Envelope Archives - Building and Construction Technology

Visit the UMass Design-Build “HyggeHaus” this weekend at the Green River Festival

June 23, 2022October 7, 2022 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

The HyggeHaus (pronounced “hyoo-guh house”) is a UMass collaborative design-build effort between UMass Building & Construction Technology, UMass Architecture, Five College Architectural Studies, & East Branch Studio. After a full semester of building this house in Chesterfield the time has now come to show it off. As can be seen in the video timelapse below, the house was loaded on a trailer and is en route to Greenfield where it will be part of the Green River Festival in Greenfield, MA (6/24-6/26). Festival visitors can enjoy performances on its porch (where it will serve as the Green House Stage) and can sign up for tours led by our students and faculty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iYenidAaok Project Background This project was started by a group of students and instructors in 2020 but was postponed due to COVID-19. Vaccinated and itching to finish the build, we have a new group of students who will be completing the project by this summer (2022). The HyggeHaus is a modular, 350 sq. ft,...

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

March 21, 2019July 22, 2020 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

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 ...

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...

Mockups Help Students Understand Building Technologies

June 27, 2018 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

June 25, 2018 Inside the John W. Olver Design Building–itself a teaching tool for builders and architects–the Building and Construction Technology program (BCT) has built eight movable, full-scale mockups of building assemblies to help students see how modern building components go together in the real world. At home in front of a class or wheeled into public view in the Olver atrium, the mockups display the complexity of roofs, walls, windows and floors, and the intricacies, sequences and attachment methods the multiple layers of these assemblies require. Current building technology, whether commercial or residential, has grown more complex under the demands of climate change and energy costs, and it is critical to understand how each component of a building’s “envelope” responds to the physics of heat, liquid water, water vapor and air. The mockups reveal each layer in cutaway with adjacent QR codes to supply more detailed information. The mockups were built by BCT lecturer L. Carl Fiocchi in collaboration with student Alexander Okscin,...

Polymer Science’s Al Crosby gives talk about pressure-sensitive tapes

May 7, 2018July 22, 2020 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

For the last talk of our BCT Spring 2018 lecture series, Prof. Al Crosby from Polymer Science at UMass Amherst spoke about the many uses of adhesion in construction and the principles behind them. He especially focused on tapes and the mechanics of their pressure-sensitive adhesive behavior. Synopsis: Adhesives are used widely in building construction and are prone to play an increasingly important role in future construction processes and structures as new materials and new standards are established. In this presentation, I will provide a brief review of the basic structure and properties of pressure sensitive adhesives, as well as an introduction to the Geckskin™ technology, which can sustain large forces, permit easy release, and be reused without loss in performance. https://youtu.be/gX2GRfW5aj8 Links: Crosby Research Group ...