Congratulations Roger Liska

Roger Liska

Your Home Builders Association would like to wish Roger Liska, Chair and Professor of the Department of Construction Science and Management, a happy and fruitful retirement.  Dr. Liska has been a member of the faculty at Clemson University since 1983.

Clemson Wins Again!

Clemson Football may have won the National Championship, but the Clemson Construction Sciences team brought home an award as well. The National Association of Home Builders Residential Construction Management Competition Team from Clemson University recently competed in the Construction Sciences Competition. With the help and guidance of some of our members, the team won 8th place overall out of 35 teams at the competition in Orlando this January. The judges were impressed with the level of detail in the proposal and how organized the team was in their presentation. Thank you to our Home Builders Association members who helped critique and guide the students before the competition, and congratulations again to the students, our future partners in the building industry!

Workforce Development: Clemson Interns

Clemson University Construction Science and Management program students are seeking part-time internship opportunities during the 2016-2017 school year. These students are active in the Construction Science and Management Guild and the Home Builders Association Student Chapter. If you are interested in helping future home builders build their resume for their planned career, and get access to a valuable workforce for your business, please contact Professor Jason Lucas (jlucas2@clemson.edu) or Michael Dey (mdey@hbaofgreenville.com).

Todd Usher will mentor Clemson's NAHB Competition Team

Todd Usher

Todd Usher is helping a team of seven Clemson University students prepare for the National Association of Home Builders’ Student Chapters Residential Construction Management Competition (RCMC).

The students – all juniors and seniors in Clemson’s Construction Science and Management program – are competing with peers from across the country as they apply skills learned in the classroom to a real-world construction project. Each team receives a problem statement outlining an actual project for which they must produce working drawings, schedules, budgets, project management, sustainability standards, sales and marketing, and pricing/financial analysis; then, they must defend their overall proposal to a group of construction company executives.

“The Residential Construction Management Competition provides the most real-world experience these students are likely to have prior to graduation,” says Usher, president of Addison Homes, who prepped the Clemson team on sustainable construction methods and materials. “It’s a hands-on opportunity to put theory into practice.”

Having industry professionals mentor the Clemson team takes students well beyond their reference books, says Jason Lucas, assistant professor in Clemson’s department of Construction Science and Management.

“Having Todd come in and discuss his experiences provides students with a current market view and practical application of the theories we discuss in class,” Lucas says. “By going over the National Green Building Standard and ICC 700 worksheet, he took something that was abstract to them and put it into practical terms. This gives the students a real headstart getting into the RCMC project.”

The Clemson RCMC team received their problem statement Monday, Sept. 8, and will defend their proposal in front of judges – and an audience – during the International Builders’ Show in January in Las Vegas.

HBA Member, Todd Usher, Joins Clemson University's Industry Advisory Board

Todd Usher, GMB, Master CGP, Approved Professional Builder

Past President Todd Usher, GMB, Master CGP, Approved Professional Builder, has been named to the Industry Advisory Board for Clemson University’s Department of Construction Science and Management (CSM).

The CSM department supports the HBA Student Chapter at Clemson. The HBA of Greenville is the sponsoring HBA for the student chapter.

Comprised of leaders from a variety of construction-related companies throughout the Southeast, the Industry Advisory Board works to ensure a relevant academic program for CSM students by focusing on five areas: executive, alumni development, curriculum, development and facilities. Usher, president of Greenville-based Addison Homes, sits on the board’s steering committee.

“It is a privilege to support the Construction Science and Management Department,” says Usher, who earned both a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from Clemson. “I look forward to working on behalf of the school’s rigorous endeavors in teaching, research and service for the benefit of the construction industry.”

The CSM department, now in its 42nd year, is one of the four original components of the university’s College of Architecture. CSM offers both undergraduate and master’s degree programs; in collaboration with the School of Architecture and the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture, it also offers a Ph.D. program.

In addition, CSM has a research and professional development component, the Center for the Improvement of Construction Management and Processes (CICMP). For more information about Clemson’s CSM Department, visit http://www.clemson.edu/caah/csm/.


