Copeland Building Envelope Consulting
We solve building envelope problems.
CopelandBEC recently provided technical and financial support for a team of students from the University of Minnesota competing in the national Solar Decathlon Collegiate Competition in Golden, Colorado. We’re thrilled to report that the UMN team came away with first place in the attached housing division and the grand prize of the entire residential division! Read the full results here.
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Over the past few months CopelandBEC has been working with students and faculty advisors from the University of Minnesota (UMN) Solar Decathlon team. The UMN team is competing in this nationwide event sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is a collegiate competition that prepares the next generation of building professionals to design and build high-performance, low-carbon buildings powered by renewables.
U.S. Department of Energy
Based on the UMN team’s performance in the semifinals in February, they have now advanced to compete in the finals to be held April 20–23, 2023 in Golden, Colorado at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
We’re thrilled to have been able to play a small role in the UMN team’s project and wish them the best in Golden! Below are some renderings of the project building, courtesy of the UMN team.
As we roll into spring our WuXi Biologics project in Worcester is beginning to take its final form.
The fenestration and finish cladding are in progress and we continue to make regular site visits. We’re looking ahead to assisting with some QA/QC testing of various envelope assemblies over the next several months.
While AI development has been going on for decades, it’s burst into the mainstream over the last several months. Between ChatGPT, DALL-E 2, Bing and others, consumer-facing AI tools are becoming increasingly more common—and more powerful.
I’ve been following these developments closely, especially as they relate to the firm’s goals to solve building envelope problems efficiently and effectively for our clients. If you want to read more about AI and technology applications in architecture, engineering, and construction—and keep up to date on this fast-changing field—check out my newsletter The AEC Matrix.
Last week I had the privilege of presenting at the 43rd annual Capital District Engineer’s Week. I talked about building science first principles that anyone can use to help solve their own building envelope problems, and shared a bunch of freely-available resources.
National Engineers Week was created in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers and coincided with President’s Day. This is no coincidence, since George Washington, the 1st President of the United States was a land surveyor and engineer.
Much of what I discussed is shared right here on our site at copelandbec.com/self-help.