Codification Efforts on the Climate-Resilient Design of Commercial Roofs and Wall Assemblies September 01, 2019 By Dominique Lefebvre, Marianne Armstrong, Bas Baskaran, and Michael Lacasse Abstract This article highlights recent Canadian advancements towards codification efforts on the climate-resilient design of commercial roofs and wall assemblies. The roofing advancements on climate resilience have led to the drafting of a new standard—CSA A123.26, Performance Requirements for Climate Resilience of Low Slope Membrane […] Read More
Façade Stabilization: Expect the Unexpected August 01, 2019 By Stefan Nespoli, PEng Setting the Stage of Uncertainty Consider a nine-story high-rise multi-unit residential property constructed circa 1990 with a failing concrete brick façade. Due to areas of brick cracking and walls out of plumb, the owner had originally engaged a contractor to perform retrofit helical brick tie installation. For a variety of reasons—including […] Read More
Evaluating the Adequacy of Siding Attachment July 01, 2019 By John C. Wylie, REWC, PE; and Derek A. Hodgin, RBEC, PE, CDT, CCCA Introduction There are six sides to a building that engineers, architects, and consultants must consider during the design phase of a project. A key element is the design and installation of the exterior wall cladding on four of those six sides. […] Read More
Welcome to IIBEC Interface April 01, 2019 You are now reading articles from the first issue of IIBEC Interface: the Journal of the International Institute of Building Enclosure Consultants. We have a new masthead, a new logo, and a new name. Our institute and our journal have come a long way. Originally incorporated in 1983 as the Roof Consultants Institute (RCI), the […] Read More
Reading Between the Contour Lines of the Wind Speed Maps: Giving Tornadoes Their Due January 01, 2019 Read More
Wind Uplift Pressures on Low-Slope Roofs, Fourth Edition (2018) January 01, 2019 The fourth (2018) edition of this monograph, authored by Stephen Patterson, RRC, PE, of Roof Technical Services, Inc. and Madan Mehta, PE, PhD of the University of Texas at Arlington, is a publication of the RCI Foundation and is now for sale at RCI’s online storefront at https://tinyurl.com/ybbuzko9. The price is only $45 for members […] Read More
ABBAE Reports Condo Window Crack Caused by Exterior Impact January 01, 2019 Allana Buick & Bers (ABBAE), an architectural engineering firm specializing in forensic investigation and engineering of curtainwalls, exterior façades, and other building envelope assemblies, was hired by the Millennium Tower Association to study a cracked window glass in Unit 36B of the San Francisco residential high-rise that some suspected of being caused by settling and […] Read More
Townhouse Construction Outperforms Other Building Sectors January 01, 2019 According to statistics of the U.S. Census Bureau, analyzed by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), townhouse construction continues to outperform many other building sectors. Given the demographics of renters entering the for-sale market, as well as ongoing land constraints and the growing demand for walkable neighborhoods, this trend should continue. In the four […] Read More
Recent Experience Questions Storm Predictability Designation Value January 01, 2019 The National Weather Service called the rain dropped in September 2018 during Hurricane Florence in the Carolinas and Virginia a “1000-year” event. Upward of 50 inches of rain fell in some areas of the Carolinas, equivalent to 8 trillion gallons of rain. The classification of 1000 years refers to probability, not history, because it has […] Read More
