With the economy where it is, any free help is greatly appreciated. So if you are an engineer or an architect who works with wood (or would like to if you knew more about it), sign up for any of these webinars by WoodWorks and learn about this great material from the “comfort” of your office chair.
Fire Protection I: Allowable Heights and Areas
Friday, January 30, 10 am PST
Designing the World’s Tallest Modern Mixed-use Wood Building
Monday, February 23, 2009, 1 pm PST
Fire Protection II: Basic Principles for Wood Frame Structures
Monday, March 23, 10 am PST
I am particularly looking forward to the second one. Apparently building tall in wood is the latest thing. Forget about 3-5 story limitations, higher is technically possible and is being realized in several projects. One of those is the e3 building in Berlin and architects in Vienna, Austria are apparently dreaming of 20 stories. Below is an image of the e3 building:
FYI: WoodWorks is an initiative of the Wood Products Council, which is a cooperative venture of all the major wood associations in North America, as well as research organizations and government agencies.