Congratulations to BCT’s Class of 2020!

Congratulations to BCT’s Class of 2020!

Congratulations to our graduating seniors in BCT’s class of 2020! We are tremendously proud of them all and we wish them all the best for their upcoming professional lives. They may be entering a changed work world, but they are well prepared for it. All the best from the BCT faculty! Everyone in BCT’s class of 2020 is now part of the ever-growing BCT Alumni community! Due to the current pandemic situation, we weren't able to take our traditional group photo at the CNS celebration (or hold our traditional CNS and departmental receptions and celebrations). Instead, we asked for portraits, which we arranged in the image shown above. However, despite a large graduating class of over 60 students, not all students were able to send us something. We will hopefully have another chance when campus reopens and UMass holds an in-person commencement (tentatively envisioned for fall). In the meantime, this image will join our other graduating class pictures here. We also had ten...
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Alison Moynihan presents her hopes for the Panelized Construction Industry

Alison Moynihan presents her hopes for the Panelized Construction Industry

Everyone wants to invent an easier, cheaper, higher quality way to build; and panelized or modularized construction looks like it has the potential to provide that dream. Unfortunately, like most inventions, it is not the idea that is powerful it is the details (and the people) that actually make it work. Panelized or modularized construction comes in hundreds of different forms and offers a lot of potential benefits, but it also has its difficulties. This is an attempt to clarify what the challenges are and what some of the current systems really offer. Alison is currently a Project Manager, Energy Consultant and Assistant Structural Designer for Foard Panel. Alison is a certified energy geek with a specialty in Structural Insulated Panels and a passion for finding practical and sustainable solutions for building design problems. Alison lives in Keene, NH in a terribly inefficient 19th century brick apartment building and dreams of knowing enough to help build a "good enough" building. Links Foard Panel Presentation...
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Congratulations to BCT’s Class of 2019!

Congratulations to BCT’s Class of 2019!

Congratulations to our graduating students in BCT’s class of 2019! We are tremendously proud of you and we wish you all the best for your upcoming professional life. You are now part of the ever-growing BCT Alumni community! As in years past, we couldn’t only take a serious photo, of course… Please note: These group shots were taken at the CNS celebration and unfortunately not all of the graduating students made it onto the picture. We also had several graduate students completing their M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Sustainable Building Systems. The image below shows most of those students and our BCT faculty at our first-ever graduate celebration. For more images, don’t forget to also check out our pictures from all of the commencement events on the BCT Facebook page. We also keep an archive of the graduating class pictures here....
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Peter Levy speaks about the role of energy modeling in building design and construction

Peter Levy speaks about the role of energy modeling in building design and construction

Peter Levy (MS, BEMP, LEED AP, CPHC), who is now co-owner of The Green Engineer Inc., a building energy consulting firm, is an alumnus of BCT's undergrad major as well as our Master's program. He spoke in his presentation about the value of building energy and daylight modeling and highlighted where those fit best into the building planning process. Interested in this topic? Peter will be teaching "Introduction to Building Energy Modeling" as a continuing education course at UMass Amherst's Mount Ida campus starting Fall 2019. More information... Synopsis An overview of the role that energy modeling plays in the design of buildings; including discussions about how energy models are used to inform design, pursue LEED (and other) certifications, procure utility incentives, and demonstrate code compliance. Additionally, how daylight modeling is used to optimize daylight opportunities, mitigate glare problems, and pursue LEED certification. https://youtu.be/54E_30owU1M Links Presentation Slides The Green Engineer ...
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BCT Alumnus Profile: Katherine McCusker (MS ’12)

BCT Alumnus Profile: Katherine McCusker (MS ’12)

Katherine McCusker turned her passion for green building into a career after she pursued our Professional Master's program in Building Systems. Katherine works now for Integrated Eco Strategy in North Adams, MA. We recently checked in with her and she provided this advice for other students: "As a BCT grad student at UMass, I worked in the Facilities Department as Green Building Intern. I got to see how campus staff were planning for and implementing green building principles on campus. My thesis work looked at how buildings on campus compared, from an energy consumption perspective -- benchmarking the EUIs. I now work for a firm in North Adams called Integrated Eco Strategy. We are green building consultants who have found a niche in the world of Living Building Challenge (LBC) projects, specifically helping project teams with the Materials Petal of the program. We've worked on a few local LBC projects: the Kern Center at Hampshire College, the Hitchcock Center for the Environment...
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