EUGENE, Ore. -- Various programs at the University of Oregon are receiving $16.6 million in funds from the Build Back Better Act to improve the quality of their research.

$14.6 million of that money will go towards building an acoustic lab in the Port of Portland. It will test how sound travels through residential buildings built with mass timber and help new construction meet building codes. Mass timber is a type wood building material comprised of multiple panels of wood nailed or glued together.

Professor Judith Sheine with UO says there are only a few facilities in North America with this capability, and the West Coast seriously needs it.

“Mass timber has enormous potential in the state for economic development, environmental stewardship and social equity,” Sheine said.

The remaining $2 million is for prototypes of two other types of construction. One is small houses that are two-story, 760 square-foot homes made from mass plywood that is glued or nailed together in a similar fashion to mass timber. The other is a project to retrofit mass plywood panels onto existing structures for energy efficiency and seismic resilience.

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