Alexander Schreyer’s Book, “Architectural Design with Sketchup” Released

Alexander Schreyer’s Book, “Architectural Design with Sketchup” Released

Courtesy: Amherst News & Media Schreyer’s Book on Architectural Design with SketchUp in Second Edition October 22, 2015 The second edition of  “Architectural Design with SketchUp: 3D Modeling, Extensions, BIM, Rendering, Making, and Scripting,” by Alexander C. Schreyer, director of the Building and Construction Technology program, is being released Monday, Oct. 26. Schreyer is also senior lecturer in environmental conservation and a faculty member in architecture. The book, which has become the main reference, textbook, and sourcebook for designing with SketchUp, uses step-by-step tutorials and color illustrations to teach anyone 3D modeling and show what one can achieve with Trimble SketchUp. SketchUp is a popular 3D modeling software that comes in free and professional versions and is used by students, architectural and interior designers, landscape planners, builders, engineers and makers worldwide. Coming three years after the first edition, the book features many updates and improvements but also a completely new chapter on “Making with SketchUp,” which provides instruction to translate what has been designed on the...
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Peggi Clouston Receives Grant for Cross Laminated Timber Research and Featured on WNPR

Peggi Clouston Receives Grant for Cross Laminated Timber Research and Featured on WNPR

WNPR Broadcast http://wnpr.org/post/can-creating-bigger-market-timber-help-preserve-connecticut-woodlands#stream/0   UMass Amherst study to show viability of underused wood in construction timber panel Courtesy of UMass News and Media Relations October 21, 2015 Contact: Janet Lathrop 413/545-0444 AMHERST, Mass. – A new three-year study funded by a $390,000 National Science Foundation grant to researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is expected to show that a strong new building material known as cross laminated timber (CLT) can incorporate currently underused wood species grown in the northeast United States, creating a market for local trees and opening jobs in rural communities. CLT is made from layers of dimension lumber laid crosswise, then glued and laminated together. Because it is a composite, it is forgiving of defects, which means that small-diameter and lower quality woods that are abundant in the Northeast offer real potential as source materials for CLT, says lead investigator Peggi Clouston, associate professor of environmental conservation at UMass Amherst. One of her study goals is to show the structural viability of using underused, low-value...
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Graduate Student, Jared Starr Investigates Recycling Rates in Video

Graduate Student, Jared Starr Investigates Recycling Rates in Video

Recycling The Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) research deals with the disposal side of our consumer economy. Specifically, Jared analyzes complex “waste” management systems in order to quantify and optimize their triple bottom line (TBL). In Starr and Nicolson 2015, the conducted the longest and most comprehensive analysis of factors influencing recycling rates within a state. Using Commonwealth of Massachusetts MSW data for 2000-2012, they investigated how various waste management policies, program designs, and socioeconomic factors influence recycling rates over time. This study provides practical guidance to municipal officials and policymakers looking to increase recycling rates. More recently, Jared started investigating and modeling the UMass Amherst waste system as an adviser to a team of staff and undergraduates. By modeling MSW tonnage, cost, and CO2 impacts of different scenarios they've creating a more comprehensive decision making framework. They expect to publish their results and share their model later this year....
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New UMass Design Building Featured

New UMass Design Building Featured

http://thesuffolkblog.com/2015/10/09/wood-construction-resurges-at-umass/ "The $52 million Design Building is believed to be the first of its size in the U.S. to feature an innovative wood system known as cross-laminated timber, or CLTs, which are used as part of a composite wood-concrete floor assembly. When the structure is complete in 2017 it will provide major ammunition for proponents of modern wood construction who are quick to note that CLT slabs make the 2x4s in your house look like toothpicks. It will be to wood what the Home Insurance Building was to steel. “The UMass Design Building will act as an ambassador,” Malczyk, who is consulting on the project, said. “People will be able to walk in the building and have this moment where they realize ‘Wow, wood doesn’t have to be like in our houses.’” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENOuRscC6H0      ...
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Bethany Bradley on Fighting Scourge of Cheatgrass

Bethany Bradley on Fighting Scourge of Cheatgrass

Click here for New York Times full story Researcher Finds Way to Fight Cheatgrass, a Western Scourge By CHRISTOPHER SOLOMON OCT. 5, 2015   Cheatgrass could vie for the title of the most successful invasive species in North America. The weed lives in every state, and is the dominant plant on more than 154,000 square miles of the West, by one estimate. When it turns green in the spring, “you can actually see it from space,” said Bethany Bradley, an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, who studies biogeography, the spatial distribution of species. The sins of cheatgrass are many. Its tenacious seeds lodge in the eyes and gums of livestock (not to mention the ears of pets and the socks of hikers). Even a moderate infestation in a wheat field can reduce yields by up to half. Areas in the Santa Fe National Forest in New Mexico had major fires in 1996 and 2011. As Fires Grow, a New Landscape Appears in the...
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