Outreach / Service Archives - Building and Construction Technology

Applications Open for Timber Faculty Workshop

May 9, 2023 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

UMass Building and Construction Technology Program and Boston architecture firm Leers Weinzapfel Associates are this summer hosting a workshop for architecture faculty that provides a thorough background on timber as a building material. See below for more information: TIMBER FACULTY WORKSHOP APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN! Monday, June 26th - Wednesday, June 28th Apply Here Applications are due May 26th, 11:59pm eastern time. Selected attendees will be notified by June 1st Venue: John W. Olver Design Building, University of Massachusetts Amherst Led by: Leers Weinzapfel Associates with support from Building and Construction Technology Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst Venue Host: Department of Architecture and Building and Construction Technology Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst Led by Tom S. Chung FAIA, Principal Leers Weinzapfel Associates and Professor of Practice in Architecture at Auburn University and Dr. Peggi Clouston, Professor of Wood Mechanics and Timber Engineering, we welcome Tenure-track faculty at accredited Architecture schools throughout the US to apply for an intensive 3-day workshop geared towards equipping faculty interested in teaching Mass Timber design. Workshop will...

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

July 15, 2022 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

Residents of western Massachusetts have long marked the start of summer by the opening of the Green River Festival. Now in its 35th year, the three-day music festival held in Greenfield, Massachusetts draws a large crowd hungry for food, fun and dancing. This year, thanks to students and professors in UMass Amherst’s Building and Construction Technology Program, as well as the collaborative efforts of the UMass Department of Architecture, the Five College Architectural Studies program, and East Branch Studio, festival-goers were able to rock out at the HyggeHaus, a modular, 350 square foot, high-performance, net zero, low carbon accessory dwelling unit that served both as an auxiliary stage and as a model of sustainable living addressing both equity and the national housing shortage. Hygge, pronounced “hyoo-guh,” is a Norwegian term that signifies “a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being.” This DesignBuild project was started begun by a group of UMass students and instructors in 2020, but the build was postponed due...

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,...

93.9 The River Interviews Design-Build Students

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

Local station 93.9 The River recently interviewed BCT student Owen Grierson, M. Arch student Megan Futscher, and BCT Adjunct Faculty Kent Hicks about this year's iteration of the Design-Build program (a collaboration between the BCT program, the Department of Architecture, Five College Architectural Studies, and East Branch Studio). The house, which is currently under construction in Chesterfield on the East Branch Studio property, will soon transform into a pop-up stage at the upcoming Green River Festival in Greenfield, MA. Listen to the story as told by our students... https://soundcloud.com/939theriver-1/the-hyggehaus-at-the-green-river-festival Links: The HyggeHaus at The Green River Festival | 93.9 & 101.5 The River (wrsi.com) Hygge House Project Blog Green River Festival ...

BCT Students Start Construction on the “Hygge House” Design-Build Project

February 22, 2022February 22, 2022 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

The Hygge House1 is a portable, 350 sq. ft, Net Zero, Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) designed and built by students in a collaborative effort between UMass Building & Construction Technology, UMass Architecture, Five College Architectural Studies, & East Branch Studio. The semester-long design-build course that encapsulates this project is led by L. Carl Fiocchi (BCT), Robert Williams (Architecture), Naomi Darling (Five Colleges) and Kent Hicks (East Branch Studio). It offers learning opportunities in high performance construction, construction practices, low load mechanical systems selection and installation, performance verification, and carbon accounting. The project as well as the course helps students understand the climate impacts of carbon in the built environment and explores ways to design and build better structures, as the inefficiency of buildings is responsible for approximately forty percent of global carbon emissions. After the Build is completed, students will have the opportunity for teaching about the building when the Hygge House is used as an Auxiliary Stage at the Green...