This article appears in the May 2024 issue of STRUCTURE Magazine as Part 7 of 9. Reprinted with permission. This multi-part series discusses significant structural changes to the 2024 International Building Code (IBC) by the International Code Council (ICC). This article includes an overview...

Fire retardant lumber, also called FRTW, is used when a project has a requirement to reduce the structures’ ability to burn and to reduce the structures’ contribution to the spread of fire. Most fire retardant materials also reduce the development of smoke and the release of...

As MiTek has been hard at work to improve the way the building industry works by increasing the use of offsite components, we have heard from Architects of Record and Engineers of Record that they need more support to be able to specify components. In multifamily construction, there is a high...

One of the first mixed-use designs I worked on as a consulting structural engineer was a four-story wood-frame building over two levels of parking. Designing the main lateral-force-resisting system with plywood shearwalls was a challenge for this project that required new details to meet the...

Once again, Virginia Tech will be offering its popular two-day course on topics related to wood construction. This year’s course, to be held on April 26–27, will focus on practical code-conforming design of wood structures based on provisions of the 2018 National Design...

Over the last decade — in outlets reaching from construction industry journals to the Boston Globe and the Economist; from CNN and Fast Company to Popular Mechanics; to Nautilus and TED talks — we’ve been hearing increasingly about mass timber and related phenomena:...

Whether you’re designing and building a one- or two-story single-family residence, or doing the same for a multifamily, mid-rise wood-frame structure, fire and smoke protection features must be considered, and in most cases are required. When a fire starts, time is of the essence and the...

As former students, we all know the importance of having a study guide. A great study guide pulls together all the pertinent information from various sources to help you focus on the topic at hand. In the world of mass timber construction, complex codes and standards need to be well understood...

A 7-alarm fire in Bound Brook, New Jersey, in mid-January destroyed six buildings and caused approximately $52 million in damages. Fortunately, there were no reported injuries. The cause of the fire was arson, and the perpetrator was arrested soon after. Nonetheless, in the investigations of...

The City of Denver is the latest in a growing number of cities, states, and municipalities to recognize the possibilities of tall mass timber construction. Following states such as Oregon, Utah, and Washington, the City of Denver voted in late December to adopt the 2019 Denver Building Code,...