Schreyer 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...

New Book from Alexander Schreyer: Fundamentals of Residential Construction

October 6, 2022October 4, 2022 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

Director of the Building and Construction Technology program is the lead author of a new book Alexander Schreyer, director of the Building and Construction Technology program at UMass Amherst, is the lead author of the recently updated “Fundamentals of Residential Construction,” the most authoritative resource on the topic. This newest, fifth edition is thoroughly revised to reflect the industry’s latest methods, materials, technologies and green building approaches, offering the most up-to-date explanations of today’s residential construction systems and current building codes, including the International Residential Code and energy codes. This edition features entirely new materials sections on metals, plastics, and composite construction as well as expanded and updated content on ventilation, air-sealing, decks and outdoor structures. Provides a solid foundation in residential construction methods, tools, and processes Discusses the latest codes, costs, trends, and best practices in design and construction Offers timely coverage of sustainable building, energy efficiency, multifamily construction, prefabricated building components, CAD/BIM planning tools, and carbon-conscious construction Includes access to...

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 Welcomes Students (Back) to UMass for Fall 2019!

September 3, 2019September 2, 2019 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

Welcome back to UMass to all our undergrad and grad students! And welcome to all incoming students of the class of 2023! News As we start the new semester, there is some exciting news to share: We are welcoming Fernando Romero to our faculty! Fernando has been the lead project manager on many large construction projects in various countries. Being originally from Brazil, he joins our team after spending several years teaching construction in Illinois at SIUE. He will be teaching the core of our construction management curriculum, including BCT 353, 550, and 494 and will supervise ASC competitions and other student projects. You can learn more about him here. Congratulations to Peggi Clouston and Alex Schreyer on their well-deserved promotions! Dr. Clouston now holds the rank of full Professor and Mr. Schreyer is now Senior Lecturer II. Over summer, BCT students again completed many different internships in the region and we documented several of them on our Instagram feed. Below are some of those...

Clouston and Schreyer discuss Mass Timber on Mass Construction podcast

January 17, 2019February 22, 2019 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

Joseph Kelly of MassConstruction.org visited BCT last week for a tour of the Olver Design Building, our award-winning home at UMass. He also brought along his microphone and taped a podcast with Professors Clouston and Schreyer about the Design Building and the current wave of new MassTimber buildings. You can listen to the podcast embedded below (just click "play") and find the complete podcast archive (and subscribe to his series) here or on iTunes. Part 1: (Direct link) Part 2: (Direct link)...