Past Meetings

Design criterion is a term that is often used when establishing how a new building should be designed and constructed based upon the use and function of the building. A similar process is practiced when considering individual components and assemblies that cover a building, including roof systems. This presentation is intended to offer information that should be considered vital when determining the selection of a roof system for new construction, as well as replacement of roof systems on existing buildings. Ten general categories will be presented which represent criteria that can impact decision making, including geography, code requirements, budget, aesthetics and established system performance.

Steven L. McBride, President of Professional Roof Consultants, Inc. will be presenting the topic of Key Considerations in Roof System Selection. Primary responsibilities, aside from corporate management, include investigation and design for roof, waterproofing and building envelope projects, organizing and implementing roof management programs, performing detailed investigations and evaluations and managing office standards.

John Reynolds will be joining us from the University of Oregon to discuss passive cooling and heating. Oregon's climate offers architects the opportunities of both passive solar heating and passive cooling. Passive and energy-conserving buildings seek to manage the available thermal energy by lowering peaks and filling valleys in order to maintain comfortable conditions for the occupants. Thermal mass and glass are two of the more powerful tools designers can use to control these conditions. John will discuss the principles of passive cooling and heating, the materials involved and their optimal locations within the wall assemblies.

With increasing demand for glazing systems to enhance a building's envelope and appearance, more emphasis is being placed on glass to act as a medium for aesthetic expression, re-establishing the visual connection between the indoor and outdoor environment, act as a thermal barrier, act as a solar barrier and be readily available on the open market. In many instances these demands can be met with a variety of glass coatings. How do we start to identify and select these coatings and glass products?

This presentation will assist in navigating the (sometimes complex) array of coated glass products widely available on the market.

Dave Young of RDH Building Sciences, Inc. will discuss requirements of the 2007 Oregon Structural Specialty Code pertaining to the need for air barriers. Various different methods of achieving airtightness will be explored along with commonly used air barrier materials. The presentation will also look at problems and failures with various air barrier conditions and lack of airtightness in buildings.

This Month's Meeting: Sealant Adhesion and Compatibility with Self-Adhered Membranes. The September 13, 2007 BEC meeting will be a follow up of the presentation given last June which focused on sealant adhesion and compatibility with self adhered membranes. Ken Roko and Dave Young will discuss some additional results, their findings and the outlook for the interface of these materials.

Building acoustics is an area we hear about more and more frequently and often with respect to litigation. Tobin Cooley of Listen Acoustics will be presenting some of his knowledge on building acoustics. Tobin will discuss what is considered to be normal levels of noise in multi-family occupancies and discuss some of the issues to be concerned with in designing multi-family residential occupancies as well as various types of testing that can be done. He will also perform a listening example of the difference between various window types in reducing train or freeway noise.

Parking at Ankrom Moisan: A block north of Ankrom Moisan’s office, at a traffic light, SW Nebraska crosses SW Macadam. Turn east on Nebraska, cross the RR track then turn right (south) and enter Willamette Park, travels south a couple hundred feet, then left into a large public parking lot, you can park your car for one dollar. West of the parking lot is AMAA's building. On foot one could cross the road, then the RR track and progress up the exterior stairway to the Macadam ground floor entrance level of AMAA.

This presentation is an interactive discussion of glazing systems ranging from a punched window to monumental tension glass walls. The conversation will weave through storefront systems incorporating common stick built curtainwall systems and custom designed unitized walls. We will cover water management concepts, anchorage methods and how these systems accommodate the critical building movements. Bring your questions and stories for an informative and useful discussion.

The April meeting will explore two different methods for safeguarding your building against water intrusion problems.  These solutions are integrated into the design of the building.  The two technologies work differently but serve similar purposes.  Electronic Field Vector Mapping can be used to confirm and then locate breaches in waterproofing membranes.  The technology enables a quick and focused resolution to a problem.  The moisture detection and monitoring system on the other hand continually monitors the building envelope for water intrusion in designated areas and issues an alert when water intrusion occurs complete with a location.  Both these technologies enable smarter buildings and give us tools to address problems quickly and efficiently before significant damage occurs. 

John Herrmann is the principal of Bain Associates in Portland, OR.  Bain is a product representative for several high end waterproofing and building envelope product lines.  They also represent International Leak Detection and their Electronic Field Vector Mapping (EFVM) solution for providing integrated leak detection and membrane failure location mapping.

Duncan Townsend is the Executive Vice President of Detec Systems Inc.  Detect's Moisture Detection and Monitoring System (MDMS) is designed to provide long term continual monitoring of the bulding envelope for water intrusion.