About Addison Homes:

Addison Homes builds all of its homes to rigorous ENERGY STAR®, EarthCraft House™ and/or DOE Challenge Home standards. As a leader in sustainable, high-performance building, Addison Homes has received numerous awards and recognition including the 2012 Master Certified Green Builder of the Year Award from the National Association of Home Builders; 2011 EarthCraft House™ Gold Project of the Year Award; 2011 Green Building Advocate of the Year Award from NAHB; 2011 Certified Graduate Builder of the Year Award from NAHB; 2010 Safety Award for Excellence from NAHB/Builders Mutual Insurance Company; 2010 Finalist, America’s Best Builder Award from BUILDER magazine; 2009 Builder of the Year Award from the Home Builders Association of Greenville; 2008 Individual Environmental Stewardship Award from the Upstate Chapter of the US Green Building Council; Upstate Forever’s 2008 Sustainable Communities Champion; and 2007 EarthCraft House™ Regional Builder of the Year Award. For more information, visit www.addison-homes.com.

Clemson: NAHB Student Chapter President Wins Scholarship

Lillian Wyckoff, NAHB Student Chapter President at Clemson University, earned a scholarship from the Retail Contractors Association.  The scholarship is awarded annually to a student who has declared an interest in pursuing a career in commercial construction.

Princeton: Four South Carolina Colleges on Best Value List

According to The Princeton Review, four South Carolina colleges are on their list of 150 Best Value Colleges for 2012:

• The College of Charleston
• Clemson University
• University of South Carolina
• Wofford College

View the entire list at The Princeton Review by clicking here.

Clemson's Bruce Yandle: "no meaningful recovery in state unemployment until construction revives"

In his monthly economic digest, Clemson University Economist Bruce Yandle analyzes unemployment statistics for South Carolina and the nation.  His analysis points to the fall off of employment in the state since 2008 of 78,000 jobs, resulting in a statewide unemployment rate of 10.5 percent.  He also analyzes unemployment in the construction sector, where employment fell 50,000 jobs from the peak.


"As can be seen, there is no recovery in that sector (construction). We can also see a net loss of 50,000 jobs from peak to present. Put another way, 50,000 of the 78,000 jobs lost in the state since the onset of the 2008-09 recession can be accounted for by construction losses. This suggests there will be no meaningful recovery in state employment until construction revives. The growth needed from other sectors to offset construction are just too large."

You can read Yandle's December 2011 Digest at Clemson.edu by clicking here.

Clemson ranks sixth in return on investment for graduates

Clemson University was ranked sixth by SmartMoney Magazine in a study of return on investment for graduates. The study evaluated the cost of attending the school and the return on investment after graduation.

Click here to read the report at GSA Business.

Bruce Yandle: "South Carolina's economy is getting in gear...finally"

Good news on the economy is about as hard to find as an ivory-billed woodpecker. So when there is a sighting, it needs to be shared. Here's the good news. South Carolina's economy has turned some important corners. State GDP growth, a fundamental measure of economic health, has turned positive.

Read Bruce Yandle's monthly report by clicking here.

Clemson University Introduces Tool for Tracking Abandoned Developments

Clemson University has developed a website and interactive online tool to identify and track abandoned residential construction sites. The researchers developed the website to identify potential sources of sediment pollution. To view the website, click here.

Employment in Greenville Improving Faster than State, Nation

The employment forecast for the Greenville area is improving according to a report in the Greenville News. Economists see a developing trend where unemployment in Greenville County tracks below the state and national average in 2011.

According to Bruce Yandle, Clemson University Economist, "Greenville is already doing better than the state in the recovery."

According to the Greenville News, the county's jobless rate is at 8.7 percent, below the national rate of 9.3 percent and the state rate of 10.7 percent, and dramatic improvement over the county's 11 percent unemployment rate one year ago.

Economic development and job creation in the automotive sector is widely credited with the employment improvement in the Greenville area.

Clemson Study Says Development is Consuming Trees

Clemson University has produced another report that places the blame for sprawl on development instead of on where it should be placed: over-regulation of land use by government.

Read the entire article at GSA Business by clicking here.