The Final Week!

Posted on July 23, 2024 by Design Build

We’ are excited to share the final updates from the 2024 UMass DesignBuild project! This last week has been incredibly productive, as we wrap up the “8th Sister” for its future residents!

The weather did not treat us any better as we completed our final week of the Build. The heat and humidity has been relentless all summer and continued, so we pivoted to the 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM work schedule to beat the worst of the heat on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Despite the adversity!

On the Exterior: Siding Boards were completed, Siding Battens were installed, Horizontal Bleached Cedar Siding under the front porch, donated by East Branch Studio, was installed, and Brise Soleil Screening was prefinished.

Horizontal Bleached Cedar Siding on Front Porch being installed.

On the Interior: Insulation was completed, Electrical and Mechanical odds and ends were wrapped up, Clay Plaster finish was applied to the Straw Bale Section (under the expert guidance of Mike DeSorgher of Yeoman DesignBuild) , and Hempcrete Insulation (under the tutelage of Tom Rossmassler of Hempstone) was demonstrated.

Tom Rossmassler teaching students about Hempcrete.

As this incredible journey came to an end, there is immense pride and gratitude for the hard work, dedication, and creativity demonstrated throughout the project. The “8th Sister,” designed and built in collaboration with OneHolyoke CDC, will soon help to provide affordable housing in Holyoke, showcasing how small homes can be comfortable, spacious, and beautiful.

Thank you for following this journey.

We hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as we enjoyed putting it together!

Penultimate Week — Unusual Happenings!

Posted on July 17, 2024 by Design Build

Of course, all work already begun continued and headed toward completion, i.e. Electrical Rough-in, Board and Batten Siding Install (just the Boards at this point; Battens come next), Deck Framing, and Front Porch Ceiling Framing. You have probably seen enough of those photos. 🙂

Three exciting events happened. First, Mike DeSorgher, principal, of Yeoman Design Build instructed the team on the installation of Clay Based Plaster on our Compressed Straw Bale Wall section. Scratch Coat is on and drying. Next week the Finish Coat.

Students installing Scratch Coat of Clay Plaster.

Clay Plaster on Straw Bale; Scratch Coat Applied and Drying.

Mike DeSorgher and the DB Team after the Clay Plastering.

Next was the arrival of the TimberHP Batt Insulation that will be installed in the Eighth Sister. Happily it coincided with a visit from Scott Johnston, TimberHP Sales Manager. Mr. Johnston has been instrumental in the product being donated to our project — an enormous boost to our economics.

There are 12 more Pallets to unload and move —- and install!

Finally, this week we harvested the White Ash Boards that were originally used in Professor Peggi Clouston’s Timber Grid Shell constructed in 2016. The boards showed some discoloration from their storage but were structurally undamaged. We resurfaced approximately 1400 Linear Feet of product that will be used as the perimeter skirting of the Eighth Sister, needed to conceal the Helical Peers it will be supported by as it will not have a basement. The boards will also be used in the Brise Soleil that will be installed on the East and West sides of the Front Porch. Great to use repurposed product, especially one that will sequester Carbon.

Resurfaced Grid Shell White Ash on the left. Before resurfacing on the right.

Next Week the 2024 DesignBuild Students will finish up there 8 weeks on the Build it seemed like it just began! See you in a week!

Week 7: Short Week!

Posted on July 17, 2024 by Design Build

The reason it was a short week is because last week the students voted to work on Saturday, a sixth workday for the week. The purpose of that Saturday replacing the Friday after Thursday, July 4th Holiday, allowing us all to have a four day weekend. Although last Saturday it did not seem like such a “good deal”, when Wednesday Wrap Up happened and all looked forward to four consecutive days off, it seemed like a great deal!

We had a busy three days —- see images below!

Window Frames Constructed, Primed, and Installed.

Back Deck and Front Porch Deck Framing begun on the Site Deck — in the shade!

Siding Started in Background. Team ready for the Four Day Weekend!!

There will be more about our Siding choice as we move forward. We were very fortunate to have rk MILES Building Material Supplier, our perennial envelope material benefactor of whom we are enormously grateful, connect us with BlueLinx Building Products. The Board and Batten Siding we are using is a prefinished engineered wood product produced by LP SmartSide which besides giving the 8th Sister an excellent look offers outstanding benefit to our Carbon Accounting.

Back to a Five Day Work Week next Week!

UMass Administrator’s Visit

Posted on July 8, 2024 by Design Build

This week has been full of progress and special moments as we continue to bring the “8th Sister” to life.

On Monday, we had the honor of welcoming UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes, Vice Provost Shane Conklin, and CNS Dean Michael Fox to our build site. Their visit was an exciting break from our morning routine. It was just the three of them and us! The schedule was for them to arrive first thing in the AM and stay for less than a half hour; however, we were all so engaged that almost an hour went by showing them the project and answering questions related to not just the Build itself but to the importance of the sustainable building materials we are researching/using (Straw Bale & Wood Fiber Insulation) and the impact of our program on the affordable housing crisis in Holyoke, MA.

Chancellor Reyes, Vice Provost Conklin, & Dan Fox meeting with DesignBuild Students.

After our visitors departed, we completed the Pella Window installation and then moved onto the Pella Door installation.

On the exterior, once all windows and doors were in place, students began working on fabricating window and door casings, installing strapping as attachment for the siding, installing window and door flashing, installing and flashing the rear deck and front porch ledger boards, framing overhangs on the eave ends, and installing fascia on all sides in preparation for the drip edge and rolled roofing.

Pella Windows and Doors in and Taped, Strapping Started.

On the interior, electrical continued, final truss insulation infills were completed, and “stays” to hold the TimberHP Batts in place were installed along the trusses insuring the support for the 9″ of Wood Fiber insulation that will be installed later next week.

On Thursday, we had a surprise gourmet lunch sent over by the Chancellor! While lunch is always enjoyed as a chance to take a break from the morning’s work and spend time with the team all together —- this was definitely the best DesignBuild lunch ever!

To cap off this week we had our annual 50% Completion Celebration (delayed a week because of last weeks heat wave) at Professor’s Fiocchi’s house. We wrapped up work at 3:00 PM, got cleaned up, and joined our team, faculty, friends, and parents for a festive gathering with plenty of good food —- and ice cream 8 flavors and toppings!

It was a wonderful way to reflect on our achievements and recharge for the work ahead!

Heat Wave!

Posted on June 25, 2024 by Design Build

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.

Construction Manager Ben Leinfelder keeps us on track with the White Board delineating tasks for each day.

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.