Call for Participation in Local Groups on Building Envelope/Enclosure Issues

Two years ago, the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) launched the Building Enclosure Council (BEC) initiative to promote the formation of local groups of professionals focusing on building enclosure issues. The purpose of these local groups is to “promote and encourage discussion, training, education, technology transfer, the exchange of information about local issues and cases, relevant weather conditions, and all matters concerning building enclosures and the related science.”  Each of these local groups is an interdisciplinary forum where architects, engineers, consultants, manufacturers, contractors, and educators interact and discuss building enclosure issues.

As building enclosure or envelope issues are of interest to many of its members, AEI is exploring with NIBS and AIA ways of partnering so that members can participate in the activities of such local groups (BEC chapters) where they already exist, and start new local groups where the number of interested members warrants it.

While the details of the arrangements with NIBS and AIA are being worked out, AEI would like to hear from members who are interested in building enclosure/envelope issues and would consider participating in BEC chapter activities. Please contact Rob Bowman at rbowman@asce.org.

Call for Participation in Creating a New Building Commissioning Guideline

Several years ago, NIBS and ASHRAE launched an industry-wide initiative to develop a comprehensive set of building system commissioning guidelines as means of ensuring that the performance of a facility and its major systems meet the design intent and the owner/occupant functional and operational needs.  The goals were to provide an effective documentation of owner performance requirements and of design intent, and to identify and perform tests that show the building and its systems function as required, and to provide a comprehensive and appropriate basis for the training of building operators. Click here for further information.

AEI Board of Governors Approves the Creation of a Structural Glazing Committee

AEI is proud to announce the formation of a new Structural Glazing Committee.  This committee will be in charge of a new design guideline for the glazing of buildings.  Heading the committee is Nancy Buscemi, an AEI member with many years of experience working in blast-resistant design, developing glazed curtain wall systems and upgrading existing glazing systems for federal government buildings and transit terminals.  This committee plans on having a draft ready by the fall of 2008 and the guideline published by the Spring of 2009.  By creating this committee AEI hopes to be able to address the following concerns:

• structural loads on the glass
• acceptable methods of making  and verifying design assumptions
• fabrication processes and variables affecting the behavior of structural glazing support of glazing elements and connectivity of elements transmission of loads through anchorage to supporting structure,
• load paths throughout the structure
• effects of heat, cold, and moisture
• issues related to shipping, handling and maintenance affecting behavior and serviceability
• extremes of structural behaviors.

The committee wishes to bring together knowledgeable individuals with interest and capabilities in structural glazing technology from various perspectives in the industry. If you are interested in joining this committee please contact Rob Bowman at rbowman@asce.org or Nancy Buscemi at nancibuscemi@comcast.net.

Contributions to AEI Publications are Welcome

AEI would like to encourage all members to consider writing an article for the Means, Methods, & Trends magazine.  This magazine is an online magazine that is made available to both AEI and CI members.  A current copy of the magazine can be found by clicking here.  Members interested in writing an article for MM&T should contact Rob Bowman at rbowman@asce.org. 

Committees are also Encouraged to Contribute to The Team and MM&T

The AEI Board of Governors and Staff would like to invite all of the committee chairs to keep the general membership updated on their current activities by submitting articles to The Team.  Submissions could include but are not limited to information regarding any new initiatives that your committee may have started or any call for volunteers that you may wish to announce. 

Members of committees are also welcome to submit any articles to Means, Methods, & Trends.  These articles could be technical in nature or they could be announcements that might benefit members of either AEI or CI.  If you wish to submit an article to either of these publications please contact Rob Bowman at rbowman@asce.org.   

CECAR Conference to be held in Taipei, Taiwan in June 2007

ASCE is one of three founding organizations of the Asian Civil Engineering Coordinating Council (ACECC), along with the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) and the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE).  The ACECC provides the Secretariat for the Civil Engineering Conference in the Asian Region (CECAR) which is held every three years in one of the eight countries participating in ACECC.  This year’s Conference will be held in Taipei, Taiwan in June 2007.  AEI members interested in preparing a technical paper or organizing a session on Design of Buildings, including Codes and Standards at the event should contact Rob Bowman at rbowman@asce.org.

In Memoriam

Edward Rice “Ted” Ardery, P.E., F.ASCE, passed away on June 9, 2006 in Virginia.  He was 85. 

Ardery earned degrees from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and MIT.  He served in three wars and retired in 1973 ranked as a colonel.  He then joined Rummel, Klepper and Kahl Consulting Engineers, where he was contributed to projects including building Metro tunnels.  In 1975, he joined Pepco, where he contributed to building power plants, until he retired in 1994. 

Col. Ardery was a life member of ASCE and was an active member of ASCE’s Construction Institute.  He served on the Construction Site Safety Committee and on the Editorial Board of Means, Methods and Trends. 

His passing was preceded by that of his wife, Muriel, in 1999.  He is survived by a sister, five children and five grandchildren. 

The Technical Region Director's Report

To read the Technical Region Director's report please click here.

ASCE is preparing to hold elections for the new Board of Directors position of Technical Region Director.  Please click on the candidates pictures below to learn more about their qualifications and to read bio and candidatesstatements. 

Max Porter		Tom Rachford
Candidate's statement and bio		Candidate's statement and bio

*Only ASCE members in good standing are eligible to vote. ASCE Affiliate members, Students, and AEI only members are ineligible to vote in this election. Ballots are enclosed in the June issue of ASCE News.  Instructions for casting a proxy ballot electronically were also sent to members earlier in June.  

