Index of Maximum Allowable Area

and other building professionals with guidelines and design options, along with the new-found freedom to build all types of wood-frame buildings. In addition, groups such as AWC offer powerful tools to help building professionals design with wood for these new opportunities, and for the traditional residential market as well.

A little History

Publication of the IBC marked the end of regional code development in the U.S. by the three former model building code agencies, which historically governed most construction.

. The Building Officials Code Administrators International (BOCA), predominant on the East Coast and in the Midwest

.

The Southern Building Code Congress International (SBCCI), commonly found in the Southeast

.

The International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO), used by code officials in the western states ln 1994, these three groups joined forces to provide a comprehensive, coordinated set of national building standards under the International Code Council (ICC) banner.

AWC. with its staff of former building officials, is the industry's advocate to the building codes. Throughout every year, changes are proposed to building codes and design standards. AWC staff are the watchdog for wood products, continually seeking to ensure that codes and standards allow the greatest appropriate use of wood, and that competing material industries do not succeed in changing these regulatory documents to the detriment of wood.

Wood Provisions in the Gode

Although we don't always think of it, the use of wood products in construction is highly regulated. While we generally see wood as a simple, environmentally friendly and carbonsequestering material. benign in every way, wood does not get used in construction except where buildings codes permit it to be. If those codes were changed to limit wood use, the industry would suffer immediately.

Chapter 23 of the 1BC covers wood use primarily for non-residential buildings (a separate publication, the International Residential Code, regulates construction of one- and twofamily dwellings). Chapter 23 governs materials, design, construction, and quality of wood members and their fasteners. Aside from some provisions that address traditional construction methods, Chapter 23 in large part simply references the consensus standards of AF&PA, most notably the Natir,tnal Design Specification (NDS) for Wood Construction.

IBG's lmpact on Construction

Provisions of the NDS, used in conjunction with the building code, give designers the information they need to design wood buildings bigger and better than ever. When Chapter 23 design allowances are applied with building height and area limits found elsewhere in the building code, it results in increased opportunities for woodframe construction as compared with that which was allowed under the three legacy model code agencies (see graph on previous page). And these new IBC provisions offer a number of advantages for wood use in a wide range of non-residential applications.

Tools

AWC has several free tools on its website to help commercial building designers use wood-frame construction effectively and efficiently.

Allowable Heights and Areas

Calculator: The calculator demonstrates how large a building can be built with wood under the building code. The calculator shows the maxi- mum height and area for various types of occupancies and levels of fire protection, all based onthe 2006 IBC.

Span Calculator: This web-based tool provides span calculations for all species and grades of commercially available softwood and hardwood lumber under common loading conditions. One option even allows users to select multiple species and grades for comparison purposes.

Fire Related Publications: Since wood is a combustible material, fire performance of these products is an important consideration. A series of free web-available publications addressing flamespread, fire design of exposed wood members, and fire rated assemblies helps designers tackle this critical issue.

Gode Experts

The map shows the various areas of the country where AWC's building code experts work closely with model, state, and local building code organizations to gain the broadest possible acceptance of wood products. With their regional location and focus, they are able to operate at a grass-roots level, assisting wood products manufacturers by helping local building officials and designers with code interpretations related to wood products, even interceding where necessary to gain product approval.

Although they are the industry's front line, they are supported in the technical details of these efforts by a superb group of structural and fire protection engineers at the headquarters office. And these building code experts and engineers all participate in development of a myriad of non- industry standards that could impact wood construction as well.

But the key activity which makes AWC so indispensible is their advocacy on industry's behalf during the building code change process. For example, since 2000, AWC's success rate in defending the wood industry from detrimental code-change proposals is 897o. Case in point: a code change proposal by the Masonry Alliance for Codes and Standards was submitted this year seeking more restrictive fire separation assemblies for "unlimited" area buildings. The proposal would have required higher fire resistance ratings for these buildings, likely resulting in a switch to masonry walls. AWC vocally opposed this change, persuasively testifying why such a change was unnecessary, and it was disapproved.

Proposals such as this are quite common and if left unchallenged, would quickly change what products can be used in construction. It is in this sometimes arcane world that AWC successfully operates, quietly protecting the industry.

So, next time you're driving along and see that new hotel going up, remember, that there is a whole set of building codes and standards that regulate construction but at the same time provide tremendous opportunities for wood products. And, rest assured that industry technical representatives from AWC are working every day, behind the scenes, to ensure that those market opportunities are protected and expanded for wood products.

- If you need help with a building code issue on wood products, contact the AWC at www.awc.org or (202) 463-4713.