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ICC
Publishes WFCM Workbook
In a cooperative
agreement with AWC, the International Code Council (ICC) has published
Design of Wood Frame Buildings for High Wind, Snow, and Seismic
Loadings (WFCM Workbook). The WFCM Workbook provides
a design example, typical checklist, and background information
related to design of a wood frame structure in accordance with AF&PA’s
Wood Frame Construction Manual (WFCM) for One- and Two- Family
Dwellings, 2001 Edition.
The design example uses plans from a two-story residence as the
basis for a structural design to resist wind, seismic and snow loads.
Reaction to the WFCM and WFCM Workbook has been
extremely positive. “I want to master the WFCM. I’m convinced
it is the ‘holy grail’ to allow me to do custom residential in a
timely manner,” says Bill Polhemus, Polhemus Engineering Company,
Katy, TX. “Very nicely done.”
To further assist designers in “mastering the WFCM,” AWC
has developed a full-day seminar called the Design of Wood Frame
Buildings Workshop (AWC207). This 7-hour course, which provides
valuable continuing education units (CEU), gives an overview of
provisions for the 2001 NDS® and 2001 WFCM.
Participants then apply their knowledge through the detailed structural
design of a twostory house subjected to 120 mph wind and seismic
design category D1 loads (actual load conditions near Charleston,
SC); including the design of all components, diaphragms, shear walls,
and connections.
For more information regarding the WFCM Workbook and Seminar,
visit AWC’s website.
Summary
of Florida’s Hurricane Season To Date
For the first time in 118 years a state has been hit by four different
hurricanes in a single tropical storm season. Between Aug. 13, when
Hurricane Charley came ashore along the southwestern coastline of
Florida, and Sept. 26, when Hurricane Jeanne arrived, four major
storms hit the state.
Sources at the Insurance Information Institute have been quoted
as saying that more than $15 billion in claims will be paid as a
result of damage from hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Ivan. Although
damage assessment for Hurricane Jeanne isn’t complete, the Institute
estimates the claims from that storm will increase the total by
$4–10 billion. These figures don’t include claims for damage due
to flooding.
A special industry damage assessment for Charley is available on
the AWC website. The purpose of this summary is to review the impact
of the other three storms.
Hurricane Frances
Frances struck the eastern coast of Florida on Sept. 5, coming ashore
near Sewall’s Point as a Category 2 storm. The National Climatic
Data Center reports that the storm had maximum sustained wind speeds
of 105 mph at the time that it struck the state. After taking a
northwestern track, the storm emerged in the Gulf of Mexico, making
landfall again on Sept. 6 near St. Marks, Florida, as a tropical
storm.
Hurricane Ivan
A Category 3 storm with reported maximum sustained winds of 130
mph, Ivan struck land near Gulf Shores, AL. Note the size of this
storm, compared to Frances and Charley in the figure right.
Hurricane Jeanne
Jeanne was a Category 3 storm, coming ashore just south of the point
at which Frances hit Florida, tracking closely along the same path
and then turning north. It didn’t, however, move out over the Gulf
and regain strength as Frances did.
Damage seen in Frances and Jeanne paralleled what was seen with
Hurricane Charley. Newer structures fared better than older ones,
particularly manufactured housing. With Hurricane Ivan, however,
overall damage appears to be greater. At this point, it is difficult
to determine whether the widespread damage was from winds, storm
surge, waves, or tornados generated by the hurricane.
Although Ivan struck a wide area of the Gulf coast, portions of
Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana west of the storm’s landfall
experienced flooding and minor wind damage to buildings. From Gulf
Shores eastward, damage was extensive along the shore. A storm surge
of between 10 and 16 feet was reported, offshore buoys measured
waves as high as 50 feet, and a large number of tornados were reported
after Ivan came ashore.
For more information on the industry’s assessments of this hurricane
season, contact Dr. Jeffrey Stone at 727/367-0531 or Dennis Pitts
at 972/690-0242.
Hurricane
Ivan’s Tornado Bands Wreak Havoc in Northern Virginia
Friday, Sept. 17, 2004, saw eastern bands of the remnants of Hurricane
Ivan packed with tornados pass over Washington, DC metropolitan
communities, leaving a trail of demolition in their wake. Major
structural damage was noted from La Plata, MD, to Stephens City,
VA. The Stephens City tornado was interesting based on damage it
caused to agricultural wood buildings. AWC’s Dr. Robert Taylor lives
in the area and provided a damage assessment of one such event.
