March 2, 2019

Facade Inspection and Maintenance

By: Peter Babaian
A well-designed, constructed, and maintained building facade protects the building interior from water leakage, air infiltration, and energy loss. However, environmental exposure and time can degrade facade components. Facade deterioration can lead to a range of issues from compromised performance to potential falling hazards.
Services:Building Enclosure Investigation
Keywords:Condition Assessment, Facade Inspection, Facade Ordinance, Ordinance
February 12, 2019

Welded Steel Moment Resisting Frames

By: Ronald Hamburger, James O. Malley

This is one of a series describing surprising lessons engineers have learned from earthquakes and, in particular, the January 17, 1994, Northridge earthquake. Engineers have been learning from earthquakes for more than 100 years by observing the...

Services:Structural Investigation
Keywords:Frame Moment, Metal-Steel, Seismic Engineering and Retrofit
February 12, 2019

Performance-Based Design is the Future

By: Donald Dusenberry

We, as structural engineers, often find ourselves confined by a situation we created for ourselves. We operate in a design environment with easy access to information, have the ability to collect and analyze extensive data, and have access to...

Services:Structural Design
Keywords:Codes & Standards, Performance-based
January 16, 2019

Designing for Flooding and Sea Level Rise

By: Aaron Lewis, Gregory Doelp
Natural disasters can significantly damage buildings and disrupt operations. With flooding as the nation’s leading cause of disaster, it is important for facility owners and managers to understand flood risk and possible mitigation options.
Keywords:Below-Grade, Below-Ground Waterproofing, Flood, Waterproofing
December 18, 2018

Recent Changes to New York Building Code Regarding Parking Garages

By: Robert Antes
A new rule in New York now requires that all parking garages under the jurisdiction of the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code undergo a periodic condition assessment to help ensure structural integrity and user safety. Owners of parking garages must retain a professional engineer to perform the inspection and submit a report to the local authority having jurisdiction to obtain an operating permit.
Keywords:Condition Assessment, Inspection, Ordinance, Parking Structure
December 10, 2018

Double Impact

By: Mark Webster, Kara D. Peterman, Lizhong Wang, James A. D'Aloisio, Jerome F. Hajjar

Buildings account for nearly 40% of U.S. energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The materials required to construct a building all require energy to manufacture, fabricate, deliver and erect. Once it is operational and in use, the...

Services:Structural Design
Keywords:Green / Sustainable Design, Metal-Steel
November 26, 2018

Case Study on the Collapse Potential of a Wharf Supported by Severely Deteriorated Steel Piles under Gravitational Loads

By: Dominic Kelly, Paul Schuman, Oswaldo Russian, Mina Dawood

This paper presents findings from a research project on the development of a numerical framework to predict the collapse load of a wharf supported by corroded piles under gravitational loads. Data from a detailed marine investigation performed in...

Services:Structural Investigation
Keywords:Collapse, Corrosion, Finite Element Analysis, Marine Engineering, Nonlinear, Pier/Wharf/Boat Ramp, Research/Development
November 26, 2018

Functional Recovery and Seismic Vulnerability

By: Taryn Williams

Resilience has become a common term among engineers, policymakers, and the national community of construction industry professionals. NCSEA recently formed a Resilience subcommittee to develop positions and recommendations on issues concerning...

Services:Structural Design
Keywords:Codes & Standards, Resiliency, Seismic Engineering and Retrofit
November 13, 2018

Designing Amenity Rooftops: Complexity, Coordination, and Conflict Avoidance

By: John Karras, Joshua Kivela, Sarah Rentfro

Rooftop amenity spaces can offer building owners significant value. Successfully incorporating these spaces into the design of a rooftop requires thorough coordination, given the convergence of cross-disciplinary design requirements, complexity...

Services:Building Enclosure Design
Keywords:Roofing
October 22, 2018

Waterproofing Elevator Pits 101

By: Jonathan Stafford, Xiu Li

The October 2018 issue of Construction Specifier magazine features an article by Jonathan Stafford and Xiu Li. The article, “Waterproofing Elevator Pits 101,” discusses the challenges of designing waterproofing systems for...

Services:Building Enclosure Design
Keywords:Below-Grade, Below-Ground Waterproofing, Waterproofing

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