2024-2025 Academic Catalog
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
The Myers-Lawson School of Construction offers students in the College of Engineering a Bachelor of Science in Building Construction (BC). The curriculum focuses on the business and process of making, managing, assembling, and the performance of buildings, including their operations, finance, energy use, and sustainability. The BC degree options are designed to better equip construction industry professionals with the necessary tools for excellence in all phases of the built environment. The degree incorporates business, management, science, and efficiency at all levels; from planning, finance, design, estimating, procurement, scheduling, construction, and maintaining buildings necessary to the way our world will be built and lived in during the future.
Throughout their studies, students will explore all phases of a building construction project, from initial planning to final execution. Core courses cover construction means and methods, materials, cost estimating and scheduling, new technologies, project delivery, and cost and risk management. They will learn how to manage construction projects, including organization, scheduling, budgeting, and implementation. Integrative elements of leadership, professional and presentation skills, entrepreneurship, and best practice management principles are included to prepare graduates to work effectively as part of a construction team. A capstone course is a requirement for all students, providing a culminating experience to apply the concepts learned.
The BC program is accredited by the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE). Upon completion of the four-year, 122-credit-hour curriculum, students receive a Bachelor of Science in Building Construction.
Head: G. Reichard
Assistant Head: R. Ryan
Graduate Program Director: T. Bulbul
Preston and Catharine White Director: B Kleiner1
Beliveau Professor: A.P. McCoy
William E. Jamerson Professor: W.Y. Thabet
Professor: G. Reichard
Associate Professors: A. Akanmu, T. Bulbul, A.R. Pearce2, Roofigari-Esfahan, X. and L. Zhang
Assistant Professors: P. Agee, N. Gao, A. Shojaei, and R. Zhang
Collegiate Associate Professors: J. Iorio
Assistant Professor of Practice: J. Bluey, L. Lally, M. Oliver, and X. Lv
Adjunct Faculty: C. Bell, R. Clark, W. Thumm
Professors Emeritus: Y. Beliveau
Academic Advisors: G. Kinder, S. Norwood3
Footnotes:
1Construction Industry Institute Distinguished Professor
2Alumni Award for Outreach Excellence
3Provost's Award for Excellence in Advising
Exploration of career options within the built environment and construction industry. Professional development, digital literacy, which will include creation of media and “personal brand” identity. Exploration of ideas from multiple viewpoints and perspectives. Oral, written, and visual presentation of ideas such as resume development. Introduction to ethical considerations. Reflection on “Self-as-Learner.” Critical-Thinking skills as they apply to construction projects. Development of group roles as they apply to construction projects. Identification of universities resources, policies, procedures, academic and social engagement opportunities.
Introduction to construction with understanding of different market sectors, specializations, career path opportunities, industry stakeholders, and processes. Comprehension of quality assurance, control, project delivery systems, basic estimating, and scheduling. Application of communication skills to professional settings and use of basic calculations to solve construction math problems.
Role of construction drawings and specifications. Interpretation of construction documents and creation of basic project documentation. Health, safety, and environmental hazards encountered in the construction industry. Design Lab Studio (1H, 2L, 2C)
Introduction to construction with an overview of construction drawings and specifications, construction terminology, building codes and building systems, cost estimating and bidding, construction management processes, construction documents, load paths and foundations, construction health and safety, and hands-on experiential learning through lab exercises. Strategic career success factors and introduction to ethical decisions in construction management.
Overview of the important areas of contracting and the workings of the construction industry. Application of construction management theory, processes, and terminology including, definable building systems, building code interpretations, the reading and preparing of basic construction drawings and integrating construction details and project specifications to derive safe construction means and methods, equipment section, cost estimates and time schedules.
Surveying in context of the construction process, basic surveying methods, equipment, emerging technologies, topographic surveying, and application to construction layout.