Dr. Taylor reported: “The funnel took aim at a large recently-built
post-frame building, completely stripping it of all sheet metal
cladding, leaving only the wood frame, purlins, and girts still
standing. It then continued, landing squarely on an old but well-built
Amish-style barn about 500 yards to the north. The barn roof and
wood board walls were carried aloft and not found anywhere near
town. Other structures within 200 feet of the barn saw little or
no damage at all.”
“The damage profile of this event on buildings was interesting in
that the sacrificial light metal cladding, easily torn off the structure,
saved one post-frame building from total demolition, while another
typically-built barn with board siding, considered to be wind ‘leaky,’
suffered catastrophic failure.”
For more information, contact Robert Taylor at 202/463-2771.
Timber Industry
Sponsors New Timber Bridge Awards
The wood products industry and the U.S. Forest Service have renewed
their sponsorship of a national awards competition for timber bridges.
The competition recognizes significant accomplishments in the design
and construction of timber bridges nationwide. More than 100 entries
were received last year. Fifteen awards were made for excellence
in timber pedestrian bridges, vehicular bridges, covered bridges,
and rehabilitated bridges.
To be entered, timber bridges must have been open prior to Dec.
31, 2004. Deadline for entries is April 30, 2005. Award plaques
will be presented to the winners in June 2005.
The Federal Highway Administration reports about 240,000 U.S. highway
bridges are obsolete or functionally deficient, requiring repair
or replacement.
This is the fourth timber bridge contest sponsored by the American
Institute of Timber Construction (AITC), APA-The Engineered Wood
Association, and the U.S. Forest Service. For more information,
contact the American Institute of Timber Construction at 303/792-9559
or info@aitc-glulam.org. The timber bridge entry blank is also available
on AITC’s web page— www.aitc-glulam.org.
AF&PA/AWC
Sponsors ASTM Centennial Annniversary Event
The American Wood Council is an active member in ASTM Committee
D07 on Wood and chairs several sections of D07. To mark 100 years
of ASTM wood standards, Committee D07 recently held its Centennial
Anniversary Dinner. AWC was a gold sponsor of the celebration.
ASTM Committee D07 on Wood was formed in 1904. The committee has
a membership of approximately 220 and currently has jurisdiction
over 110 standards published annually in the ASTM Standards publications.
ASTM standards continually play a role in the wood industry and
address issues relating to a wide range of wood products used in
construction.
In the September issue of the Forest Products Journal, the Forest
Products Society has included an article highlighting the committee’s
evolution and growth over the last century. The article also looks
at the challenges that lie ahead through globalization, composite
materials and electronic technology.
For more information on Committee D07, visit ASTM’s
website.
AF&PA
Launches New Online Career Center
The American Forest & Paper Association is pleased to announce the
launch of the Career Center, a new online resource designed to bring
member companies and other industry employers together with a large,
qualified audience of forest, paper and wood products industry professionals.
Employers and job seekers can use the AF&PA Career Center to make
employment connections. The center features quick and easy job posting,
a searchable resume database and robust reporting. The AF&PA Career
Center is free to job seekers; special introductory rates and discounts
are available for AF&PA member companies interested in posting positions.
For more information, please visit www.afandpa.org/careercenter
or contact Michelle Tucker at 202-463-2583, michelle_tucker@afandpa.org.
New Wood
and Timber Condition Assessment Manual Published
by Robert J. Ross, Brian K. Brashaw, Xiping Wang, Robert H. White,
and Roy F. Pellerin
The deterioration of an in-service wood member may result from a
variety of causes during the life of a structure. It is important,
therefore, to periodically examine wood used in structures to determine
the extent of deterioration so that degraded members may be replaced
or repaired to avoid structural failure. Inspection professionals
use a wide variety of techniques to assess the condition of wood
in service. Visual, mechanical probing, and stress wave or ultrasound-based
techniques are all used either individually or in combination by
inspectors. While these techniques are based on solid technical
information and supporting research, no practical, comprehensive
manual exists where information on inspection of wood in service
can be found.
This manual is an attempt to address this need. The manual stems
from numerous research studies, inspections, and lectures dealing
with assessing the condition of in-service wood and timber. A concerted
effort has been made to provide clear and concise explanations of
various aspects of inspecting in-service wood and timber. To this
end, a number of photographs and drawings obtained from actual inspections
are included.
