Our home in the Design Building provides us with several state of the art research and teaching laboratory facilities. These are:

 Wood Mechanics Laboratory – A high-head, mechanics testing lab where we fabricate and test structural components and building materials.

 Building Science Laboratory – A flexible lab for building science and building energy use and performance investigations.

 Trimble Technology Lab – A software- and advanced surveying equipment-based technology lab, established through a gift from Trimble

 BCT DesignBuild Site – An on-campus construction site that supports our DesignBuild program and other full- or mockup-scale academic construction projects.

Other Facilities

The Design Building and the university provide many facilities and resources for our students. A thorough list can be found here.

Testing Capabilities and Expertise

BCT has the capability to provide any of the testing and services mentioned below. Please contact us if you are interested in these.

Materials Science and Engineering:

  • ASTM D143 Small clear wood specimen testing
  • Full-size bending specimen testing up to approx. 16 ft.
  • Connection detail testing
  • Density, specific gravity
  • Fatique testing
  • Reliability-based analysis
  • Structural and wood forensics
  • Static bending properties of lumber and lumber composites – MOE / MOR
  • Failure Analysis and Prediction
  • Moisture Content
  • Internal Bond testing
  • Shear Property testing
  • Tension Property – Parallel and Perpendicular
  • Water Absorption / Thickness Swell
  • In-grade testing
  • Accelerated Aging testing
  • Truss component testing
  • Engineered Wood Composite Mechanics
  • Numerical Modeling
  • Statistical Size Effect
  • Plasticity Analysis

Building Systems and Energy Performance:

  • Building energy modeling
  • Blower-door testing
  • Infrared thermography

Surveying and 3D Modeling:

  • General surveying
  • Laser scanning
  • 3D building modeling
  • 3D modeling for 3D printing