Team Spotlight - Dr. George H. Berghorn
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EmailDr. George H. Berghorn serves as assistant professor of Construction Management; Adjunct Assistant Professor of Sustainable Wood Construction; Research Director, MassTimber @MSU. Learn more about his experience in this week's spotlight segment.
Tell us about the work you do related to mass timber:
"I do research related to how construction management process adaptation when building with mass timber, sustainability and carbon accounting, industry capacity building, understanding demand-related factors that drive mass timber adoption, and curriculum design for architecture, engineering, and construction programs"
What impact do you hope your work will have?
"I hope my work will ultimately contribute to decarbonizing the built environment, creating a paradigm shift in construction, and getting students excited about new building materials and construction techniques. I also hope that my work can improve the performance of mass timber materials and buildings through evidence-based research."
How does your Mass Timber work fit into your broader research or teaching?
"I have been a sustainability researcher since I started my PhD program at MSU in 2007. I have focused on energy efficiency and circularity of building materials, and mass timber gives me a chance to extend that work into a new context. I also teach two green building classes, and mass timber provides a great opportunity to provide real examples of building decarbonization and life cycle assessment of buildings and materials."
What do you love most about your work?
"I love that my work is always evolving. Every week seems like there's new information to learn and new challenges to address. I get to do work that impacts policy decisions, that helps designers and contractors, that excites students, and that moves us toward building better buildings. Being out on the leading edge is a lot of fun and allows me to bridge across many facets of my past education and experience. And I get to work with some of the most talented and energetic people I know. Plus every so often, I get to walk people through the MSU STEM building and watch their expressions as they take in a mass timber building for the first time - I love sharing my excitement with them! I've got the best job at MSU!"