This manual is organized into six chapters: Chapters One through
Three present background information on techniques currently used
by inspectors, which include information on visual inspection techniques,
mechanical coring or probing techniques, and stress wave or ultrasound-based
techniques. Included in each chapter is a detailed description of
the technique, a list of currently available tools and where they
can be obtained, and guidelines for their use. Each chapter concludes
with a list of references that serve as the technical base for the
technique. Chapter Four is devoted to inspection of fire-damaged
wood. Chapter Five includes a sample report. Summaries of several
inspections are included in Chapter Six.
Softcover sprial bound, 8.5 by 11 inches, 74 pages, $39 for FPS
members or nonmembers (plus delivery charge). Purchase this manual
online through the FPS secure shopping cart on
www.forestprod.org or phone 608-231-1361 ext. 202. Forest Products
Society, 2801 Marshall Ct., Madison, WI 53705-2295 USA, or AWC's
website online shopping.
Lowering
Environmental Costs of Home Construction
Most energy
that goes into building U.S. homes is consumed not by power tools,
welding or trucking during construction but during manufacture of
building materials, according to a comprehensive life-cycle assessment
comparing typical wood-, steel- and concrete-frame homes.
Using the least energy-intensive building materials and taking steps
toward such things as recycling and reusing more building materials
makes sense, considering the nation's energy concerns and attendant
issues of pollution and global warming, according to the University
of Washington's Bruce Lippke, professor of forest resources. He
and 22 other authors recently published a report tallying the environmental
impact of home construction.
Considering the energy required to produce building materials, construct,
maintain and demolish a house on a time period of 75 years is one
part of a cradle-to-grave analysis known as a life-cycle assessment.
In this case, researchers determined that construction of a hypothetical
Minneapolis steel- frame home used 17 percent more energy than the
matching wood-frame home. Similarly, constructing the study's hypothetical
Atlanta concrete-frame home used 16 percent more energy than a matching
wood-frame house. The designs in both cases were typical of homes
in those regions. See Table right for more details.
The house designs were analyzed in the study by the Consortium for
Research on Renewable Industrial Materials (CORRIM), a research
group started by 15 universities and research institutes, see http://www.corrim.org/.
A 12-page summary recently published in the FPS Forest Products
Journal and the full report are available at http://www.corrim.org/reports/.
Life-cycle inventory international protocol experts reviewed the
report and information from this study is slated to become part
of the Department of Energy's lifecycle inventory database for designers
and engineers at http://www.nrel.gov/lci/.
The report offers many suggestions of other opportunities to reduce
energy demands of home construction that include:
- Redesigning houses to use less fossil-fuel intensive products;
- Changing building codes that result in excessive use of wood,
steel and concrete;
- Recycling demolition wastes; and
- Increasing durability of homes through improved products, construction
designs and maintenance practices.
CORRIM has started a new $1 million research project that expands
the current effort to include all U.S. wood-product supply regions,
other nonstructural wood products, and additional research on design
and process changes to reduce environmental burdens.
For more information, contact Bruce Lippke at 206/543-8684 or
blippke@u.washington.edu.
Wood Engineering
Lifetime Achievement Award
The American
Wood Council presented the FPS/ AWC Wood Engineering Lifetime Achievement
Award to Dr. Jozef Bodig at the Forest Products Society Annual Meeting
in Grand Rapids, MI. Dr. Bodig is Professor Emeritus of Wood Science
and Civil Engineering at Colorado State University, with 40 years
of contributions to the field of wood engineering.
The Wood Engineering Achievement Award was established in 1996 by
the Wood Engineering Division of the Forest Products Society and
is cosponsored by AF&PA's American Wood Council. The award recognizes
excellence in wood engineering and alternates each year between:
Lifetime Achievement, Young Engineer, and Engineering Innovation.
The Award consists of an engraved plaque and an honorarium provided
by AWC.
In awarding Dr. Bodig, the Judging Committee valued the following
information in his nomination: "Perhaps the most consequential
among his accomplishments was his leadership role in developing
the first reliability-based design procedures for any wood structures
(specifically for wood power utility structures). He later was a
leader in a three-year, $1.7 million industry initiative to develop
a comprehensive probability-based design code for wood structures."
For more information, contact Buddy Showalter at 202/463-2769.
