The American Wood Council recently released a new publication for fire design of wood members, assemblies, and connections to meet code requirements.
Since 2001, the National Design Specification for Wood Construction has provided provisions for the structural design of unprotected wood members exposed to a standardized ASTM E119 fire exposure. The 2021 Fire Design Specification for Wood Construction (FDS) contains these provisions, and also provides calculation procedures to address the added fire resistance and thermal benefits of protection provided by additional wood cover, gypsum panel products, and insulation.
The additional calculation provisions have been developed to provide standardized methods of calculating thermal separation and burn-through requirements as required in ASTM E119 and as provided in AWC’s Technical Report 10: Calculating the Fire Resistance of Exposed and Protected Wood Members (TR10).
The 2021 Fire Design Specification for Wood Construction (FDS) is available for free download on the AWC website: awc.org/codes-standards/
Related Stories
| Apr 19, 2012
Washington city may base building code on rising sea level due to global warming
Aberdeen may become the first city in Washington to base a building code on rising oceans and global warming.
| Apr 19, 2012
CSI webinar on energy codes and building envelopes
This seminar will review recent changes in energy codes, examples of building enclosure wall assemblies for code compliance, potential moisture management and durability challenges, and design tools to assess and minimize potential problems.
| Apr 19, 2012
Innovative plan for storm water in Philadelphia gets EPA’s OK
Philadelphia's $2 billion plan to manage its storm water with green methods including porous pavement, green roofs, and more trees, was officially approved last week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
| Apr 19, 2012
LEED 2012 to include new credit category for transit-oriented development
The updated LEED 2012 system will introduce a new credit category, “Location and Transportation,” to encourage development oriented around public transit and more walkable communities.
| Apr 17, 2012
FMI report examines federal construction trends
Given the rapid transformations occurring in the federal construction sector, FMI examines the key forces accelerating these changes, as well as their effect on the industry.
| Apr 16, 2012
University of Michigan study seeks to create efficient building design
The result, the researchers say, could be technologies capable of cutting the carbon footprint created by the huge power demands buildings place on the nation’s electrical grid.
| Apr 13, 2012
Congress’s action doesn’t mean Pentagon can’t build LEED gold structures
Though Congress passed a defense budget preventing the Department of Defense from spending money to achieve LEED gold or platinum certification, the Pentagon may still end up constructing buildings to those standards.
| Apr 13, 2012
International Living Building Institute certifies first two Net Zero Energy buildings
A community building in Oregon and an office building in California are the first two projects to earn net-zero status under the International Living Building Institute’s Net Zero Energy Certification program.
| Apr 13, 2012
New York City’s building department investigating structural collapse that killed worker
Following a worker’s death, the collapse of a century-old, two-story warehouse under demolition as part of Columbia University’s expansion is under investigation by the city’s Building Department.