Architecture graduate students Paul Tierman and Brian Trump have partnered with engineering graduate student McLean Echlin and natural resources and the environment graduate student Alan Bush to form a sustainable design project entitled ReFab. Through the GROCS (Grant Opportunities Collaborative Spaces) program, the project has been awarded a $10,000 grant to investigate the repurposing of discarded industrial materials available in the local waste stream. Associate Professor of Architecture Karl Daubmann will serve as their faculty advisor.

ReFab aims to identify building strategies which will minimize energy expenditure and maximize dwindling material resources by repurposing discarded prefabricated objects as building components. To achieve these ends, the team will canvas local scrap yards, conduct material research and life cycle analysis, and use parametric modeling to identify potential building strategies. The investigation is conceived as a prompt to reconsider traditional approaches to material and design, as well as to promote interdisciplinary approaches to complex problems. A website containing additional project information and updates will be available shortly.