DCA-3:
New 2x6 Insulated One Hour Wall Assembly
Continuing
a successful string of ASTM E119 fire resistance tests on wood frame
assemblies, AWC recently conducted a successful full-scale fire
test on a 2x6 wood stud wall tested at full design load. The new
assembly, notable because of the inclusion of R-19 fiberglass insulation
with 5/8" Type X Gypsum on the exposed side and 3/8" OSB
on the unexposed side (see figure), passed the one hour E119 fire
test. This latest assembly will be incorporated into AWC’s
DCA No. 3 - Fire-Rated Wood Floor and Wall Assemblies, located on
AWC's website at: http://www.awc.org/Codes/dcaindex.html.
For more information, contact Brad Douglas at 202/463-2770.
Hurricane
Charley Damage Assessments
Storm
Stats
Hurricane Charley
(Figure 1) made landfall along the Southwestern coastline of Florida
at Cayo Costa, a barrier island just west of Cape Coral on Friday,
Aug. 13, 2004. At landfall at approximately 3:45 p.m. EDT, Charley
was classified as a Category 4 storm with winds estimated at 145
mph. At 4:35 p.m., wind gusts of 111 mph were measured at the Punta
Gorda Airport. A 7-foot storm surge was recorded in Fort Myers at
the time of landfall. The worst storm tide (the combination of normal
tide level plus storm surge) was north of Naples at about 10 to
13 feet above mean sea level.
Charley continued
its track (Figure 2) northeast across the State of Florida through
DeSoto, Hardee, Polk, Osceola, Orange, Seminole and Volusia counties.
At approximately 9:15 p.m., the eye of the storm was centered over
Kissimmee, in northern Osceola County. Orlando International Airport
reported a gust near 105 mph, with sustained winds from 60-70 mph.
The Daytona Beach Airport observed 69 mph sustained winds, with
an 83 mph gust. Charley passed into the Atlantic just northeast
of Daytona Beach around 1:00 a.m. on Saturday, with maximum sustained
winds of 85 mph. Charley raced north-northeast at 25 mph re-entering
the continental U.S. near Myrtle Beach, SC as a much-diminished
storm. This was the strongest hurricane to make landfall in Florida
since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Just under 36 hours prior to Charley’s
landfall, Tropical Storm Bonnie struck the Florida Panhandle near
Apalachicola. Not since 1906 have two storms struck the state of
Florida so close together.
Damage
Assessment
On Thursday, Aug. 19, field personnel from AF&PA’s American
Wood Council (AWC) and APA-The Engineered Wood Association (APA)
toured the damage-stricken areas of Charlotte County where the eye
of the storm came ashore. Their goal was to inspect damage on Pine
Island, especially Bokeelia, a small community on the northern tip
of Pine Island (Figure 3), over which the eye of the hurricane is
reported to have passed. Enroute, the team passed by devastated
“mobile home parks” in Punta Gorda and site-built developments
along Florida Route 765 (Figure 4), which runs from I-75 at Punta
Gorda southwest to the western edge of Cape Coral and Pine Island
Road. This area was known to have a mix of wood-frame and concrete/masonry
construction. Dr. Tim Reinhold of the Institute for Business and
Home Safety (IBHS) informed the team that the area had both building
failures and buildings without serious damage.
The inspection team witnessed failures of manufactured housing,
especially older structures that were not designed or manufactured
to withstand hurricane force winds. Also seen were several newer
manufactured housing units that appeared to have fared quite well
through the storm. The newer units displayed placards that indicated
they had been manufactured to withstand coastal wind loads.
For newer site-built structures in this area, most appeared to have
fared quite well, except for some commercial structures that were
framed with what appeared to be light gauge steel. Houses and apartment
buildings of wood-frame construction and of concrete/masonry construction
withstood the ravages of the storm with little or no damage. A log
home on Burnt Store Road also appeared unscathed.
In Bokeelia, where the eye of the storm passed and winds were the
greatest, several multistory wood frame apartment buildings were
viewed with little or no damage (Figure 5), including one under construction
(Figure 6). Wind loads on a partially enclosed structure, such as
the one under construction, are higher than on a fully-enclosed
completed building. The performance of this building illustrates
the capability of code-conforming wood-frame construction to withstand
hurricane force winds successfully. The metal strapping and other
forms of hurricane fasteners (Figure 7) that are typical in wind-resistive
construction and in conformance with AF&PA’s Wood Frame
Construction Manual (WFCM) and Florida Building Code successfully
held the structural elements together during this major hurricane.
AWC staff traveling through Myrtle Beach, SC after the storm passed
through that area reported only tree damage. No visible structural
damage was seen.
