WHAT'S NEW

RESEARCH GRANT AWARD: RGA #01-23 Thermal Performance of Spandrel Assemblies in Glazing Systems, Phase 2

Posted on 12 July 2023

The current state of practice for evaluating spandrel assembly thermal performance is lacking, and analytical approaches are inconsistent. Building codes and standards are also inadequate, leading to variable design execution on projects. While energy codes have become more stringent, spandrel assembly technologies have largely remained the same. There is a need for improved design guidelines, to bring consistency to calculation methods, to identify opportunities to improve materials, details, and systems, and inform future code provisions. This is Phase 2 of a four-phase research program to produce a Design Guidance Document. This Phase 2 scope will engage in an iterative approach of testing and modeling to develop a validated thermal simulation procedure. The Engineering Team developed a detailed plan in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Labortaory and Birch Point Consulting that includes testing and modeling of six common spandrel system types (test articles), each with up to three variations for a total of 18 variants (tests). This research is conducted by the team of RDH Building Science, Inc. (RDH), Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH), and Morrison Hershfield (MH). Read more

RESEARCH GRANT UPDATE: RGA #06-22 Live Load Research - June 2023

Posted on 30 June 2023

While occupancy live loads have been the subject of significant research over the past 100 years and more, there has never been a systematic approach and consideration of reliability-based scenarios for assembly loads. There are many reasons for this, and the current imperatives are clear, as explained below. The expertise is at hand “to advance innovation in the design …of buildings.” Our industry has the opportunity to lead with improved concepts for design, creating more consistency while preserving valuable resources and embedded energy for safe, reliable buildings. It is time for an innovative approach to conceptualizing and calibrating design floor loads for assembly areas. Read more

Charles Pankow Foundation Appoints New Executive Director

Posted on 20 June 2023

Charles Pankow Foundation Appoints New Executive Director Read more

NEW RESEARCH PRODUCT: RGA #06-19 Nonlinear Wind Design of Steel Reinforced Concrete (SRC) Coupling Beams: Design Recommendations

Posted on 20 June 2023 Publications

Structures are typically designed to yield and sustain damage in a controlled manner during design- level earthquakes. While a similar approach has traditionally not been used for design-level windstorms, the recently-published ASCE/SEI Prestandard for Performance Based Wind Design (ASEC/SEI, 2019) describes design for modest nonlinear response of select structural members such as coupling beams. In this study, four steel reinforced concrete (SRC) coupling beams, with steel sections that embedded into a reinforced concrete wall, were tested quasi-statically under fully reversed cyclic wind demands with peak beam deformation of three times the yield rotation. The beams and walls were designed in accordance with seismic provisions in AISC 341-22 Section H5, and the walls were compliant with ACI 318-19 Section 18.10.6.5. The exception was the wall reinforcement for two of the four tests, in order to examine potential reductions to that prescribed. For one of these tests, the ratio of the strength of wall longitudinal reinforcement crossing the embedment length to that prescribed was 0.53. For the other of these tests, this value was 0.22 and the wall boundary transverse reinforcement at the embedment zone was also less than that prescribed. During each test, the wall was subjected to constant axial gravity load and fully reversed-cyclic lateral loading that was linearly proportional to the load in the test beam. The ratio of wall shear to beam shear was constant for the four tests, while the wall moment at the height of the coupling beam produced by the applied wall demands was the same for three tests and was larger by a factor of 2.0 for one of the tests with wall reinforcement compliant with AISC 341-22 Section H5. Read more

Catriona Winter Joins Charles Pankow Foundation Board of Directors

Posted on 27 March 2023

Catriona Winter is a Senior Vice President with Clark Construction Group LLC, where she leads a suite of integrated project development and preconstruction services. She joined Clark in 2004 and has been instrumental in diversifying the firm’s service offerings and implementing best practices across the organization, including driving its optimized approach to design management. Read more

Laura Stagner Joins Charles Pankow Foundation Board of Directors

Posted on 27 March 2023 Publications

Laura is the retired Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Project Delivery (OPD), part of the Office of Design and Construction for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). In this role, she led the successful consolidation of project management functions that were distributed throughout GSA into the OPD, evolving an organization that was responsible for capital projects into an organization that is now responsible for all projects, including capital, small, and reimbursable. Read more

Charles Pankow Foundation Board of Directors Welcomes Emily Guglielmo

Posted on 9 August 2022

Emily Guglielmo, SE, PE, CE, F. SEI, M.ASCE, a Principal at Martin/Martin Inc., has been appointed to the Charles Pankow Foundation Board of Directors. She heads up Martin/Martin’s San Francisco office and serves as its technical leader on earthquake and wind engineering.
Recognized nationally for her expertise and activity in code development and research, Emily serves on the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 7-22 General Provisions Committee, Main Subcommittee, Seismic Subcommittee, and Wind Subcommittee. She also serves on the ASCE/ SEI Codes and Standards Executive Committee and, by appointment, on the National Institute of Building Sciences’ Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) Task Group: Improving US Seismic Codes and Standards, as well as the BSSC 2026 Provisions Update Committee.
“Emily brings a wealth of practical experience from the broad portfolio of structures she has helped design, which includes medical, technology, industrial, garage, and long-span recreational facilities for both public and private clients,” noted Charles Pankow Foundation Board President Richard M. Kunnath, PE. “Moreover, throughout her career, she has demonstrated a keen sense of vision and the leadership qualities to translate that vision into reality,” he added.
Recognition of Emily’s professional accomplishments have led to her being named to ENR California’s Top 20 Under 40 (2014), Rising Stars in Structural Engineering (2013), and BD+C’s 40 Under 40 (2013). Additionally, she received the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2016 Edmund Friedman Young Engineer Award for Professional Achievement.
Emily’s professional leadership positions have included serving as President of both the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California and the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (NCSEA). She currently serves as chair of NCSEA’s Wind Engineering Committee.
Emily earned her bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from University of California, Los Angeles and her master's degree in Structural Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Read more

NEW RESEARCH REPORT: Normal and High-Strength Continuously Wound Ties

Posted on 29 July 2022 Publications