Lessons Learned from the 2017 Hurricanes: A Technical Evaluation of Building Performance & the Impact of Code Adoption and Enforcement

Among the activities, that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) carries out in response to natural disasters caused by events such as floods and hurricanes is the deployment of Mitigation Assessment Teams (MATs). MAT conducts field assessments and technical evaluations of the performance of buildings subjected to forces generated by the event. The primary purpose of the MAT’s technical assessments is to identify design practices, construction methods, and building materials that either failed under the forces generated by the event or were successful in resisting such forces. In addition, the MAT will often look at land use management and planning practices as well natural hazard identification and risk assessment. This is done to learn whether actions, other than those involved in designing and constructing buildings, were successful in minimizing damages from natural hazards. Most recently, FEMA sent teams to Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.
Presenters: Daniel Bass – FEMA
Thomas L. Smith
Bill Coulbourne ▲TOP

Construction as an Anti-Terrorism Technology

The Department of Homeland Security recently approved a Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technology that, when deployed during the construction of a project, can insulate the owner, designer and builder from liability associated with a terrorist attack that involves a conflagration.
Presenter: Sharron Halpert – Halpert Life Safety Consulting ▲TOP

Understanding Performance-Based Design: What Code Official’s should (Need To?) Know

Performance-based design is an engineering approach to fire protection design or alternate methods in the IBC based on established fire safety objectives and functional statements, analysis of fire scenarios, and assessment of designs based on the objectives and functional statements. Performance-based design differs from traditional prescriptive design that code officials are accustomed to in that specific methods for achieving compliance with the design intent are established by the design team, in partnership with the code official. A fire/life safety solution is developed that is tailored to the specific building, fire and occupant characteristics contained within the building being assessed. The result can be a better overall fire safety solution for the building or facility as compared to prescriptive compliance. This presentation is tailored for the code official and will provide an overview of the performance-based design review process, the role of the AHJ, and tools available to the code official. Specifically, the presentation will center on the approaches outlined in the ICC Performance Code for Buildings and Facilities and the SFPE Guide to Performance-Based Design. It will include discussions related to:

• Evaluate objectives, functional statements and performance requirements
• Identification of design fire scenarios
• Evaluation of the use of engineering methods and models
• Managing changes to the design
• Maintaining the design and documentation

Presenters: Chris Jelenewicz, P.E., FSFPE
Gary C. Lewis – City of Summit, NJ
Raymond A. Grill, P.E., FSFPE, LEED AP ▲TOP

Top 10 Things to Know about the 2018-IgCC

The recently published 2018-IgCC represents an historical moment for the construction industry. Come learn how the newest IgCC provides a whole systems approach to the design, construction and operation of buildings that result in better indoor environments, lower impact on natural resources, reduced carbon emissions, and improved walkability.

The 2018 International Green Construction Code (2018-IgCC) is powered by ASHRAE Standard 189.1 (Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings) and now provides a single document for the North American market. Dubbed the “2018-IgCC Powered by 189.1,” the new model code is a cooperation between the International Code Council (ICC), U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), ASHRAE, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES). The goal of the developing partners of the 2018-IgCC is to provide a single document that offers an adoptable, usable and enforceable standard for green building design and construction, leveraging the strengths of ICC and ASHRAE and coordinating with the aspirational objectives of the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) rating system.

Come to this information session to find out more about the 2018-IgCC, including synergies between specific IgCC measures and LEED® credits, technical requirements new for the 2018 version, and tools available to help jurisdictions adopt and adjust to the code.
Presenters: Wes Sullens, Director of Codes Technical Development, USGBC
Dave Walls, Director of Sustainability, ICC ▲TOP

Trends, Analysis, and Studies of Building Code Enforcement Efforts across the Nation

Attendees will gain a better understanding of national trends in building code enforcement, department financing, staffing, workload, and be able to compare their own departments to the national trends to discover how they are progressing compared to their peers.
Presenter: Dale K. Thomure, CBO, CFM – ISO ▲TOP

Frost Protected Shallow Foundations

Inform and educate about proper insulation methods and concerns in the field along with educate about insulation installation.
Presenter: Lance Boyce – MONO SLAB EZ FORM ▲TOP

Residential Building Inspection: A Step-by-Step Guide

Residential Building Inspection: A Step-by-Step Guide is a “how to” resource developed by an expert in this field with many years of experience in project management, inspections and training those entering the field. The book will benefit a variety of professionals such as building department personnel, builders, contractors, project managers, homeowners and others involved in residential building construction.
Presenter: Mike Brinkman – CSG Consultants ▲TOP

Impact of Preservative Treated Wood Changes on the Building Codes, Industry Standards & Evaluation Reports… What It Means to You

This course takes a detailed look at the major changes that recently occurred within the AWPA (American Wood Preservation Association), which is a Reference Standard to both the International Building Code (IBC) and the International Residential Code (IRC), and the impact the changes have with respect to the building codes and construction. The ability to enforce the changes are also addressed.
Presenter: Robert Wangel – Koppers Performance Chemicals ▲TOP

First Timers / Companions Orientation

First Time attendees are encouraged to attend the First Timers’ Orientation. We’ll be detailing important events in the Conference schedule and you will have a chance to ask questions and meet others who are new to the Conference “scene”.