Additional Assessments
Staff also evaluated photos from the Florida State Emergency response
team’s website at the following address:
http://www.floridadisaster.org/eoc/eoc_Activations/Charley04/Reports/CharleyPics.htm
Noteworthy,
are photos of older structures built prior to new building codes,
including the WFCM, developed since Hurricane Andrew struck Florida
in 1992. Figure 8 shows an airplane hangar typical of the occasional
damage seen on older wood structures, particularly along the roof
edges where uplift forces are greatest. Figure 9 also shows loss
of roof sheathing at edges and gable end walls. Click on any
of the photos at the right to enlarge.
For more
information, contact Dr. Jeffrey Stone at 727/367-0531 or jeffrey_stone@afandpa.org
Phoenix,
Arizona Adopts International Codes
In a decision
that is likely to reverberate into California, the Phoenix City
Council on June 16, 2004 approved the I-Codes developed by the International
Code Council (ICC) as the building safety codes for the city. The
Phoenix City Council voted 6-3 in favor of the I-Codes, following
last week’s unanimous code recommendation from the Phoenix
Code Review Committee. The committee’s decision came after
a thorough threemonth review of construction codes, with multiple
meetings and public comments from architects, building owners and
managers, engineers, disability rights organizations, fire fighters
and concerned citizens.
The resolution stated, “The City Manager recommends to the
City Council that the I-Codes be used as the model code for the
City of Phoenix Construction Code. ... [Transition to the I-Codes]
will take less staff time, and require less training for staff and
customers, and appears to be less costly for the City as well as
the industry.” In its action, the city adopted the 2003 Building,
Energy Conservation, Existing Building and Residential Codes. “Only
through unbiased comparison of competing interests can an informed
decision be made, which serves the best interests of the city of
Phoenix,” said ICC Chief Executive Officer James Lee Witt.
AWC
Investigates Midwest Tornado Damage
AWC investigated
damage to wood frame structures in Granville, Joliet, and Utica,
IL, that resulted from tornadoes on April 20 that killed eight people
and caused extensive damage.
The tornado that hit Utica was classified as an F3 and the one in
Joliet was considered an F1.
In Utica, where the most damage occurred, it appeared the tornado
touched down directly on Main Street, wiping out a series of very
old “ordinary construction” buildings with masonry exterior
walls and wood interior structures. It was in the basement of one
of these buildings that eight people were killed when the building
collapsed on them. The randomness of destruction was striking—right
behind Main Street were many old wood frame homes and a small group
of newer manufactured homes, which sustained almost no damage (except
the loss of some shingles). In all three communities, many porches
and garages were upset, pushed over, or blown down while adjacent
dwellings stood. It seems that roofs, eaves and roof trim, porches,
garages, and windows were the first things to go and the only things
to go in many structures, as might be expected.
A study published in the Spring 2004 issue of Disaster Safety Review,
a quarterly journal of the Institute for Business & Home Safety
(IBHS), emphasized the need for windresistant design in tornado-prone
areas of the country. For information on tornado protection, this
study or the latest edition of Disaster Safety Review, visit the
IBHS web site, http://www.disastersafety.org.
For more information, contact Paul Coats at 815/724-0048.
12th National Timber Bridge
Design
Competition Results Announced
Fourteen teams
of students from U.S. universities matched wits in the recently
completed National Timber Bridge Design Competition. Open to student
chapters of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and Forest
Products Society (FPS), the competition was made possible by a grant
from the U.S. Forest Service through its Wood in Transportation
Program. Additional financial support was provided by the Southern
Pine Council, Unit Structures LLC, Wood Protection Products, Inc.,
and Weyerhaeuser Company. Southwest Mississippi Resource Conservation
and Development (RC&D), Inc., coordinates the annual competition.
Each team designed, constructed, and tested their bridges on their
home campus, then submitted documentation of their activities and
results to a panel of judges for review. The competition is conducted
via the Internet. Each team is required to post design drawings,
test results, and project highlights on the Web at www.msrcd.org/bridge.htm.
Winner of the Best Overall Design Award sponsored by Weyerhaeuser
Company was University of Texas at San Antonio. Their design
consisted of a transverse 2" x 4" deck supported by five
longitudinal beams working with a halfthrough arch at each curb.
The laminated arches each had five 1/4-inch suspension rods supporting
the outside beams. This entry also placed second in Best Deck, judged
by performance (deflection), weight, percent wood, practicality,
innovation, and aesthetics.
