The “8th Sister” is slowly coming together! The project’s team has been working around the clock (actually from 6:00 AM – 2:00 PM to beat the heat) to reach the goals set for this week, which has been daunting given the 100 degree weather. A bonus was that Weds was Juneteenth, so the University was closed and we had a holiday for the hottest day of the week! Despite the meteorologic adversity our drawings are being transformed into a tangible, sustainable home as we work to stay on schedule.

This week also saw the installation of the Straw Bale wall section. It has been a substantial effort, beginning with the construction of a Straw Bale Press which establishes the geometry and critical density of the post harvest straw bales, to the insertion and integration with the surrounding double two by four wall assembly in the lower section of the Bedroom “Bed Wall”. Next up — Clay Plaster render will be applied on the interior side of the straw, differentiating it from the adjacent drywall finish — photos will follow.

The effort that was put in to create this wall does not go unnoticed, it reflects our commitment to alternative building materials and the requirement to support sustainable construction practices. Perhaps what is now a progressive material and installation will become main stream as the realization that all strategies must be employed to reduce the continued and escalating accumulation of Carbon in our atmosphere.

A major highlight of the week was preparing and installing the eight windows donated by Pella, giving the house a more complete look. Guided by Professor Kent Hicks, the students were taken step by step through the entire installation process ensuring the windows were level, plumb, and square along with addressing all of the requirements of air sealing and water control. A very demanding process.!

Friday ended with a final extra thorough clean up in preparation for Chancellor Reyes visit on Monday morning.

Remember, if you’re in Amherst, we’d love for you to stop by the build site and say ‘Hi.’ We’re always excited to share our work with all who are interested.

We have some exciting updates on the 2024 UMass DesignBuild project! Our team of dedicated students has been making tremendous progress on the “8th Sister,” turning our plans into reality with hard work and dedication. This week has been particularly exciting as we’ve tackled several challenging components of the build, all while dealing with tough weather.

The week started off with completing the framing of interior partitions and finalizing small but important details on the final layout of the house.

Students also made great progress with the roof. Our primary air barrier, 1/2″ Taped Zip Sheathing was installed on the trusses, then a layer of 3″repurposed polyisocynaurate (zero carbon accounting), followed by 2 layers of 1.5″ Steico Wood Fiber (low carbon) Insulation, next the roof deck ( 5/8″ taped Zip Sheathing) and finally, a full covering of Ice & Water Shield. This was a crucial step, allowing the 8th Sister to be “dried in” and protected against the elements. Final roofing work will happen with the installation of the ventilated drip edge and the rolled roofing installation — as soon as next week.

In addition to Rothoblaas Smart Membrane, Clima Control 80 on the interior walls, we began putting up the Rothoblaas Transpir Adhesive 260, a self-adhesive Weather Resistant Barrier that we detailed as an air barrier. This was a new product for our faculty, but proved excellent for executing the connection with the Roof’s Air Barrier.protecting the home and ensuring its durability.

Finally, we ended the week with rough plumbing, we had the professionals, Ed, Kyle, and Noah from John Thomas Plumbing and Heating, take the lead and assisted as we were asked to. It was very interesting to see the installation of what will become the invisible elements of a home’s plumbing and mechanical systems and how they are assembled.

The progress made this week and the drive the students have shown was outstanding. Thanks to our collaboration with OneHolyoke CDC, our beautiful and sustainable “8th Sister” home will soon be another affordable housing option in Holyoke, MA.

If you’re in Amherst, we’d love for you to stop by the build site and say ‘hi’. We’re always excited to share our work with the community. You can find us at the corner of Olympia Drive and East Pleasant Street. You can put on a Hardhat and Safety Vest and see what we are doing up close!

The first two weeks of the Build are short ones (four days) with the Summer Session beginning on a Tuesday for the first week and the second week including the Memorial Day Holiday. The Schedule is posted on the Nelson House Cellar Door, the entrance the “DB Office”, and is reviewed constantly to see if we are on track.

