June 7, 2017
What can we do better? Convening the best minds to re-imaging capital construction at UW and WSU (2016)
Researchers at the Center for Education and Research in Construction supported an effort by UW and WSU to explore capital construction costs.
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 time to give this question the full exploration it deserves. We owe it to the taxpayers, government officials, donors, faculty, and students. So in the best academic tradition, we pulled together the brightest minds in the industry to help us find ways to deliver more value with our capital projects. By questioning both what we build and how we build, we hope to uncover ways that we as owners can create an environment that leads to significantly higher value projects. As a result of this effort, we anticipate improving:
- the way we solicit and procure design and construction services,
- the way we define and set up projects,
- the way we think about the programming and design process,
- the establishment of project governance and decision making,
- how teams are created and encouraged to do their best work.
