| ICC
and Green Building |
| ICC
continues to increase its involvement with the US Green Building
Council (USGBC), prompting a meeting between AF&PA and
ICC President, Steve Shapiro. As a result, AF&PA was
given an opportunity to present these same concerns at a
recent gathering of the ICC Board of Directors. During the
meeting, AWC emphasized: |
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ICC
is a highly credible organization that develops model
codes and standards, which become law. |
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This
role requires the highest technical and ethical standards. |
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ICC
endorsement of a product results in instant credibility
within the building community. |
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The
endorsement, whether perceived or real, of building
requirements that lack a technical basis in a code
or standard is a violation of authority entrusted to
ICC. |
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ICC’s
own policies mandate that reference only be given to
standards that meet ANSI or equivalent consensus criteria,
and ensure due process for participants. |
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ICC-ES
consideration of “green issues” in its
product evaluation may result in an ES evaluation of
green which USGBC rejects as “not green” thus
creating conflict in ICC policy.
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| AWC
also encouraged ICC to take leadership in the whole concept
of green building issues in the building codes by focusing
its attention on items which legitimately fall under the
Supreme Court ruling on building codes, such as public health
and welfare.
Finally,
AWC pointed out that an important cause of many concerns
and conflicts is the lack of a definition of “GREEN.” ICC
was urged to assign a committee, possibly the CTC,
to craft a consensus developed definition of green
for use in all of its codes and standards.
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| Green
Building Professional Certification |
| In
related news, Greenerbuildings.com reported the following: |
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The
International Code Council will unveil a certification
program to ensure that code officials understand the
application of green building technologies. |
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The
group, which creates codes used to build residential
and commercial buildings, also wants to ensure that
green buildings are safe. Most U.S. cities, counties
and states use the safety-related International Codes
developed by the council, it said. |
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"The
International Code Council and its members are proud
of their support to protect the public through responsible
and innovative green building technology that is safe,
sustainable and affordable," said Council CEO
Rick Weiland. "The Green Building Professional
Certification is a tool that communities and code officials
can use to help ensure that green building programs
can be implemented in a coordinated manner with the
International Codes." |
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The
certification will test an official's knowledge about
the dominant green building rating systems, such as
LEED, Green Globes and National Green Building Standard
for residential construction. It also will help ensure
officials understand the green attributes of International
Codes, such as the International Energy Conservation
Code and the International Plumbing Code. |
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The
council is creating a committee of experts versed in
green business practices to develop the certification. |
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| ICC-ES
Sustainable Attributes of Products to Supplement Evaluation
Reports |
ICC
Evaluation Service (ICC-ES) recently hosted a meeting to
discuss issues related to evaluation of sustainable attributes
of building products and materials. Attendees were from
a broad cross-section of industries and interested parties.
The
purpose of the forum was to help gauge whether there
was interest for ICC-ES to offer a program that would
provide for evaluation of sustainable attributes of products,
as a supplement to evaluation reports for code compliance.
The general response was that such a program would be
beneficial. Topics raised included how the program would
be operated and staffed, what sort of data would be required,
the fee schedule, and the overall scope of the evaluation
performed (e.g. cradle-to-gate or cradle-to-grave).
ICC-ES will
be providing further information as details of the program
are developed. Another meeting to discuss the program,
initially targeted for implementation by mid-year, is
planned in conjunction with the ICC-ES committee hearings
to be held in June in Chicago.
For more information,
contact Kenneth Bland at kenneth_bland@afandpa.org or
202/463-2765.
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| ICC-ES
Advisory Committee |
At
the request of AF&PA, the ICC-Evaluation Service
(ES) Board of Directors appointed David Tyree to the
ICC-ES Industry Advisory Committee (ESAC), replacing
Kenneth Bland.
The
objectives of ESAC are to advise the ICC-ES Board
of Directors on matters affecting the working relationships
and cooperative efforts between ICC-ES and |
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its
report holders and users;
and to offer recommendations for improved communication
and better customer service on the part of ICC-ES.
The
Committee received reports from 4 different task
groups which are developing guidelines or lists for ES
use. Those task groups included: acceptance criteria
(AC) public comment process, consistent application of
code & technical issues within ES, uniformity of
evaluation service reports based on the same AC, and
development of an AC development checklist.
For
more information, contact David Tyree at David_Tyree@afandpa.org or
719-633-7471.
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| AWC
Responds to Fire in Massachusetts |
| The
Associated Press reported that on January 21, a fire
swept through 16 buildings in Lawrence, MA, leaving
as many as 150 people homeless. The article specifically
mentioned turn-of-the-century three story wood framed
buildings as being among those |
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involved.
AF&PA has contacted fire service representatives in Massachusetts
to determine if type of construction, in this case wood frame,
was being cited as a cause or an exacerbating factor in the
fire. To date, it is not considered a factor. The investigation
is preliminary, but the fire service sees contributing factors
to be: a lack of exterior walls on the night club where the
blaze originated, very high winds pushing the fire to adjacent
buildings, and the structure of origin as well as many of
the adjacent exposed structures lacking the sprinkler system
which was to be installed. Many of these structures were
being renovated and did not have normal fire protection features
such as the sprinkler system and fire barriers installed.
