Building Materials Archives - Building and Construction Technology

Summer 2022 Sustainable Building (Online and UWW) Courses are Now Available

April 5, 2022April 6, 2022 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

Our Summer 2022 online and UWW professional-education courses and programs are now available and you can start registering for those. See below for a listing of our courses, which start either May 19 or July 11. New this year is also a three-week credited "City-Lab" summer pre-college program for High School students in Newton, MA (in-person). You can learn more about this exciting opportunity here. You can always find our current UWW courses and enroll at this link (search for BCT or ECO under “Subject”): Find Courses and Enroll Courses Construction Estimating (BCT 314) - Any successful building construction project relies on accurate and consistent cost estimates. This course provides students with the skills and background to perform construction estimating, bidding, and cost management. Lectures will cover quantity take-off from construction documents and estimate costs for material, labor, equipment, overhead, and profit. Students are required to prepare and submit a formal bid which details an estimate for a building construction project. Furthermore, students will also...

Two NE Tree Species Can Be Used in New Sustainable Building Material

February 28, 2020February 27, 2020 by Peggi Clouston Comment Closed

UMass Amherst study tested strength of mass timber panels created from eastern white pine and eastern hemlock February 27, 2020 Contact: Peggi Clouston AMHERST, Mass. – Two tree species native to the Northeast have been found to be structurally sound for use in cross-laminated timber (CLT) – a revolutionary new type of building material with sought-after sustainability characteristics, according to research by a University of Massachusetts Amherst timber engineer. The findings, published in the Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, suggest that these trees – the eastern hemlock and eastern white pine – could support local markets for CLT. The manufacturing of CLT, a type of mass timber used for wall, floor and roof construction, could create jobs, improve rural and forestry economies and support better forestry management, which is a strategy to address climate change, the research says. “This is the future – prefabricated, panelized wood,” says lead author Peggi Clouston, professor of wood mechanics and timber engineering in the School of Earth and...

Washington Post Article on MassTimber Features the Olver Design Building and BCT’s Research

December 12, 2019 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

Today, the Washington Post published an article about the rise of MassTimber buildings (which are predominantly made using glulam and cross-laminated timber). The article featured exemplary projects throughout the country with the John W. Olver Design Building at UMass as a prominent example. BCT's research into Eastern Hemlock CLT is being described in the article through interviews with Prof. Peggi Clouston and Conrado Araujo, a BCT undergrad student who has been involved in this research for the past year. Forget the log cabin. Wood buildings are climbing skyward — with pluses for the planet – Washington Post (12/12/2019)...

BCT Summer and Fall Continuing Education Courses and Events at Mount Ida Campus in Newton Announced

April 3, 2019April 3, 2019 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

BCT is again offering continuing education courses and professional-focused events at UMass Amherst's new Mount Ida Campus in Newton, MA. Extend your knowledge and expand your professional horizon with BCT’s continuing education courses. Join us for convenient after-work in-person courses or learn online at your own pace. Continuing Education Courses and Academic Programs Our upcoming courses (at Mount Ida, online, or in Amherst) are: Sustainable Building and LEED Certification (Summer 2019) Online | BCT 414 (undergraduate) Instructor: Ho-Sung Kim | 3 credits | Course details | Register Sustainable Building and LEED Certification (Summer 2019) Online | ECO 697DL (graduate) Instructor: Ho-Sung Kim | 3 credits | Course details | Register Introduction to Building Energy Modeling (Fall 2019) Mount Ida Campus | BCT 597BE Instructor: Peter Levy | 3 credits | In-Person | Course details | Register Legal Aspects of Architecture, Engineering, and the Construction Process (Fall 2019) Mount Ida Campus | BCT 597N Instructor: Steve O’Neill, Esq. | 3 credits | Hybrid (In-Person + Online) | Course details | Register Legal Aspects of Architecture, Engineering, and the Construction Process (Fall 2019) Amherst Campus | BCT 597N Instructor: Steve O’Neill, Esq. | 3 credits | Hybrid (In-Person + Online)...

Jonathan Wright of Wright Builders speaks about their Living Building Challenge projects

October 22, 2018August 11, 2020 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

In the second BCT lecture of the fall season, Jonathan Wright of Wright Builders spoke about "Building at the Edge of Sustainability" as exemplified in their various Living Building Challenge projects. In his engaging talk, he outlined the process behind the Kern Center at Hampshire College and various other buildings and also provided an outlook for the future of sustainable construction. Synopsis Mr. Wright, a graduate of Hampshire College, has been an active regional leader in sustainable design and construction since 1976. The firm he co-owns, Wright Builders, Inc., recently completed two Living Building Challenge projects (R.W. Kern Center & Hitchcock Center for the Environment) achieving the highest standard of renewable and resilient design and construction. His upcoming book Spirit of the Makers will be published by Ecotone Press in 2019. His journalism has spanned several decades, and in 2018 his poetry and photograph collection Season of Dreams joined the 2014 poetry collection, After the Rain. Links Presentation slides Wright Builders Living Building Challenge Presentation Slides https://youtu.be/qN128ZRIveo...