UPADI Conference is Fast Approaching

Infrastructure has improved in most of Latin America and the Caribbean during the last decade, but a sharp fall in investments in the region hinders economic growth, poverty reduction, and the region’s ability to compete with China and other dynamic Asian economies.

The World Bank estimates the region needs to invest about $70 billion a year in infrastructure during the next five years alone to build, upgrade, and maintain water and sewage systems, roads, utilities, and transportation systems to meet the basic needs of its growing population.  Click here for more information.

John A. Roebling Symposium and Tours

JOHN A. ROEBLING SYMPOSIUM AND TOURS

October 27 – 29, 2006
Brooklyn, New York

AEI News

New President Elect Announced at July Board Meeting

At their July meeting at ASCE Headquarters in Reston, VA the AEI Board of Governors voted unanimously to approve the nomination and election of Paul Rielly, P.E. as the new President Elect of AEI.  Rielly, a senior structural engineer with Halff Associates in Dallas has provided structural design services for more than 350 projects throughout the United States, Korea, Mexico and Saudi Arabia, ranging from industrial and institutional buildings to retail and educational buildings, to residential and corporate/office buildings, to bridges.  These projects involve a wide variety of construction materials such as: structural steel, reinforced concrete, post-tensioned concrete, precast/prestressed concrete, reinforced masonry, soil, timber and fabric structures.  Rielly earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin in 1978 before continuing on at UT to receive a B.S. in Science/Architectural Engineering in 1980.  He is a licensed professional engineer in 17 states, including Texas, Missouri and Indiana.  Rielly is also a registered Structural Engineer in three states. 

Volunteers Needed to Write Questions for the PE Exam

The Architectural Engineering Exam Development Subcommittee is looking for people to help write problems for the Architectural Engineering Exam.  The Architectural Engineering Exam is offered through NCEES in April of each year to the state licensure boards.  The exam covers four main areas of knowledge which are construction management, electrical and lighting systems, mechanical systems, and structural systems.  All persons involved in the exam development process must be licensed professional engineers and should possess a high level of knowledge within one of the topics covered by the exam.  The examination and the test item writing and review process are performed within the guidelines developed by NCEES and all participants must agree to and abide by the requirements defined by NCEES in order to protect the confidentiality and security of examinations.

If you are interested in writing and reviewing problems for the Architectural Engineering Examination, please contact Rob Bowman, (rbowman@asce.org) or Mark McAfee (mmcafee@dwase.com), the AE P.E. examination committee chair. 

Enhance the Effectiveness of your Committee

This is an open invitation to any AEI committee that would like to sign up for an e-room.  An e-room is a secure area accessible through a browser that is accesible to the members of a committee and is used to place documents to be read or worked on by fellow committee members, chat with one another, and conduct polls.  This is an excellent way to stay in touch with the committee members and to stay informed of the latest developments.  If you are interested in starting and using an e-room please email Rob Bowman at rbowman@asce.org.

The Building Security Council (BSC)

The Building Security Council was formed in November 2005 as a result of an AEI initiative in order to fill a gap that existed in building security for the private sector.  BSC is focused on enhancing the safety of the public and promoting building security.  The Council plans to maintain and administer a security ratings system. For a fee, building owners can voluntarily apply for a rating.  The owners receive a rating after submitting detailed information on the design and operation of their buildings which is then evaluated against standardized rating criteria by a panel of experts.  It is the hope of the Council to establish a set of industry-wide standards in order to foster collaboration between professionals from different fields so as to foster building security.  For more information on BSC please read their inaugural newsletter. 

Students and Education

Share your professional experience and technological advances with your colleagues through ASCE/AEI Continuing Education Seminars.  As your professional society we need to continually offer the latest information regarding advances and breakthroughs in your field. To do this we need your help - "the practicing engineer". if you are working on something innovative or cost saving that would be of benefit to AEI consider sharing the news.  For more information please click here.

Publications

International Codes (I-Codes) are now Available

The 2006 editions of the International Codes (I-Codes), published by the International Code Council, are now available. The I-Codes are a complete set of 14 coordinated, compatible building and fire safety codes adopted by jurisdictions across the United States and internationally.

Click here for the full story

First Issue of the Journal of Building Enclosure Design About to be Published

The Building Enclosure Technology and Environment Council (BETEC) of The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) is pleased to announce its new relationship with Matrix Group Publishing in the production of the Journal of Building Enclosure Design the premier publication for research and development on building enclosure systems for North America.

Click here to read more about this new journal

Journal of Architectural Engineering

The June 2006 issue of the Journal of Architectural Engineering is now available.  This is the official journal of the Architectural Engineering Institute and is available to members at a discounted rate.  If you are interested in subscribing to the journal or would like to view the current issues Table of Contents please click here. 

AEI 2006 Conference Proceedings now Available

The 2006 AEI Conference Proceedings are now available in CD format.  The proceedings can be purchased through the Publications Department of ASCE.  To view the table of contents and an abstract or to order your own copy please click here.   

Upcoming Events*

2006

• 3rd International Building Physics/Science Conference. August 27-31. Montreal, Canada.
• UPADI September 19-21, 2006, Atlanta, GA.
• Call for Papers from the Federal Facilities Council

*If you know of a conference that would be of interest to AEI members, please send us the information and we will list it on this calendar. Please send the conference name, date, location, and website link to aei@asce.org

KNOW SOMEONE not receiving The Team?

Do you know someone who is not receiving their bi-monthly issue of The Team? If so, please tell them to visit www.asce.org/enews/ to subscribe.

Catch up on The Team by visiting our archives.