CONSORTIUM LAUNCH EVENT
On January 26, 2011, the Consortium was formally launched during an all-day event in downtown Portland, where key business leaders from the design and construction industry came together to explore opportunities for collaborative research. The Launch event included representatives from the Consortium's founding partners - CertainTeed/Saint-Gobain, Skanska USA, and the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry - as well as from organizations that have long been part of the Oregon BEST community with an expressed interest in interdisciplinary applied research including PoSI, ZGF Architects, Earth Advantage, and the Portland Development Commission.

The outcome of the Launch event was a consensus among attendees that the Consortium is an incredibly important and powerful model to catalyze research in the built environment. The response we have received from industry speaks volumes about the real need for this program.

Some of the presentations given during the Launch event can be downloaded at the links below:

Consortium Summary Document

Consortium Vision, Capabilities, and Operating Model (Johanna Brickman)

Lab and Project Presentations:

• Green Building Research Laboratory (GBRL), Portland State University (David Sailor)
• infraStructure Testing & Applied Research (iSTAR) Laboratory, Portland State University (Peter Dusicka)
• Green Building Materials Laboratory (GBML), Oregon State University (David Trejo)
• Green Product Development Network, University of Oregon (Jim Hutchison)
• Facade Integrated Technologies (FIT) Testing Facility, University of Oregon (Ihab Elzeyadi)
• OIT Renewable Energy Engineering, Oregon Istitute of Techology (Slobodan Petrovic)
• Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, University of Oregon ("G.Z. "Charlie" Brown)
• Principles for Addressing Intellectual Property, OUS Tech Transfer Office Directors (Brian Wall)

Oregon Sustainability Center presentation – Dennis Wilde of Gerding Edlen Developers and Lisa Petterson of SERA Architects

Industry Discussion: Facilitated dialogue on current issues, priorities, and potential projects (Facilitators: Patsy Feeman and Johanna Brickman)