Fundamentals of Residential Construction, 5th Edition is Here!

I am very happy to announce that after a full year of editing, writing, photographing, reviewing, proof-reading, and then proof-reading again, the new edition of Fundamentals of Residential Construction by Allen/Schreyer/Thallon is now available! As before, it comes in an eBook version as well as a hardcover. For this edition, I was able to implement […] Read more..

Introducing my new web-project: A construction mockups archive

When I recently organized my many construction images, I realized that I had a rather large collection of pictures of various construction mockups. Those structures typically only serve a temporary purpose during construction and are then removed once a project is complete. It always seemed to me (as an educator) to be quite a waste […] Read more..

Merry Christmas, Joyful Holidays, and a Happy (and Much Better) New Year 2021!

Dear friends and colleagues, I wish you and your loved ones a peaceful and joyous holiday season, a Merry Christmas, and a healthy, happy, and successful new year 2021! After the current year turned out a bit differently than everyone expected, there is certainly much hope and some certainty that next year will be better […] Read more..

Just Added Features and Squashed Bugs

I just updated three of my most popular SketchUp extensions: Scale By (Image/Attractors/Equation) Tools, Random Tools, and Unwrap and Flatten Faces. Beyond squashing a handful of bugs, these are the most important new features: Scale By (Image/Attractors/Equation) Tools now lets you transform objects by proximity to other objects (“attractors”). Not sure what this means? Check […] Read more..

Discussing MassTimber and the Olver Design Building on MassConstruction’s Podcast

Joseph Kelly of MassConstruction.org visited our BCT program at UMass a few weeks ago for a tour of the Olver Design Building, our award-winning home at UMass. He also brought along his microphone and taped a two-part podcast with Peggi Clouston and me about the Design Building and the current wave of new MassTimber buildings. You […] Read more..

False Color @ UMass

As anyone who follows our UMass social media feeds (@UMassBCT on Twitter and Facebook) knows, this fall we (the BCT program at UMass) organized an exhibit of some of our work under the title of “False Color”. This exhibit was up in the UMass Design Building since October 8 and will be taken down tomorrow, […] Read more..