Hammer Time: How Students, Faculty, Local Businesses and Holyoke’s Community Development Corporation Are Teaming Up to Fight the Housing Crisis

Hammer Time: How Students, Faculty, Local Businesses and Holyoke’s Community Development Corporation Are Teaming Up to Fight the Housing Crisis

They call it “Paper House”: a modular, 500-square-foot, high-performance, net zero, low carbon house designed and built by the students in UMass DesignBuild, a joint effort between the Building and Construction Technology Program and Department of Architecture at UMass Amherst and the Five College Architectural Studies program. DesignBuild is in its second year, and it seeks to address major problems, both in the educational world, and in the broader world at large. “A builder might go through their whole education and never see the work involved in designing a house,” says Carl Fiocchi, a lecturer and professional master’s program coordinator in the Building and Construction Technology Program. “The reverse is true for architects, too, who might never get any experience actually building their designs.” The DesignBuild class seeks to bridge this gap between the builders and designers with a two-semester sequence. In the spring semester, students are given a set of design parameters—the house’s overall footprint, budget, materials, etc.—and with those in place, design the...
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UMass Faculty Assumes Presidency of NEC-ISA

UMass Faculty Assumes Presidency of NEC-ISA

On 05 November 2018, Rick Harper, Extension Associate Professor, UMass Department of Environmental Conservation, became President of the New England Chapter of International Society of Arboriculture (NEC ISA), at the regional association’s annual conference in Mystic, CT.   With over 25,000 members, the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) is the world’s largest arboriculture association and is comprised of chapters from all around the globe. For over 50 years, the New England Chapter has been promoting the professional practice of arboriculture and fostering a greater awareness of the benefits of trees through ongoing programs and educational opportunities. The multi-day annual conference of the local 1000-member association offers exam preparation for arborist certification, CPR certification, and aerial rescue training, as well as lectures from world-renowned arboriculture experts. The New England Chapter also provides a generous scholarship program for students. 2018 recipients included UMass Amherst arboriculture and urban forestry student’s A.J. Elton and Jamie Lim.   In his remarks to the chapter, Harper said, “I am excited...
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Fall 2017 BCT Lecture Series

Fall 2017 BCT Lecture Series

This fall, we have lined up another semester of interesting, publicly available, free lectures. See below for details. Also note that the lectures are AIA CES approved (1 HSW, see here for details). You can find these events and import them to your calendar here: https://bct.eco.umass.edu/about-us/calendar/action~month/request_format~html/tag_ids~52/ Reposted from: https://bct.eco.umass.edu/news/fall-2017-bct-lecture-series/...
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UMass Amherst Students Build Timber Grid Shell as Pop-up Exhibition on Fine Arts Center Plaza

UMass Amherst Students Build Timber Grid Shell as Pop-up Exhibition on Fine Arts Center Plaza

After a lot of work, the timber gridshell on the Fine Arts Center plaza is now finally up and open to the public. This multidisciplinary design-build project, led by BCT faculty Peggi Clouston and supported by BCT adjunct faculty John Fabel (and many others), involved many students from across UMass. You can find more information in the official press release (below) and on the accompanying website: AMHERST, Mass. – A massive and intricate wooden dome temporarily adorning the plaza of the Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst was engineered and constructed by UMass students over two semesters as part of a wood design studio class. Known in technical circles as a timber grid shell, the structure is the end product  of a course taught by Peggi Clouston, associate professor in the building and construction technology program at the university. Thirty feet in diameter, the 3,500-pound shell rises to 11 feet at the center. The 52 longest laths in the...
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Hoque receives CNS college’s Outstanding Service/Outreach award

Hoque receives CNS college’s Outstanding Service/Outreach award

BCT faculty member Simi Hoque just received this year's CNS college's Outstanding Service/Outreach award. We congratulate her on that amazing accomplishment! From the announcement: Simi Hoque, Environmental Conservation, recently received a five-year, $508,714 NSF CAREER award to develop an integrated planning tool that will measure, evaluate and predict the impacts of energy, water and land use, waste management and transportation systems at an urban scale. The green building expert intends it to help planners and policymakers guide growth and development in a coordinated, sustainable way. Hoque, an assistant professor in the Building and Construction Technology Program, points out that cities today account for almost two-thirds of the world's primary energy demand, a figure projected to increase to three-quarters by 2030. "The current urban outlook demands a comprehensive understanding of urban sustainability policies to address climate change and energy security," she says. Read more Reposted from: http://bct.eco.umass.edu/news/hoque-receives-cns-colleges-outstanding-serviceoutreach-award/...
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