Previous studies on construction hazard prevention have shown that almost 50% of construction fatalities and accidents can be linked to decisions made during the design process. To address the influence of upstream design decisions on worker safety, researchers have developed the Prevention through Design (PtD) concept to proactively eliminate safety hazards in the workplace. In response, CBE researchers, Hyun Woo “Chris” Lee, PD Koon Endowed Associate Professor in Construction Management and Dr. Laura Osburn, Senior Research Scientist in Construction Management,…
Research Theme: Safety & Health & Wellbeing
Scholarship on supporting human safety, health and well-being, from the individual, to built environment industries, to the region
2019 UW Resilience and Compassion Initiatives Seed Grant Summary Reports
The 2019 UW Resilience and Compassion Initiatives Seed Grant supported a project called “Raising Resilience: Connecting Compassion + Well-Being with Pedagogy in the College of Built Environments”. This grant allowed a group of CBE faculty to collaboratively explore their pedagogy and support for students through the lenses of resilience and well-being, systems thinking, and biophilic design. Seed Grant leads include Julie Johnson, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture and Brooke Sullivan, Landscape Architecture Lecturer. The project sought to continue the work…
Sensol Systems to participate in the National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps program
Sensol Systems, a startup founded in 2020 by Janie Bube–a recent UW Masters of Landscape Architecture graduate–along with other students at University of Washington, was recently awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) award to participate in the I-Corps program. This NSF program uses experiential education to help researchers gain valuable insight into entrepreneurship, starting a business or industry requirements and challenges. The curriculum integrates scientific inquiry and industrial discovery in an inclusive, data-driven culture driven by rigor, relevance, and evidence….
Inaugural CBE Inspire Fund awardees announced
This winter quarter the College of Built Environments launched its new CBE Inspire Fund. Designed to support CBE research activities for which a relatively small amount of support can be transformative, in mid-February the college awarded the first 6 grants. Projects supported by the CBE Inspire Fund hail from 4 departments within the college and tackling topics such as food systems, mapping cultural spaces, and energy justice. The CBE Inspire Fund is the first research funding opportunity offered by the…
SHARE Lab produces ergonomics best practice booklet and training videos
The SHARE Lab (Safety and Health Advancement through Research and Education) has produced two ergonomics best practice booklets and two training videos on the use of 4-wheel carts in the roofing trade. Housed in the Department of Construction Management, the mission of the SHARE Lab is to promote construction safety and health through evidence-based innovative research, education, and practices. For more information, please contact Contact Dr. Ken-Yu Lin, Associate Professor, if you’d like access to the guide book or the…
The Environmental Psychology of COVID-19 with Professor Lynne Manzo
We are living through a new reality, adjusting to life during a global pandemic. We are all changing our routines, our travel plans, our holiday traditions. For those of us who have been able to keep our jobs through this economic crash, we have had to adapt to a new working environment, working from our homes. Some of us have transformed our homes to accommodate remote learning, and others have moved to be closer to family. Whatever your current living…
Julie Howe
Housing models and their impact on mental health
Elizabeth Umbanhowar
Through my studies, I am undertaking a critical investigation of the historic and future role of digital visual culture and technology in mediating, navigating and shaping personal and social cognition and connectivity in our contemporary urbanscapes. While design professions are actively adopting new digital technologies into the classroom and workplace, there has been less research on the role of mobile technologies and Virtual and Augmented Reality on user/stakeholder experience. I am collaborating with allied disciplines to establish methods to evaluate and potentially develop digital mobile technologies that will measure and enhance experience, engagement and connection to outdoor or public places. Ultimately I am interested in: how the use of and access to evolving digital mobile technologies effect human health and well-being; what are impacts on individual and collective rights to occupy, define, and participate in public places; and what are the implications for the teaching and practice of landscape architecture?
Tsunami Vertical Evacuation Project (Project SafeHaven)
Our Washington Pacific Coast is vulnerable to tsunami waves. These waves will wash over coastal communities that do not have ready access to high ground. The Institute for Hazards Mitigation Planning and Research has been working with these at-risk communities at the direction or the State Emergency Management Division to identify locations for vertical tsunami refuges. Currently, the Institute is applying an evacuation model developed by the USGS to corroborated locations suggested by residents. These suggested locations were the product of Institute research conduct over the past 8 years and which lead to the construction of structures in Tokeland and Westport, Washington.
Renée Cheng: Change Agency, Value Change
Collisions are violent. The greater the mass or velocity of objects, the greater the energy released. The crises of the pandemic, economic crash, and social justice outcries are massive and still accelerating. In the wake of their collision, they will reveal new questions for our profession—and newfound energy to address them. Previously, architects pondering whether a new building was worthy of adding to our canon would ask “What does it look like?” and maybe “How well does it function?”…