BCT’s Ben Weil discusses Ice Dams on Boston.com

BCT’s Ben Weil discusses Ice Dams on Boston.com

Ben Weil, BCT's extension faculty member in building energy, was called upon recently by Boston.com to discuss the ever-popular winter topic of ice dams. The following article features his very helpful tips for avoiding this common winter nuisance: Ice dam basics: How to prevent them and avoid a lot of costly water damage For more on the topic, also check out our other article on this site: Preventing Ice Dams....
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BCT Program Wins 2015 USGBC West Branch “Green Giants” Award!

BCT Program Wins 2015 USGBC West Branch “Green Giants” Award!

The UMass Amherst Building and Construction Technology program was honored on December 1st, 2015 at a joint WMAIA/USGBC event at Hampshire College for our efforts in educating future leaders in green building and sustainability. Program director Alexander Schreyer and Associate Professor Peggi Clouston accepted the award on behalf of the BCT program. This is a biannual award and we are very proud to have received it this year. From the program description: The Green Giants program honors the work of trades people, educators, and owners/program directors who help build, teach about, envision and fund green buildings in Hampshire, Hampden, Franklin, and Berkshire counties. This program is intentionally distinct from other building awards in that it honors a wider range of participants in the sustainable building industry of our region. This is the second year of the West Branch Biannual Green Giants Awards program. This award reflects the amazing work of our faculty, adjunct faculty, and our student groups. They are all engaged on a daily...
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Weil to speak on net-zero Food Coop at Green Night

Weil to speak on net-zero Food Coop at Green Night

The Western Mass Green Consortium is hosting a presentation by board members of the Quabbin Harvest Food Coop on their path towards a net-zero energy operation. BCT faculty member, Ben Weil provided the hygothermal modeling and analysis that enabled them to insulate an antique structural masonry building that might have otherwise been too risky to insulate (due to potential increased freeze/thaw and moisture issues). As part of their Energy Auditing course, BCT students Andrew Weuling and Brian Sunnerberg worked with Weil, using infrared thermography, pressure testing, and temperature data logging to provide analyses and prescriptions that will enable the Coop to reduce its energy use for heating and cooling, recover heat from the refrigeration equipment, and run the refrigeration and freezers more efficiently. Come hear about a project that combines cutting-edge building science, renewable energy, sustainable local food systems, and community organizing and economic development. Western Mass Green Consortium’s Green Night is July 8, 2015 at the Clarion Hotel in Northampton from...
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UMass Extension Inaugurates New Program in Energy

The UMass Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (CAFE) recently showcased BCT faculty member Ben Weil's efforts with the Massachusetts Energy Extension Initiative (MAEEI), a program funded by a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources. You can read more about it here: http://ag.umass.edu/news-events/highlights/umass-extension-inaugurates-new-program-in-energy  ...
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BCT students involved in energy assessment of local food co-op

Together with BCT faculty member Ben Weil, several energy auditing BCT students participated in the project mentioned below. They conducted a thermographic scan and pressure test of the building and will be calibrating an energy model to allow the co-op to size a heating system that will primarily use waste heat from the refrigerators and the freezers. QUABBIN HARVEST ZERO NET ENERGY BUILDING GRANT February 25, 2015 The Massachusetts Pathways to Zero grant program of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources has approved the application from the North Quabbin Community Food Coop for funding a Zero Net Energy Design.  Quabbin Harvest, a community based grocery store is, by nature, an energy intensive operation.  A zero net energy building is very energy efficient produces what little energy it does consume through on-site renewable energy (over the course of a year). The task is to find ways to operate both the building and the store without any extra energy that would normally be required from traditional sources. "Massachusetts is supporting...
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