This project proposes to bring together for the first time in the US and the country of Iraq, an engineering faculty exchange. OSU’s Civil (CE) and Construction Engineering Management (CEM) schools will be host to ~30 civil engineering faculty from 12 universities in Iraq for a special two-week hands-on seminar and cultural exchange dialogue focused on green building materials/systems design and construction protocol. The project is intended to share the research and applied expertise of OSU engineering faculty in new green building materials testing, design, and construction techniques with Iraqi engineering faculty. OSU engineering faculty will learn from Iraqi engineering faculty cultural overlays that must be integrated into applied research for successful in-field performance of green building systems design and construction. The exchange will further highlight Portland State University’s `living laboratory’ concept and University of Oregon’s advancements in solar technology and sustainable architectural design, and bring leading green building construction firms to the
forefront through in-field visits of construction sites employing green building materials and systems.

 
Areas to be covered during the faculty exchange would include:

• Green building policy development at community and national scale;

• Engineering technology and systems production: improved approaches to materials recycling; new concrete manufacturing and construction applications to increase facility life-cycle while substantially decreasing greenhouse gas emissions; new cellulosic (woody) materials production and application in green building construction; new polymer film applications in wall panel production to increase material strength of lower value and under-utilized resources; advances in high-efficiency low-pressure community hydrology systems; new applications in green chemistry in new building and infrastructure systems;

• New advances in asphalt production and use in transportation networks; new solar power technologies and “active” architectural building designs; new “smart grid” technologies;

• Green building construction and building materials manufacturing life-cycle costing; • Construction engineering management protocols used in green building systems use;

• Green building materials and construction management curriculum development at graduate level in the context of cultural framework.

ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT FOR IPOSE-IRAQ 2009