Course catalog

Part 3 of this series will take an in-depth look at cantilever diaphragm design processes. Using calculation steps per ASCE 7 and the 2015 edition of the American Wood Council’s Special Design Provisions for Wind & Seismic (SDPWS), diaphragm force distribution will be used to illustrate diaphragm...

Wood-frame and mass timber projects, like all construction in the U.S., have long been hindered by a strong reliance on prescriptive building code limits and less willingness to use or accept performance-based fire protection engineering. However, over the past few years, a shift has occurred. ...

Lateral force resisting systems in in today's  structures are much more complex than they were several decades ago, incorporating multiple horizontal and vertical offsets in the diaphragms, multiple irregularities, and fewer lateral resisting elements. This two part presentation will provide a ...

For decades, it has been generally assumed that large industrial facilities consist of steel roof framing and tilt-up concrete walls or exterior metal panels. However, with increased awareness of the monetary and carbon costs associated with building systems and assemblies, some design and ...

In early 2016, the ICC Board of Directors approved the creation of an ad hoc committee to explore the building science of tall wood buildings with the scope being to investigate the feasibility of and take action to develop code changes for tall wood buildings. Since that time, the Tall Wood ...

The Aspen Art Museum, designed by architect Shigeru Ban, includes a long-span three-dimensional wood space-frame roof. Ban’s charge was to create a wood space frame with spans of more than 50 feet and cantilevers of 14 feet, in a structural depth of 3 feet. The space frame was to have two planes ...

The architectural and environmental success of The Bullitt Center in Seattle has made heavy timber office buildings a topic of great interest within the design community. Now, with ground broken on a new 7-story example in Minneapolis, cost-effectiveness can be added to the potential benefits ...

Mass timber represents a rapidly advancing technology that can be utilized as an alternative to steel and concrete to frame a variety of mid- and high-rise building types. This presentation provides an overview of available mass timber systems, with an emphasis on their advantages and unique ...

The Bullitt Center, a six-story heavy timber building, recently competed in Seattle, is predicted to be the world’s most energy efficient commercial building. It has been designed to last 250 years and to achieve the highest benchmark of building sustainability—Living Building Challenge™ (LBC) ...