The second place winner was Clarkson University. Their
entry placed first in Most Innovative Design, second in Best Overall
Design and third in Most Aesthetic. Their bridge support structure
included two box girders designed with an internal cable truss system
of two 3/8-inch steel cables placed between each girder’s
three webs.
San Francisco State University won second place in Best
Support Structure, third in Best Overall Design and third in Most
Innovative Design. Their bridge featured epoxy resin glue
and carbon fiber at all joints to maximize stiffness, use of Brazilian
Ipe wood in the two parallel trusses due to its density and resistance
to decay, and coated 3/4-inch plywood decking.
The State University of New York-Environmental Science and
Forestry (SUNY ESF) Forest Products Society Chapter received a first
place award for Most Aesthetic Design, and also placed second in
the Most Innovative category.
The test bridges were 13.1 feet long and 4.3 feet wide and were
loaded with a test weight of approximately 4,500 pounds. Average
weight of the bridge models was 856 pounds. At full loading, maximum
bridge deflection ranged from 3/32 inch to 3/8 inch. Maximum allowable
deflection was 3/8 inch. Percent non-wood materials in the bridges
averaged 7.6 percent, although a maximum 25 percent, by weight,
was allowed.
The competition’s objectives are to promote interest in the
use of wood as a competitive bridge construction material; to generate
innovative and cost-effective timber bridge design techniques; and
to develop an appreciation of the engineering capabilities of wood
among future transportation and forest products engineers. Following
the competition, most of the bridges were placed into use as trail
bridges.
Judges for the competition were Scott Groenier, P.E., National
Wood in Transportation Program, USDA-Forest Service; and Dr. Rakesh
Gupta and his Wood Engineering class at Oregon State University.
USFA
Cooperative Agreement
AWC has entered
into a cooperative agreement with the FEMA/U.S (see March 2003 News
Briefs). Fire Administration (USFA) to develop a national-level
information and demonstration project for enhancing fire service
awareness of different types of lightweight construction components
and their performance. Progress is reaching the midpoint of the
18-month program. Deliverables are on schedule and interest in the
program from industry and the fire service continues to grow.
The project
is divided into four main areas of focus. For the most part, activities
within these areas are being performed concurrently. A brief summary
of each area follows.
Information
Gathering Session with the Fire Service
In late 2003, the last of the scheduled fire academy visits were
completed. Overall, seven state fire academies were visited and
comments from
those visits have been compiled. Chief Ron Coleman, retired California
State Fire Marshal, served as the industry consultant on each visit.
Comments from all the fire academy meetings will be used to direct
development of educational materials on lightweight construction.
Resource
Material
An industry-wide task group is writing Resource Guides. The guides
under development include:
- Lumber
- Panels
- I-joists
- Structural Composite Lumber (LVL, LSL, OSL, and PSL)
- Trusses
- Glued laminated timber
- Adhesives
Draft versions of most of the guides are complete and the first
round of reviews is underway. Near final drafts are expected in
mid-May. The USFA
grant calls for circulation of the guides to various fire service
organizations for comment. When complete, the guides will be published
and made
available to the fire service by USFA.
The guide
content will also be used to develop a wood-product-specific educational
website for the fire service. The vision is for the site to become
the “one-stop” tool for fire service education on wood
frame construction.
Recommended
Changes to NFA Curriculum
Upon completion of the Resource Guides, a review and integration
of new material into the curriculum of the National Fire Academy
(NFA) will be conducted. The NFA, located in Emmitsburg, MD, was
established by the federal government to educate state, regional,
and local fire service instructors. Assuring that the curriculum
is comprehensive and accurate will improve the message to the entire
fire service.
Teaching
Props
As part of the academy visits, the need for handson learning material
for the classroom was discussed. The grant also calls for providing
a handson
display containing the most modern lightweight construction components.
While the details are not complete, input from the academy visits
has been valuable.
For more
information, contact Kenneth Bland at 202/463-2765 or Dr. Kuma Sumathipala
at 202/463-2763.
Green
Building Update
Development
of a model residential green building guideline for use by the National
Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is progressing well. The American
Wood Council participates in the stakeholder group, responsible
for developing guideline criteria. The project contractor, NAHB
Research Center (NAHB-RC), is making every effort to assure an open
forum, balance of representation, and due process.
