Ben Weil Releases Holdsworth Hall Retrofit and Renovation Report for Energy Efficiency

Proposed Holdsworth Hall Retrofit and Renovation would reduce energy usage by 63% and carbon dioxide emissions by 82% The recommendations in this report are the product of a detailed and careful examination and exploration of the building and its operations. Begun as a project in a graduate course taught by Ben Weil, Extension Assistant Professor in Building Energy, the final report was further developed and refined by Weil, and two graduate students in Building Systems, Carl Fiocchi, and Katherine McCusker. The key findings are: (1) very significant energy savings can be achieved at moderate cost, without affecting the basic architectural design, and (2) the building is a complex system, and no change can be considered in isolation. Single measures may achieve savings, but cannot maximize savings or performance without complementary changes in related systems. A final package of recommended measures, reducing the energy consumptions of Holdsworth by 63%, will define a new building system with emergent properties that make for a qualitatively different and...
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BCT Adjunct Professor, Tom Benjamin wins EPA Merit Award for Sustainable Landscape Design

Boston, MA:  At an awards ceremony held in Boston last week, Tom Benjamin, UMASS Adjunct Professor in Sustainable Landscape design was presented with an EPA Merit Award for his work on the Kent Hospital, Warwick Rhode Island.  "The early adoption of sustainable landscaping is a practical solution to satisfy stormwater compliance issues, LEED certification standards and outdoor aesthetics. These hospitals have strengthened their regional identities as healthcare providers through low impact design and innovative leadership."   For more information, visit the EPA website at http://www.epa.gov/region1/ra/ema/2012recipients.html....
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BCT Graduate Speaks at the White House

BCT Graduate Speaks at the White House

Yesterday, a White House Champions of Change event honored five young leaders for outstanding leadership on their college campuses. They were chosen by the public for projects that embody the President’s goal to win the future. As part of this group, the UMass Permaculture team was represented by Ryan Harb (shown on the right side of the image above). Ryan was the first BCT graduate student in the Green Building option of our Masters program. Congratulations from everyone at BCT for this amazing achievement! You can watch the full video on the White House web site. More information about the Permaculture team can be found on their blog....
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Peggi Clouston to speak at MIT conference

Presenting her recent research developments on wood-concrete composites and computational modeling, Peggi Clouston will be part of an international roster of renowned scientists and engineers speaking at MIT's Spring Conference on Wood in the 21st Century: Design and Preservation of Contemporary and Historic Architecture. See the list of topics and speaker line-up for the intensive two-day conference/training program: WOOD IN THE 21st CENTURY: Design and Preservation of Contemporary & Historic Architecture Saturday, March 24 – Sunday, March 25, 2012  ...
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Simi Hoque Collaborates on Building Integrated Aquaculture

Building Integrated Aquaculture: can holistic design increase system efficiencies and make indoor recirculating aquaculture more successful? Two faculty members and a post-doctoral scholar at the University of Massachusetts, Dept. of Environmental Conservation introduce the concept of Building Integrated Aquaculture (BIAq), where aquaculture processes and building systems are treated holistically as a means to harness potential synergies that maximize energy efficiency and optimize operations. The research is a collaboration between fish ecologists and building engineers, who view sustainable indoor aquaculture production as a viable solution to ensuring food security, and to the overharvesting and degradation of aquatic habitats that are threatening wild fisheries. Feature technical article by Simi Hoque (BCT), James Webb (FEC post-doctoral fellow), Andy Danylchuk (FEC). ASHRAE Journal, Vol. 54, No. 2. Feb. 2012. Pp. 16-24....
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