ReDDDoT Phase 1: Planning Grant: Building Community-Driven Resilience and Empowerment through Adaptive Manufacturing Technologies

This project, titled Building Community-Driven Resilience and Empowerment through Adaptive Manufacturing Technologies (Co-DREAM Tech) aims to address the gap in access to advanced building technologies and the essential knowledge for their effective and responsible use in remote and mid-sized communities across the US. By focusing on community-driven resilience and empowerment through adaptive manufacturing technologies, the project seeks to strengthen housing resilience against perils.

Co-DREAM Tech introduces adaptive design and construction strategies informed by community needs, leveraging human-centric and context-aware technologies. This project aims to streamline construction processes and enhance community engagement in disaster prevention and mitigation efforts. The broader importance of this project lies in its potential to create scalable and adaptable solutions that can be replicated across diverse communities, including underserved and unincorporated areas within the states of Texas and New Mexico, fostering a nationwide impact on resilient technology development.

The Co-DREAM Tech project establishes a foundation for a replicable model that integrates research, education, and outreach tailored to the distinct needs of its communities of interest. The project comprises interconnected tasks that include explorative mapping, contextual identification, hybrid analysis of emerging design-build technologies, and participatory prototyping to engage communities directly in developing adaptive solutions.

This strategic approach navigates the unique challenges presented by regional natural and anthropogenic hazards and creates a scalable blueprint for the responsible design, development, and deployment of collaborative design-build technologies across the US. Pilot projects in Texas and New Mexico focus on mitigating risks from extreme events and developing resilient housing solutions.

By integrating advanced and emerging design-build technology with community feedback, the project aims to set a standard for empowering communities through informed and adaptable technological development. Additionally, the project will enrich educational curricula with practical, technology-based solutions, providing specialized training to underrepresented groups and establishing a scalable model for sustainable and ethical technology deployment.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.