BCT Collaborates with Living Routes to bring Sustainable Design and Construction Course

by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed
Amherst, MA - A new video produced by UMASS and Living Routes Alum Kris Badertscher describes the new green building in ecovillages summer course(http://vimeo.com/30390823).  BCT Alum and UMASS Sustainability Specialist Ryan Harb developed the hands-on course which has been offered in each of the past two years.  The course combines classroom learning with hands-on experience and is typically offered over a 3 week period each summer at the Sirius Community in Shutesbury, MA.  Dr. David Damery, Director of the BCT Program acts as Faculty Sponsor for this course which is accredited through UMASS.  For more information see http://www.livingroutes.org/....
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Talk on 8/3/2011: “Sustainable Wood Construction Practices in Austria”

by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed
Join BCT for a presentation this Wednesday by Anton (Toni) Kraler. He is a visiting scholar and Architect from the University of Innsbruck, Austria with a background in Passive House design and acoustics engineering. He has also done a lot of interesting work with wood. He'll be speaking on building physics and wood construction. Who: Anton (Toni) Kraler, Asst.Prof., DI Dr. techn. Timber Engineering Unit - Institute for Structural Engineering and Materials Science University of Innsbruck - Department of Civil Engineering Sciences Title of Talk: Sustainable Wood Construction Practices in Austria Where: Holdsworth Hall, Room 105 When: 10-11am, Wednesday, August 3, 2011...
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Recent BCT graduate creates permaculture garden at UMass

Recent BCT graduate creates permaculture garden at UMass

by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is taking another groundbreaking step toward reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and combating global climate change by implementing one of the first permaculture gardens on a public university campus in the country. The scope of this project is considerable; UMass students are responsible for transforming a conventional ¼ acre grass landscape into a highly productive and low maintenance garden using no fossil fuels on-site. This involves layering over 150,000 pounds of organic matter by hand during October and November 2010. UMass Amherst Auxiliary Services fully supports and funds this project as it is part of the campus-wide Sustainability Initiative. Ryan Harb, a certified permaculture designer, has been hired as the Auxiliary Services Sustainability Specialist to design and implement the UMass Permaculture Garden with help from eight passionate and hardworking undergraduate students. Auxiliary Services will feed UMass students with the garden’s fresh, local, not-yet-certified organic produce. Ryan Harb, a certified permaculture designer and LEED Accredited Professional, received his...
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Simi Hoque and YouthBuild Holyoke are in the news

by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed
One of our faculty members, Simi Hoque, is on the news with her project with YouthBuild in Holyoke. This project provides green jobs training to low-income youth in energy efficiency, auditing and weatherization. AMHERST, Mass. A dozen young people now working toward their general educational development (GED) certificates in Holyoke are also gaining significant job skills for the green, energy-efficiency economy, thanks to community outreach efforts of the green building program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, in collaboration with nonprofits YouthBuild-Holyoke and the Center for Ecological Technology (CET), Northampton. For the full press release, follow this link: http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/newsreleases/articles/87963.php...
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