Code-conforming wood design guide available

The 2018 Code Conforming Wood Design (CCWD), a joint publication of the American Wood Council (AWC) and the International Code Council, is now available.

The free download summarizes key provisions related to the use of wood and wood products as they appear in the 2018 International Building Code (IBC). The publication compiles the occupancy and height and area provisions of the IBC for wood structures into one publication.

“The complexity and scope of the IBC makes it difficult for designers to know about all of the code provisions that affect the use of wood products in construction,” said Kenneth Bland, AWC vice president of codes & regulations, in a news release. “CCWD consolidates and provides additional explanation for many of those provisions to make wood building compliance with the IBC as simple as possible.”

Among the 2018 IBC code changes mentioned in the 2018 CCWD:
· Alternatives for protecting attics in buildings using an NFPA 13R automatic sprinkler system. This has specific application to construction designed in accordance with IBC Sections 510.2 and 510.4, based on the height of the roof above the lowest level of required fire department vehicle access.
· Provisions for a fire-watch during non-working hours when construction exceeds 40 feet in height above the lowest adjacent grade, if required by the fire code official. The International Fire Code contains additional fire watch provisions.
· Updated references to AWC’s 2018 National Design Specification for Wood Construction and 2018 Wood Frame Construction Manual.

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.