Awards Abound for NAHB Student Chapter in this Year’s Residential Construction Competition

Awards Abound for NAHB Student Chapter in this Year’s Residential Construction Competition

Our UMass NAHB student chapter just capped off the most successful year in its history. In this year's NAHB Student Competition, in which teams have to create a proposal for a housing development, the UMass team came in 8th place. This was the highest the chapter has ever placed. In the proposal, the UMass team had to create a site plan, construction schedules and estimates, a sales and marketing strategy along with a detailed financial analysis of the project. Additionally, the UMass chapter was awarded 2nd place for the Outstanding Student Chapter Award. The NAHB Outstanding Student Chapter Award recognizes NAHB student chapters at schools that go the extra mile to engage with their local HBA, the community, and student body of their schools. The strong relationship between HBRAWM and the UMass chapter was a major factor for this award. The members of this year’s team included Hunter Apteker, George Boccelli, Hayden Cantoni, David Ibrahim, Robson Stewart, and Winnie Wang (see also image...
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BCT Summer and Fall Continuing Education Courses and Events at Mount Ida Campus in Newton Announced

BCT Summer and Fall Continuing Education Courses and Events at Mount Ida Campus in Newton Announced

BCT is again offering continuing education courses and professional-focused events at UMass Amherst's new Mount Ida Campus in Newton, MA. Extend your knowledge and expand your professional horizon with BCT’s continuing education courses. Join us for convenient after-work in-person courses or learn online at your own pace. Continuing Education Courses and Academic Programs Our upcoming courses (at Mount Ida, online, or in Amherst) are: Sustainable Building and LEED Certification (Summer 2019) Online | BCT 414 (undergraduate) Instructor: Ho-Sung Kim | 3 credits | Course details | Register Sustainable Building and LEED Certification (Summer 2019) Online | ECO 697DL (graduate) Instructor: Ho-Sung Kim | 3 credits | Course details | Register Introduction to Building Energy Modeling (Fall 2019) Mount Ida Campus | BCT 597BE Instructor: Peter Levy | 3 credits | In-Person | Course details | Register Legal Aspects of Architecture, Engineering, and the Construction Process (Fall 2019) Mount Ida Campus | BCT 597N Instructor: Steve O’Neill, Esq. | 3 credits | Hybrid (In-Person + Online) | Course details | Register Legal Aspects of Architecture, Engineering, and the Construction Process (Fall 2019) Amherst Campus | BCT 597N Instructor: Steve O’Neill, Esq. | 3 credits | Hybrid (In-Person + Online)...
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Steven J. O’Neill Lectures on Risk Management in Construction

Steven J. O’Neill Lectures on Risk Management in Construction

Steven J. O'Neill, a lawyer specializing in construction law and litigation, recently provided us with what may well be described as the one of the most important guest lectures for the professional careers of for our students. He spoke about risk management in construction and provided many examples to underscore his points. Synopsis A practical and legal overview of the risks involved in design and construction projects and how to successfully manage them. Links Presentation Slides Blog post: Risk Management – How to Avoid the Construction Wheel of Misfortune Law Offices of Steven J O'Neill...
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UMass RCMC Team Takes 11th Place at International Builders Show

UMass RCMC Team Takes 11th Place at International Builders Show

BCT's National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) student chapter worked relentlessly through the 2017 Fall semester on their submission of the Residential Construction Management Competition (RCMC) proposal. The 26-student team broke top 11 out of 35 schools in this national competition, after presenting their project at the International Builders Show (IBS) in Orlando, FL. Each year, the NAHB holds the RCMC competition, in which 2-year and 4-year college teams are given an open-ended problem statement that serves the basis of their proposal and presentation at the International Builders Show. This year’s problem statement offered a 7-lot site in Okemos, MI of which teams had to develop and assess the feasible profitability. The team decided to develop 151 houses and declared that the project would ultimately be profitable. The proposal included sections on market analysis, sales, project management, sustainability, design, finance, and estimating. The UMass team consisted of architecture, BCT, civil, real estate, and marketing majors, and each student brought unique strengths to...
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Schreyer Authors New Edition of ‘Fundamentals of Residential Construction’

Schreyer Authors New Edition of ‘Fundamentals of Residential Construction’

Alexander Schreyer, director of the building and construction technology (BCT) program, has revised and expanded “Fundamentals of Residential Construction” to produce the fourth edition of the guide to professional construction of single-family and multifamily homes. Schreyer joins Edward Allen, formerly of MIT, Yale University and the University of Oregon, and Robert Thallon of the University of Oregon, who wrote the book’s previous editions. The new edition, which is being published by John Wiley & Sons, promises to be essential to the process of learning about residential construction, according to the publisher. “Construction is a slow-changing industry, but it changes, and keeping up with that is really important,” said Schreyer. “It was really exciting to be able to join this book as one of the authors so we can keep pushing the envelope and teach about residential construction. There are lots of people that need to know about it, want to know about it, and want to be builders or build their own...
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