Fundamentals of the construction technology and process emphasizing project management/operations, materials and methods. Utilization of industry-specific technology/software applications, techniques and sequences/project loading for the construction of buildings in compliance with Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) Divisions 00-05, 31, 32, 33. Planning, scheduling, materials cost analysis, job-appropriate equipment and labor requirements, masonry applications, concrete and formwork. Site preparation and utilization, use of construction industry-specific software, interpretation of project drawing documents. Integration of project safety and health issues. Quantity surveying for the management of construction resources, according to current principles and industry standards.
Continuation of the fundamentals of construction technology and process emphasizing materials, methods, techniques and sequences for the construction of buildings using Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) Divisions 01, 06-14, 21. Interpretation of construction details relevant to a construction project. Cost impact of building codes and inspections. Development of presentation skills using project-based learning. Planning, scheduling, labor needs, and quantity surveying for the management of construction resources. Development of safety and quality assurance plans, including building systems for fire suppression.
Introduction to the life cycle, properties, behaviors, and sustainability impacts of common construction materials including wood, insulation, asphalt, ferrous and nonferrous metals, aggregate, concrete, masonry, glass, and plastics. Theory of materials including material properties; behavior under physical, thermal, and environmental loads; and interfaces between dissimilar materials. Methods and criteria for material comparison and selection for sustainable construction. Preparation of professional written reports as a team and individually; Project management for materials selection/application.
Application of construction means, materials and methods related to quantity take-off, cost management, scheduling, resource management, document drawing, building information modeling in support of a selected project. Project cost impact of building code requirements. Emphasis on structural components of selected project.
Introduction to leadership behavior styles and their impact on construction management team performance, including analysis of how ethical behavior and individual strengths support positive relationship-building. Development of management strategies to maximize positive conflict outcomes through trust-building between construction project stakeholders. Identification of the role that implicit bias plays in decision-making within diverse project teams. Development of presentation skills for a construction audience.
Building delivery and project management improvements through the use of information technology (IT) are explored, including scheduling software, building information modeling (BIM) tools, and virtual design and construction (VDC) simulation software and their corresponding theories and concepts that integrate design and construction. Use BIM/VDC tools for graphical presentations, databases, and spreadsheets.
Identification and use of various types and sources of construction market data and the tools for analyzing construction data to support managerial decision making. Different forms of applying mathematics to the construction market for better productivity and processes across the construction industry. Develop insights to inform management and investment decisions. Use of cost-benefit analysis as applied to construction management in determining feasibility of projects.
Overview of fundamental principles explaining why structures remain stable under various loading conditions. Explores different types of structures and applied loads and analyzes both determinate and indeterminately supported structures. Calculation of shear, bending moments, deflections in beams, and buckling. Discussion of ethical impacts on user safety and hazard avoidance, in project design and construction methods, materials, etc. Explores different types of soil composition and their strength properties.
Identify and evaluate conventional construction materials, methods, building systems, and products to less-familiar, innovative technological alternatives for a specific residential construction project. Compare innovative technological alternatives with material and cost estimates. Overview of conventional materials, equipment, designs, and processes in residential construction. Investigate recent literature on emerging technologies to determine best practices. Strengthen understanding of the primary building systems in residential construction applications.
Theory and analysis methods relative to performance of envelope systems and the design and integration of mechanical and electrical building systems. Topics covered include: envelope systems and performance metrics, conceptual and technical design theory, operational principles, and maintenance issues, all necessary for determining the selection of passive and active environmental control systems within a building including: envelope system, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, and acoustical systems.
Application of construction means, materials and methods as they relate to quantity take-off, cost management, scheduling and resource management, document drawing, building information modeling in support of a selected project. Emphasis on building systems components of selected project.
Emphasis is placed on the integration and physical installation of passive and active environmental control systems including: heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, acoustics, plumbing, and fundamentals of thermal loads.
Introduction to temporary structure systems used to support construction operations. Concrete formwork, scaffolding systems, excavation shoring systems, dewatering techniques, and hoisting operations. Assessment of systems, cost, quality, safety, sustainability, and schedule impacts.
Study abroad in Spain.
Interpretation of plans and specifications, preparation of construction estimates, and cost control. Methods analysis, resource requirements, and resource costs in building systems, including system components, and in large-scale civil engineering works such as highways, bridges, and hydraulic structures.
