UC earns first place in construction student competition

The Bearcats were named national champions at the International Builders' Show in Orlando.

Students are given an existing plot of land set for an upcoming build and tasked with creating a full-scale development plan. Typically, a large residential developer sponsors the competition, giving students one of their current projects to work on. Teams receive the information at the beginning of the fall semester and have until the spring to work on their proposal and presentation. This year, the development was in Atlanta.

This year students from the College of Engineering and Applied Science and the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning competed together.

"We're given the plot of land and some environmental data, but we really have to go and find everything else ourselves like zoning and market data. It sets us up to be creative in our solutions and figure out what we think is realistic, but also what can make us stand out from other teams," said Daniel Schlegel, a construction management major and team captain. 

To prepare, the team looked at proposals from past UC teams, as well as proposals from past winners. This let them easily identify areas to improve on for this year.

Even before beginning their proposal, UC held a clear advantage: a team of interdisciplinary students, expanding expertise beyond construction management and civil engineering. In addition to construction management students, the UC team included architecture students and one urban planning student. Their involvement played a major role in standing out among competitors.

Joe Basti, another construction management student on the team, worked at Fischer Homes as a cooperative education (co-op) employee. It was there that he and Schlegel connected with the DAAP students, who were also working there on co-op, and invited them to join the team. The construction management students on the team connected with one another through UC's Construction Student Association, an organization open to all undergraduate students that focuses on various aspects of the construction industry. 

"All of these different perspectives are crucial to putting together a good development," Schlegel said. 

With just over four months to develop the proposal, the team felt like they had plenty of time. However, with classwork, extracurriculars, and the depth of the project, time was quickly ticking. The proposal was multi-layered. To complete portion x, portion y had to be dont, but only after portion z was finished. This was one of the main challenges the students faced during the project. Every piece was equally as important, ensuring the final product is detailed, comprehensive, and polished to perfection in time for competition. 

The students were responsible for every aspect of the development, end to end. For many of them, much of the work was new territory. Schlegel shared that he and other members of the team had never worked in the residential space and roughly half of the team had not competed in a competition like this before. 

"The attitude the team had was just learn, learn, learn," he said. "That was one of the best parts of the project, seeing everyone's growth over time." 

To create a solid foundation for the development, the Atlanta market and selling trends were first on the research docket. Understanding the current market was the driving force behind most of their design choices. The team had to grasp what kinds of homes would sell (or wouldn't sell). The development included five homes, all of which had to be designed within actual zoning and building standards.

Teams are allowed to pull building plans created by large-scale homebuilders for this project, if the creators are credited. Taking advantage of the expertise of all members of the team, the students decided to challenge themselves and create their plans for all five homes from scratch. 

"We were able to excel in the architectural area. Designing the homes ourselves allowed us to go above and beyond, making very targeted design choices," Schlegel said. 

Designing the homes was just the start. They also had to develop a comprehensive cost estimate for each home, a site build schedule, safety and project management plans, and marketing and sales strategies. Together, these requirements made a cross-college team especially beneficial. Schlegel shared that past teams included students from business, real-estate, and finance as well. After the proposal was submitted, the team began creating the presentation they would deliver at the competition. 

Featured image at top: A group of UC students won first place in the annual National Association of Home Builders competition. Photo/Provided