Course catalog

Thermal performance contributes to a range of important goals for most projects, including energy efficiency, comfort, durability, code compliance, structural integrity, and sustainable outcomes. Designing commercial and residential buildings with wood not only meets thermal performance ...

New provisions for Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) shear wall design are included in the 2021 Special Design Provisions for Wind and Seismic (2021 SDPWS), the culmination of many years of research and testing. This program will present a design example for a CLT shear wall, including panel capacity,...

Current methods of Force Transfer Around Openings (FTAO) analysis only allow for openings of the same height in exterior shear walls. However, today’s penchant for more openings of different sizes requires a more flexible method that allows for more complex wall layouts. The original method of ...

The best practice design for mass timber buildings is to keep the mass timber components warm and dry throughout the building’s construction and occupancy. This is achieved by effectively managing the exposure of the mass timber components and assemblies to moisture at all phases of manufacture, ...

As the height of mass timber buildings continues to grow, so too does the level of design and detailing knowledge required to achieve optimal building construction and performance. A necessary consideration for mass timber buildings of any height is vertical movement—including column shrinkage, ...

In light-frame wood buildings of three or more stories, cumulative shrinkage can be significant and have an impact on the function and performance of finishes, openings, mechanical/electrical/plumbing (MEP) systems, and structural connections. However, as more designers look to light-frame ...

This presentation will examine the recent trend towards steel-timber hybrids - as a subset of the wider trend towards mass timber - in high rise buildings. It will overview where this is happening, and what the advantages and challenges are, focusing on some of the key case studies employing such...

While mid-rise wood buildings sometimes include shaft walls made from other materials, wood shaft walls are increasingly recognized by designers as a code-compliant option – with added benefits of lower cost, faster installation, and compatibility with the rest of the wood framing. This ...

Traditionally, the role of the structural engineer on building projects has focused on structure-related tasks—such as member sizing, connection detailing, general notes, and specifications for structural components. Design criteria such as fire-resistance ratings, acoustics, and aesthetics have ...