Application of construction means, materials and methods as they relate to quantity take-off, cost management, scheduling and resource management, document drawing, building information modeling in support of a selected project. Emphasis on administrative/general contractor functions (such as project safety, budget development, and permitting) of the selected project.
Introduction to means and methods to enrich the geometric information of a building model with semantic data such as, material, structural and performance values. Concept of interoperability in architecture, engineering and construction industry. Overview of approaches to information modeling such as Standard for the Exchange of Product model data (STEP), Industry Foundation Classes (ifc), Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie) and Green Building XML (gbXML). Key concepts of object-oriented modeling and programming.
Explore working principles, design projects, & experiment with construction digital information modeling, computer numerical control (CNC), and computer aided manufacturing (CAM) processes. Fundamentals of digital prototyping. Analysis of the industry tools such as 3D scanners, 3D printers, CNC manufacturing techniques, and others, used to provide familiarity with technologies & provide understanding of their benefits & limitations.
The course deals with the planning and design of construction processes. Course topics include production systems, behavior of construction systems and workers, the relationships between subsystems in the construction process, queuing systems, process modeling and simulation. The major emphasis is on production and productivity. Production problems that typically occur in construction systems are discussed. The course also explores recent innovations in construction system design such as lean construction and agile construction.
Practical construction management methods within the built environment. Construction materials, document drawings, management activities, fundamentals of construction scheduling and planning. Quality, quantity, and cost of materials necessary to complete a construction project. Construction information technology tools. Partially duplicates BC 2014 and 2114. Pre: Junior Standing.
Fundamentals of building performance mandates for the built environment. Practical means and methods for evaluating building performance metrics within integrated design including acoustic performance, visual performance, and indoor air quality and management. Specific focus on energy resources consumed by thermal, hygrothermal, lighting, and other environmental building systems. Assessment of building energy consumption and analysis of retrofit scenarios through performance evaluation over the entire building life cycle.
Mechanisms of historical and current innovations in the residential construction industry. Theory and application within the realms of innovation, diffusion, technology, adoption, new product development, housing innovation literature, supply chain management, sustainability, information technology, commercialization, and housing policy. Innovation theories and applications to residential construction through the analysis and utilization of data-driven hypotheses typical to the industry.
Introduction to means and methods for managing the sustainability of buildings and their performance over the life cycle. Best practices for sustainable projects in the areas of planning/development, site design, project management, energy and water conservation and green building assessment tools and methods; Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system; economic analysis of green building alternatives; and implementation planning.
BIM (Building Information Modeling) concepts and tools that are critical for facility operation and maintenance. Identifying, capturing, analyzing, exporting and exchanging facility lifecycle data. Spreadsheet-based and BIM based facility management platforms. Case studies and real-life application for understanding mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems from an owner or facility manager perspective. Workflow processes for data exchange.
Application of means, methods, and strategies for delivering single and multi-family residential housing in urban and suburban contexts. Project planning, including market analysis to determine highest and best use of an identified property, marketing and sales strategies, site and product design and procurement, infrastructure requirements, zoning and government agency regulations, financial analysis and feasibility study, financing strategies, and delivery control systems. Roles of developer and project team in preparing formal proposals for a housing development to be submitted for financing. Identification and application of interfaces with project stakeholders. Overview of contemporary topics such as green development and affordable housing.
Explores advanced business and management practices and applications to vertical construction projects. Topics include scope, planning and scheduling, assemblies estimating, cash flow controls. Creation of work breakdown structure, application of concepts of assemblies estimating and general conditions to interpret insurance and contract requires along with digital construction practices.
This course explores and applies the business and construction practices related to operation of a construction company to a capstone experience. Construction operation is examined as it relates to construction, financial and personnel management. Project management topics studied in this course are applied in the corequisite lab. This course is formally designated as a writing intensive course. Formal written and edited and oral presentations are presented and critiqued by the BC faculty team, the writing resource center, students and industry professionals.
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