BCT Program Archives - Building and Construction Technology

In Memoriam: John W. Olver

March 9, 2023March 7, 2023 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

The John W. Olver Design Building - BCT's home on the Amherst campus - is not just another campus building. The beauty and warmth of the timber structure, and its environmental footprint that treads lightly, represents a visionary approach to contemporary building design in that it integrally respects the responsibility we have towards the earth we live on. None of this would have been possible without the support and environmental consciousness of Congressman John Olver, who was the prime reason that the Olver Design Building was built with Mass Timber, the only naturally renewable building material. John attended a presentation by Peggi Clouston in 2014 about Mass Timber which led to several more meetings and ultimately a meeting of the minds where our technical background combined with John’s long term efforts to support forest health, sustainable construction, and rural economies. Our conversations ultimately led to the idea of creating a timber demonstration structure which would support the UMass Amherst climate action plan and...

Spring 2023 BCT Lecture Series Announced

February 8, 2023February 8, 2023 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

The start of a new semester brings with it a new series of public lectures. We are happy to announce the four speakers mentioned below, who will present on various current topics in the built environment. All lectures are open to the public and are held on Mondays from 4:00 pm - 5:15 pm in the Olver Design Building Room 170. Zoom options will be available, too. Want to get notified when these are? Sign up for our email list. Storm Water Reuse in Large Commercial Buildings Jake Littman, Technical Principal, WSP USA 02.13.23, 4:00-5:15pm Design Building Room 170 | Free and Open to All The concept of stormwater reuse is tantalizing and is conceptually low-hanging fruit in the reduction of building environmental impacts, but what does it take to design and engineer building systems that capture, treat, and distribute stormwater in a building? In this presentation, Jack Littman will use real-world examples to bring to life the breadth, scale, and complexity inherent in stormwater reuse,...

Pre-Construction Student Team Takes Second Place in 2022 ASC Competition

November 14, 2022November 13, 2022 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

As in years past, BCT participated in the 2022 Annual Associated Schools of Construction Region 1 Student Competition in Albany, NY this past weekend with two teams. Under Prof. Romero's expert mentoring and with several months of hard work behind them, the Pre-Construction Team (shown in the image above) took home a stellar second place in the pre-construction category. This was only the third year in which our students competed in this competition. We congratulate the team members for this superb effort! The pre-construction team consisted of Patrick Koenen (Project Manager), Jocey Krooks, Erica Marschke, Cody McCreanor, Aidan McSheffrey, and Daniel Smith. The commercial construction team - which placed fifth this year - consisted of William Harmelink (Project Manager), Mark Carstairs, Jillian Contois, John McKinnon, Tali Shoham, and Hiram Tatis. Gallery Links ASC Region 1 website ...

Register Now for BCT’s Winter ’22 Online Courses

October 31, 2022 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

The BCT program is offering two online courses this winter term that are open to anyone (matriculated students as well as professionals). You can now enroll for those through the UMass University Without Walls (UWW) system. See below for details: This is an intensive course designed for those interested in pursuing the LEED Accredited Professional (AP) credential, as a part of the goal to become project managers in construction-related fields, or to upgrade existing skills and knowledge of sustainable development best practices. This course takes a deeper dive into the LEED credits, with an emphasis on knowledge required for the LEED AP exam; a valuable credential in today?s competitive job market. Structured assignments provide the opportunity to grasp real-world challenges and impacts, and to understand the dramatic increase in high performance building certifications during the last 20 years. The course content integrates tools such as customized study sheets, architectural models, practice exam questions, insights from practitioners, and other strategies designed to...

BCT CityLab: Blurring the Lines between High School, College, and Industry

October 4, 2022 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

Using the Boston Metro area as a real-world classroom, the College of Natural Sciences (CNS) this summer launched a new immersive pre-college program – the BCT CityLab – a first-ever offering at the UMass Mount Ida Campus, for high school juniors and seniors interested in exploring building construction, sustainability, engineering, architecture, and technology-related learning and career pathways. The inaugural program attracted students from five states (MA, NJ, CT, UT, IL) and three countries (Honduras, Switzerland, USA). Each participant learned about college life and earned college credits while engaging in construction site tours, hands-on fabrication projects and skills trainings. The innovative program was designed to make learning fun, and to build tangible learning pathways to access Boston’s innovation economy. In the Building Physics Module, students learned about heat transfer and thermodynamics in buildings and how construction, control, and maintenance affect the related thermal processes. Then students applied what they learned in a real-world context – the 72-acre Mount Ida campus located in...