Lunch and Learn Presentations: Southern California

Presentations available in Southern California include:

Connections I - This session will focus on wood connection design philosophy. Topics will include: basic material properties of wood and how to avoid notching and splitting problems, the effects of moisture on wood connections, practical applications for the best details for wood-to-steel and wood-to concrete connections as well as an overview of fasteners/connectors that are available such as nails, staples, lag screws, bolts, timber rivets, split rings and shear plates and resources for wood connection design software and more detailed information.

Fire Protection for Non-residential Structures – This presentation covers the basic principles of fire protection in wood frame non-residential structures, including fire rating of interior and exterior walls, fire blocking and draft stopping. Examples of fire assemblies that achieve one- and two-hour ratings will be illustrated using various materials, including I-joists, plated floor trusses and solid sawn lumber. Building types and allowable heights and areas will also be discussed, including the impact of open frontage and sprinklers.

Greening Your Building with Wood - This presentation looks at how wood construction can contribute to a green building. Using scientifically-based life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, this session demonstrates why wood products are better for the environment than other materials in terms of indicators such as embodied energy, air and water pollution and global warming potential. LCA is becoming the world standard for evaluating the sustainability of materials and assemblies and improving environmentally based decision-making. New tools that make it a viable and cost effective part of building design are discussed as are the two largest green building rating systems available for non-residential design, LEED® and Green Globes™. This presentation also examines why wood from sustainably managed forests is a good choice when it comes to one of society’s most pressing issues—climate change.

Seismic and Wind Design for Wood Framed Structures – The overall strength of a building is a function of all of its components—including the roof, walls, floors and foundation—working as a unit. This presentation provides a top to bottom overview of lateral design for wood framed structures. Topics include lessons learned from natural disasters, load path continuity, updates to the California Building Code and shear wall design alternatives.

Wood Product Overview – This presentation covers the palette of wood products available for non-residential structures. It addresses topics such as availability, spans, depths, fire code requirements and grading—both for solid sawn lumber and engineered wood products, which include I-joists, wood metal gusset plate trusses, heavy duty trusses (open web, wood chord/steel web and laminated wood chord), structural composite lumber, glulam beams and high strength glulam beams. Also included will be design considerations when selecting from a wide range of series, spacings and depths, as well as tips on coordinating these products with structural engineers, architects, mechanical/electrical/plumbing and manufacturers.

Common Framing Errors – Based on hundreds of job site inspections, APA – The Engineered Wood Association have identified the most common wood construction framing and sheathing errors found in today’s construction market. This presentation examines the consequences of these errors and provides practical solutions for avoiding them.

Engineered Wood Product Overview – With the expanding choice and use of engineered wood products (EWPs) in today’s construction market, it’s now more important than ever to understand how to properly select, install and detail engineered wood materials. Michelle will introduce plywood, oriented strand board (OSB), I-joists, structural composite lumber (SCL) and glue laminated timbers (glulams), the benefits of engineered wood and its proper application.

For more details or to book a presentation, please contact:

Michelle Kam-Biron, SE
Technical Director, WoodWorks California
Telephone: 805 498-4864
Email: michelle@woodworks.org