The guidelines
will be available for use by local, regional, and state Home Builder
Associations (HBA) wanting to initiate a green building
program. Since some green building criteria is related to regional
conditions, it is difficult to develop a guideline that works for
all parts of the
country. Once completed, it is expected that HBAs will make modifications
appropriate for these regional variations. The guidelines will be
a
valuable tool for builders to use in examining their current practices
and making changes in site planning, resource selection, and environmental
impacts of residential construction. The guides are scheduled to
be publicly available late in 2004.
For more
information, contact Kenneth Bland at 202/463-2765.
San
Diego Fire Prevention Task Force
The San Diego
Regional Fire Prevention Emergency Preparedness Taskforce is responsible
for preparing new urban wildland fire provisions to be adopted and
enforced in the San Diego, CA area. This committee’s work
is running parallel to efforts of the California State Fire Marshals
Office and is addressing issues from past wildland fires in the
San Diego area. At its recent meeting, AWC staff was able to provide
the task force with a very comprehensive comparison of NFPA 1144
and the International Code Council’s (ICC) 2003 Urban Wildland
Interface (UWI) codes. After much deliberation, it was decided that
the 2003 ICC/UWI would be proposed as the basis for the UWI codes.
Each community will take this base document and make whatever amendments
they see fit. The committee also agreed to the following concepts:
- Roof coverings will be Class A;
- Windows, skylights and glazing will be double-paned;
- Floor projections will be protected;
- No venting will be allowed in soffits;
- Exterior walls will have materials for one-hour fire-rated construction
on the exterior side of the wall;
- Gutters and downspouts will be non-combustible;
- Projections will be protected or of heavy timber construction.
Issues on
which the committee was unable to reach agreement were:
- Fire shutters
- Sprinklers
- Eave protection
AWC is continuing to monitor this important issue for industry.
For more
information, contact David Tyree at 719/633-7471.
Agenda
2020 Technology Summitt II
AWC recently
helped plan and participated in the Agenda 2020 Technology Summit
II. Primary sponsors included AF&PA, USDA Forest Service, and
the Technical Association for the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI).
Other sponsors included the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), USDA
NRI, National Science Foundation (NSF), Center for Paper Business
Industry Research (CPBIS) and the Institute for Paper Science Technology
(IPST).
Keynote speakers
included Pete Correll, Chairman & CEO of Georgia Pacific, who
kicked off the Summit with a message urging researchers to develop
new ideas and new technology to bring profitability to industry.
Ann Bartuska, the new Deputy Chief for Research with the USDA Forest
Service, also spoke about the future plan for Forest Service research.
Of the 11
technical sessions on the program, three specifically addressed
wood products: VOC/HAP destruction, Durability, and Technologically
Advanced Workforce. A brief report on each follows.
VOC/HAP
Destruction
EPA
has instituted new rules that limit the amount of Volatile Organic
Chemicals (VOC) and Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAP) that mills can
emit. Seventy-five to 100 OSB mills are allegedly under scrutiny,
especially southern pine mills, as they emit turpines during the
pressing process. To destroy VOCs, companies have installed regenerative
thermal oxidizers (RTO) to incinerate emissions. These RTOs cost
about $5-10 million to install and $1 million per year to operate.
However, one researcher has developed a process to add a thin outer
layer of hardwood chips to OSB before pressing, which absorbs turpines.
Research is at the pilot stage at this point, but estimates are
that if industry can implement this technology, they can save $1.3
billion in avoided capital and operating costs through 2009.
Durability
Researchers
and industry representatives developed a plan to create durability
performance methods and design tools. Estimates by the U.S. Department
of Energy indicate that damage due to moisture costs approximately
$10 billion annually to remediate. Plans to conduct research for
new products as well as development of computer models, construction
standards, and training were all part of the discussion. Agenda
2020 organizers indicate that this will be a high priority issue
in the research portfolio.
Technologically
Advanced Workforce (TAW)
This Agenda 2020 group has secured a $5
million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop mill
worker training at local community colleges. Alabama Southern Community
College (ASCC) is the lead institution. ASCC has established a relationship
with a pulp and paper mill to provide a two-year associates degree
for their mill workers. They’ve found that productivity skyrockets
and safety increases dramatically when workers get this training.
During the TAW session, the group discussed developing a parallel
program for wood products mills. Part of the discussion included
the WoodLinks program, which is geared toward secondary wood products
manufacturers.
For more
information, contact Buddy Showalter at 202/463-2769.
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