of Washington’s Seattle campus. We used this VE to compare conventional switchgear training with…

DOWNLOAD REPORT This technical report presents a review of current Record Modeling practices in the building sector of the construction industry. Our Center for Education and Research in Construction (CERC) research team collected and reviewed Record Modeling specifications from large public and private institutional owners from across the U.S. These specification documents consisted of published…

In this episode Rick and Don interview Dr. Ken-Yu Lin, an Associate Professor at the University of Washington Construction Management Department.  Dr. Lin heads up the Construction Management Occupational Safety and Health (CMOSH) Program, a new master’s degree program offered in partnership with the Northwest Center for Occupational Safety and Health. Listen to the interview…

VIEW BOOK The Global Collaboration initiatives related in this book are examples of how educators have experimented with different mechanisms to provide science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education programmes through information and communication technologies. In many cases, these programmes have looked at the allied personal communication and collaboration skills that students of these subjects…

DOWNLOAD PAPER The construction industry has long tried to improve the efficiency of its outcomes and maximize the value to owners by improving the team integration and applying manufacturing-oriented production philosophies. We studied a successful example of the recent approach to project delivery in the industry and interviewed key project participants to understand their working…

DOWNLOAD REPORT This report is the culmination of several years of research about collaboration with BIM and integrated design and construction teams, as well as a synthesis of best practices from Skanska professionals. Our study focused on construction management and owner/developer perspectives; however, many of the collaborative techniques are relevant to all parties in an integrated…

Researchers at the Center for Education and Research in Construction supported an effort by UW and WSU to explore capital construction costs. DOWNLOAD WHITE PAPER Why do university buildings cost so much? Most capital project groups have a series of pat answers to this question, but at the UW and WSU we think it is…

VIEW ABSTRACT Associate Professor Aziz, Associate Professor Migliaccio, and PhD student Luming Shang recently published a new paper entitled: “An Investigation of the Traffic Safety Performance of PPP Transportation Projects in the United States. ” This work has been presented at various conferences. See the poster for a summary view of the research.

This research was supported through generous funding from the Mechanical Contractors Association of Western Washington, the University of Washington Royalty Research Fund, the College of Built Environments and the Departments of Construction Management and Communication. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0823338. Any opinions, findings, conclusions…

Construction Management faculty, Dr. Carrie Dossick, joins colleagues from the University of Minnesota and the University of British Columbia in releasing findings from IPDA/LCI funded study. “The overall findings are consistent with the larger body of research showing that teams using IPD and Lean are more reliable in terms of the schedule and cost and in…

NCHRP Report 787: Design Management for Transportation Construction Projects: Design-Build and Construction Manager–General Contractor Methods In the past two decades, new methods have emerged to speed up the transportation construction process. An NCHRP report offers insights into the design management process under two of these fast-track approaches—construction manager–general contractor and design-build. This article explains the…

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT In 2012/2013, CERC received a Skanska Innovation Grant to study the potential for modular prefabricated construction for mid- to high-rise residential buildings in Seattle. The current practices in the construction industry are labor-intensive and surrounded by significant risks associated with market, site and weather conditions. In addition, the construction industry has been…

VIEW BOOK This timely new book provides an international perspective on Public-Private Partnerships. Through 21 case studies, it investigates the existing and fast developing body of principles and practices from a wide range of countries and is the first book to bring together leading international academics and practitioners under a common framework that enables convenient…

VIEW REPORT CREDITS (alphabetically): Associated General Contractors of Washington Computer Aided Engineering Group, Civil Engineering Department, National Taiwan University Department of Construction Management, University of Washington Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington PRODUCTION TEAM: Project director: Dr. Ken-Yu Lin Project co-director: Dr. Giovanni Migliaccio Project assistant: Mr. Rahman Azari Project assistant:…