The Last Word: The Last Word from 2020 IBS on Floor Cassettes Joe Kannapell A few CMs have already heard the “buzz” about floor cassettes from the annual International Builders Show (IBS). A good portion of January’s Show dealt with offsite construction, and prebuilt floor sections are of major interest. At one of the Show’s seminars, we... Read More March 2020 Issue #12248 Page 143
Do Lasers Tell the Whole Story? Glenn Traylor Lasers can be exact, but their data can be misinterpreted. Having the equipment is only part of the equation—it also must be used and understood properly. For example, the connection in the photograph [See PDF or View in Full Issue] was misallocated. The plate should have been dropped... Read More October 2019 Issue #11243 Page 38
Celebrating 50 Years of Truss Design Innovation, Part X Joe Kannapell Part X: Windows Works Its Magic When David McQuinn recommended Windows to MiTek’s management in 1990, few expected that Microsoft could compete with the two giants of the computer industry: Hewlett Packard and IBM. HP was the dominant provider of engineering computers. For a decade, its... Read More May 2019 Issue #11238 Page 8
Celebrating 50 Years of Truss Design Innovation, Part IX Joe Kannapell Part IX: Windows into Truss Design Two unstoppable waves merged to form the tsunami that swept over truss design in the 1990s. The first was the mass commercialization of the PC, accelerated by Michael Dell in the late 1980s. The second was the graphical user interface (GUI), exploited by our... Read More April 2019 Issue #11237 Page 8
AWC Releases 2015 Deck Guide in Spanish Robert Glowinski Spring is upon us. Construction is ramping up nationwide. And, as we get ready to spend more time in our favorite outdoor spaces and decks, we must ensure they are safe for gatherings with family and friends. Just in time for the nicer weather, and the influx of construction workers, the... Read More April 2019 Issue #11237
The Last Word: The Last Word on Attached Housing Joe Kannapell Now that one third of owner-occupied housing is tightly packed into metro areas, several challenges face our industry. Estimating requires more attention to architectural features and options. Engineering is critical on taller structures, and often requires consideration of mechanical... Read More April 2019 Issue #11237 Page 105
Better Building BIM Joseph Sirilla Eliminating downtime associated with Requests for Information (RFIs) when clashes or questions come to light during the building phase saves significant time, money, and – of particular interest in our current supply-constrained labor market – construction labor. Many in the... Read More October 2018 Issue #10231 Page 38
Celebrating 50 Years of Truss Design, Part II Joe Kannapell Part II: Leaps Forward in Computerization None of us would forget the strange sounds that signaled a new era in truss design: the pounding of the keypunch, the whirring of the card reader, and the ratcheting of the line printer that emanated from the 10x10 room in front of our drafting... Read More September 2018 Issue #10230 Page 8
Celebrating 50 Years of Truss Design Joe Kannapell Part I: Computerization Begins The arrival of the first computers 50 years ago signaled that truss design had come of age. And they came just in time. We urgently needed them to meet the growing demand for truss designs. But they didn’t come with experienced operators – in the... Read More August 2018 Issue #10229 Page 8
What is a Building Designer? Steve Mickley Generally, building design refers to the broadly based architectural, engineering, and technical applications to the design of buildings. Therefore, all building projects require the services of a building designer. Statutorily, the required credentials of a building’s designer vary from... Read More June 2018 Issue #10227 Page 38