CM Toolkit Search

Faces of the Industry

Building Communities | Making Connections

Name: HB Simpson
Company: Allied Systems (VA)
Position: Safety Coordinator
Years in the industry: 17

Going Beyond Green: Net-Zero Pushes the (Building) Envelope

Beyond super-sized energy efficiency, there are many other benefits to net-zero homes.

Sealed Code Compliance Reports: A Law-Abiding, Streamlined Alternative

When it comes to code compliance for your new product, consider a road less traveled that can be much quicker and more robust than the traditional path.

The Most Valuable Week of the Year - BCMC!

  • Access to vendors and their in-depth perspectives, coupled with the opportunity to discuss ideas and common challenges with manufacturers from all over the country, defines BCMC.
  • Take part in BCMC Build and help construct a home for a very deserving family.
  • This year’s show features more workshops and business planning sessions to help component manufacturers prepare as the housing market reemerges.

Wind Load Analysis: MWFRS vs. C&C

  • Based on the recommendations of the IRC, IBC and ASCE 7, truss or rafter uplift connections should be designed for applied wind loads using MWFRS analysis.
  • Individual truss and rafter members should be designed using C&C generated wind loads.
  • The SBCA Load Guide includes information about uplift connections for structural building components.

Parting Shots

 

The March 2012 issue of SBC highlighted the benefits of assembling wood roof trusses on the ground. Here, we see an example using cold-formed steel trusses for a Winco Foods Store in Mesa, AZ. Westco Steel Systems designed the store’s roof so the contractor could build each section on the ground and hoist it into place as a fabricated section.

Faces of the Industry

Building Communities | Making Connections

Name: Corey Magelby
Company: Homewood Truss (Sacramento, CA)
Position: Truss Design & Sales
Years in the industry: 23

Ramping It Up...Things to Consider Entering a Better Market

Spend a few minutes with the thoughts of CMs doing business in markets where business is picking up and make sure your company is ready for recovery when it comes.

The Blooming of Green Homes: An Opportunity Ripe for the Picking

By 2016, one out of every three builders anticipate they will be dedicated to green building work on over 90 percent of residential projects, up from 17 percent in 2011.The increase in “green” home building provides an opportunity for component manufacturers to work with builders to arrive at a win-win scenario. 

Not Again, Dad! – How to Find Great Employees

  • According to an SBC One Minute Poll, CMs name finding and retaining good employees as one of their top challenges as business picks up.
  • Good workers are all around us and a lot of them are still looking for a job that is worthy of their devotion and work ethic.
  • Implementing recruiting strategies in and around your community can produce some of the best results with great, long-term employees.

Quality Control Top 10

  • In addition to implementing a QC program and training staff, another good way to increase awareness of quality control issues is by creating QC posters strategically placed throughout the shop floor.
  • A QC board can use photos or actual material examples to illustrate common QC dos and don’ts.
  • Work is underway to revise and reaffirm Chapter 3 of the ANSI/TPI 1 standard on quality control.

Parting Shots

You’re never too young to start designing and engineering structures. John Gruber, P.E. of Sheppard Engineering submitted this photo of his son Alex’s wood tower for his high school physics class. The project, which called for students to construct a tower of balsa wood (G=0.15), limited the tower’s height to 50 cm, with a maximum 8 cm diameter above 15 cm, and required the base to span a 20 cm opening with any orientation. The tower was loaded vertically from the top with both a hanging weight and weights applied to the top. While the tower only weighed 66.7 g (2.35 oz), it certainly stood up to the challenge, resisting 160 lb of applied load without failing—1,089 times its weight!

Assembling a Roof, from the Ground Up

How do you build a house?

The Quiet Hero: Remembering Don Hershey

The structural building components industry lost one of its greatest champions, Don Hershey, when he passed away at home last November.

BCSI - Shout It from the Trussed Rooftops

  • In just under 10 years, BCSI has evolved from the booklet into Summary Sheets, JOBSITE PACKAGES, online courses and the much larger book.
  • Including the JOBSITE PACKAGE or BCSI book on invoices is an excellent best practice in case a project heads in the wrong direction.
  • SBCA Chapters have developed great relationships and reaped many benefits for their time and effort through BCSI educational programs in their markets.

Readers Respond - Bearing Area

  • Two engineers involved in the design of structural building components respond to a previous Technical Q&A on bearing area.
  • Both give their perspective on bearing area and ways that component manufacturers and truss designers can help engineers with this issue.
  • Each engineer discusses his preferred method for dealing with insufficient bearing area.

Corralling Your SOW

  • Not stating a SOW can also subject a CM to the prospect of increased claims and liability. 
  • A manufacturer should strongly consider developing a SOW template that can be used in its bids or proposals and as an addendum or attachment to the customer contracts it signs.

A Project of Epic Proportions

30,000 leagues under the sea? Depth of monster squid. 30,000 miles per hour? Speed of a meteorite. 30,000 pounds? Weight of a new U.S.bunker-busting bomb. 30,000 square feet? Size of a single-family home framed by Blenker Building Systems in central Wisconsin.