AF&PA remains in contact with fire service personnel
to monitor the situation.
For more information contact Sam Francis at 610-869-4774
or Sam_Francis@afandpa.org. |
| Wood
Product Training Display Cases for Firefighters |
| Wood
product training display cases were developed as part of
the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) grant to AF&PA, now
completed. Early in the USFA project, AF&PA representatives
visited several fire academies to gain a better understanding
of the current curriculum on wood construction. The display
cases provide industry product samples that will be used
to enhance the building construction curriculum taught at
the academies.
Six new wood
display cases went to:
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Utah
State Fire Academy – Chief Brad Wardle, Jordan
City, Utah |
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Glendale
Arizona Regional Fire Academy – Deputy Chief
Jim Higgins, Glendale, AZ |
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Rancho
Santiago College – Chief Marc Martin, Huntington
Beach, CA |
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Antelope
Valley College – Robert Falb, Instructor, Fire
Technology, Lancaster, CA |
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San
Diego Miramar College – Marty Walsh, Assistant
Professor, Department Chair, Fire & EMT Technology,
San Diego, CA |
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Cal
Fire State Academy, Kevin Olson, Ione, CA |
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| For
more information, contact Kuma Sumathipala at kuma_sumathipala@afandpa.org or
202-463-2763. |
| ASHRAE
Winter Meeting |
For
the wood products industry, the recent American Society
of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers
(ASHRAE) meeting provided an opportunity to focus
on two ASHRAE standards that have potential significant
impacts on wood markets. Unless managed, fallout
from ASHRAE SPC 189P (draft) and 90.1, for commercial
green buildings and commercial building energy efficiency,
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may be felt for a long time. Other ASHRAE standards monitored
by AWC also have implications for building durability.
The
primary agenda of the SPC 90.1 committee is to ramp
up building efficiencies 30% in the next edition and
50% by 2030.
The
SPC 189 draft standard is ASHRAE’s first green
building standard and could eventually be proposed
as a reference standard in the ICC family of codes.
This standard is still in the draft phase and will
undergo a second full public review this spring and
summer. AWC will provide input into this process.
For
more information, contact Jim Bowman at Jim_Bowman@afandpa.org or
425-822-0179.
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| Colorado
Chapter ICC Educational Institute |
| AWC
recently instructed several classes at the Colorado
Chapter ICC Educational Institute in Denver. The Institute
had over 1800 students from 25 different States over
the week-long event. The first class, “The Basics
of Wood Frame Construction” had 50 registered
students. Subjects covered included: What Is Conventional
Construction?; Growth Characteristics of Wood; Grade
Marks; Protection Against Termites & Decay; Fasteners;
Design Values for Joists and Rafters; Floor & Roof
Framing; Wall Framing; and Wall Bracing/Shear Walls
and the WFCM. The primary focus of the day-long
presentation was the 2003/2006 International Building
Code |
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and
the 2003/2006
International Residential Code.
The second
day found AWC staff educating building design professionals
and regulators on AWC Standards and associated design
processes. Seven hours of training were provided on
the 2005 NDS (ASD and LRFD) and designing
with the 2001 WFCM in a hands-on workshop
using the WFCM Workbook.
For
more information contact either Dennis L. Pitts at (972)
690-0242, David P. Tyree, P.E., C.B.O. at (719) 633-7471,
or Dr. Robert Taylor 202/463-2771.
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| AWC
Fire Research Engineer Honored |
| Kuma
Sumathipala, the American Wood Council’s Senior
Manager for Fire Research, was presented an Award of
Appreciation for his work on ASTM Committee E5 on Fire
Standards. Dr. Sumathipala served as Chairman of Subcommittee
E05.13 on Large Scale Fire Tests and as a member-at-large
of the Executive Subcommittee. The award was presented
by Paul Shipp, Committee Chair and Thomas Fritz, Awards
Subcommittee Chair, at the ASTM E5 Meeting in Tampa,
Florida in December 2007. |
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| Adopt-a-University
Program: VT + Boise; AWC + OSU |
| Boise
has again sponsored students in the Design of Wood
Structures class at Virginia Tech. 2005 Wood Design
Packages were provided to 49 undergrads and 10
grad students there. Professor |
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Daniel
Hindman, Department of Wood Science and Forest Products,
expressed appreciation for
the donation: “This donation represents a significant
investment in the civil engineering students’ future.
The students are very appreciative and surprised by the donation.”
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| AWC
donated electronic versions of the 2005 Wood Design
Package to Oregon State University students enrolled
in Professor Rakesh Gupta’s course in Wood Design. “We
at Oregon State University, really appreciate AF&PA-AWC
donating e-copies of the NDS for our WSE458/558-Wood
Design Class. I have 35 students in my class and they
all appreciate this generous donation in support of
their education. Since about 90% of all structures
in |
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the
United States are wood frame structures, it is critical that
all graduating civil engineers have some exposure to wood
engineering, and AF&PA-AWC's generous support will help
ensure that well-qualified civil engineers have that exposure,” wrote
Professor Gupta.
For more information on how your company can sponsor university
students, contact Buddy Showalter at 202/463-2769 or buddy_showalter@afandpa.org.
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