The first day was spent learning about the various tools, e.g. table saw, chop saw, track saw, skill saw, jig saw, routers, drills, impact drivers, nail guns and various hand tools along with the necessary safety protocols needed to operate them,, —completely new experiences for some of the cadre.

However, it was not just learning about operating the tools, the team constructed Assembly Mockups — Roof, Wall, and two Window mockups. This exercise in real geometry was the culmination of what had been drawn in Studio.

Day two was time to set cribbing, learning to use a laser level and how to shim to level. This also became the moment when we learned that level was accompanied by three other mandates: plumb, square, and straight. A challenge to incorporate all four!

Days three and four were devoted to the Floor Diaphragm: Batter Board setup, to establish perimeter LVLs, layout and installation for main triple LVL beams and 2 x 12 floor joists, and finally installing Advantech decking. That wrapped up the week — on schedule!

Week 2 was Wall to Wall. First the two 40′ long exterior walls of the Double 2 x 4 Wall Assembly and then the two end walls. The effort was to frame them, sheath them, cut out the window and door openings, and tape the sheathing — all while on the Floor Platform and then stand them up a twelve person lift for the two long walls.

The first long wall (south) went up well, being some what lighter than the the North long wall as it has a significant void to accommodate the Straw Bale Assembly (see below) to be added later. Discretion was the better part of valor for the North long wall, so we will wait until Wall Jacks are available next week to stand that one up.

Needing to adapt — required some rearrangement of walls in order to use the Floor Platform for wall construction the end wall and shear wall construction.

Simultaneous to the Wall Framing, a team of three started building the Straw Bale Press that will be used to construct the Compressed Straw Bale Assembly that will be used on the bed wall of the Bedroom. More pictures will come along as this effort to include this innovative Agricultural Byproduct Assembly Type into the 8th Sister becomes a reality. It is of note that Wood Fiber Batt insulation will be used in our Roof Assembly voids, Wall Assembly, and Floor Assembly. A low carbon option donated by TIMBERHP of Maine.

Although a bit of a shuffle, Week 2 goals have been met.!

Always a milestone when the DesignBuild Build completes its tenure on the UMass Campus and heads to Holyoke where it will become a contributor to Affordable Housing. Follow along through pictures.

More pictures will follow as the Paper House becomes the Neighbor of the Hygge House on Dwight St.

Many thanks to Valley Crane for the move!

Week 13 marked a pivotal moment in our DesignBuild Program journey. On May 6th, we stepped into the Olver Design Building Presentation Hall, ready to showcase the work we have refined since we chose the direction of our project at the Midterm Review.

Although we did not spend as mush time practicing the presentation as we ideally would have liked, we managed to get the slides put together in the order of who would be in charge of what section of the presentation. This way, each team member got an opportunity to speak in front of our critics.

The presentation was began with the Site Team presenting the site context, location, site design, and plantings. We then moved to the Floor Plan and Elevations Team, where they walked us through the layout of the interior design and explained the how the building’s porch was added to the front of the house in order to provide protection from the elements — appreciated by our future occupants. the Interiors Team was up next, followed by the Building Sections Team. That completed the ‘build aspect’ of our project. 

Since we had the goal of making the Eighth Sister as efficient as possible, Asher Thomas took charge of the Energy Modeling Results and spoke to our critics about the International Energy Conservation Code from 2021 versus 2024. Through a series of graphs we are able to see how the evolving code has substantially improved the building energy efficiency. Last up was the Carbon Team who demonstrated totals related to CO2e emissions, carbon storage, and finally net emissions; emphasizing materials choices for the projects and the impact on net emissions that these selections, plus or minus, created.

At the conclusion of the presentation we were able to gather around the architectural model of the site with the 8th Sister in place. We reiterated to our guests how the house will interact with its surroundings, how the house will be laid out on the site, and where a potential addition could be added to the Eighth Sister.

That week ended with us submitting our final drawing sets to be reviewed and approved for the Build aspect of the DesignBuild Program. We ended our last class together on an exciting note by receiving our tools and hard hats.

We all are ready to start building the 8th Sister!