April 3, 2014

WSU's new Paccar lab building to do green technology research

Image courtesy of WSU [enlarge]

Washington State University has started construction on a 96,000-square-foot building for the College of Engineering and Architecture at 2001 E. Grimes Way in Pullman.

WSU President Elson S. Floyd said the building will be named the Paccar Environmental Technology Building in honor of a major donation by the Bellevue-based company, which makes trucks under the Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF nameplates. The amount of the donation wasn't disclosed.

LMN Architects designed it to achieve LEED gold certification. Skanska is building it on a former parking lot.

WSU says this will be the cornerstone of a new engineering district in the central area of the Pullman campus.

When finished in October 2015, the building will house programs involving renewable materials, sustainable infrastructure, water quality, the environment and atmospheric research. There will be laboratories, faculty office space, an auditorium and student lounges.

“Paccar's generosity will enable university researchers to address energy efficient design and infrastructure, and air and water quality issues,” said Candis Claiborn, dean of the College of Engineering and Architecture, in a release. “The new shared common space for interdisciplinary research will create a synergy to drive innovation and find new solutions to complex problems that can be transferred to industry for commercialization.”

The building will be constructed using renewable materials and technologies developed at WSU, including wood composites, recycled concrete and pervious pavement.