All Companions are encouraged to attend the Companions Orientation. You will receive important details regarding your schedules, meeting locations and tour information.
Presenter: Karla Higgs – ICC ▲TOP

Growing the Trades Through Apprenticeship

A skilled workforce is a company’s most valuable asset. Fewer schools offer vocational training and school systems are often rated based on the number of students who go on to college, not the number who are gainfully employed. Finding skilled workers is becoming increasingly more difficult in the plumbing and HVAC industry. With an expected shortage of more than 138,000 employees by 2022, the industry faces a significant challenge.

Find out about an alternative that allows you to grow your own apprentice: the Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors of Virginia now offers an online apprenticeship program to address the needs of students who want to enter the trades and underserved areas of the state. This program is approved by the Virginia state licensing entity and labor department as an acceptable substitute for classroom-based apprenticeship-related instruction. It must be supplemented with on-the-job training.
Presenter: Susan Milhoan – PHCC VA ▲TOP

Flood proofing Products and Systems

Presenter: Tom Little – Smart Vent ▲TOP

Roof Framing Requirements in the 2018 IRC

The requirements for wood roof framing were reorganized and re-written for the 2018 IRC. This class will review the reorganization and explain the prescriptive requirements for wood-framed roof framing.
Presenter: Randall (Randy) Shackelford, P.E. – Simpson Strong Tie ▲TOP

Preventing Fire Spread in External Cavities

The session will focus on how the spread of fire in external cavities can be prevented. Looking at traditional methods of doing this and the method of using intumescent materials, which improves the performance of the building envelope and a proven method of preventing fire spread.
Presenter: Mark Davies – TENMAT Ltd ▲TOP

Raising the Profile of Permit Technicians

This session will explore and emphasize the value of permit technicians and show how raising the profile, increasing the training and involvement of permit technicians will provide exceptional returns on investment. Taking advantage of the existing skills and knowledge will show how we can provide new opportunities from within the Building Department to find much needed mentees, plans examiners and inspection staff. We will also explore examples of how recognizing the permit technicians and involving them on committees and boards can lead to increased membership, increased success of both regional and local ICC Chapters and utilize exceptional talents across multiple generations. In leading, the efforts to involve permit technicians we can also fill the much-needed gap in available code officials across the country.
Presenters: Michele Miller – WSAPT
Dawn Neil – NJATA
Cindi Somers – Region II
Tiffany Little – OPTA ▲TOP

Utilizing Federal Programs and Mutual Aid Assistance for Post-Disaster Code Enforcement

From search and rescue to debris removal, mutual aid assistance has been used for decades to assist communities in need of emergency response resources. Over the years, it has become apparent in the building compliance sector that the building assessments, which deem safety and code compliance, need to be recognized through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) system - which is the recognized, national mechanism for state-to-state mutual aid. This need was made very apparent in the aftermath of the devastating 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season, when hundreds of affected communities had their municipal capabilities stretched well beyond capacity to address the damages caused to structures.

This presentation will demonstrate the tools, resources, and funding utilized by the U.S. Virgin Islands building department to obtain manpower from the United States mainland through EMAC, to overcome the enormous workload caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Through this innovate use of federal disaster funds, USVI was ultimately able to strengthen their code enforcement capabilities, promote building code compliance, and realize safer and stronger rebuilding standards through updated building code adoption.
Presenters: John Ingargiola, EI, CBO, CFM – FEMA
Mike Rimoldi, MPA, CBO, CFM – FLASH
Shandy Heil, CFM – FEMA▲TOP

Experience the Improved ICC Online Digital Library

Learn how to make ICC’s Online Digital Library work for you in the office and on the job site, and how to make your interactions with the code books more engaging. You’ll learn how to use the title listings which allow access to digital building codes and supplemental materials from anywhere, and the subscription (premiumACCESS) platform which offers additional interactive features including adding notes directly into the code, exporting reports of your classified content, concurrent access and more.
Presenter: Daniel Janousek – ICC ▲TOP

Smart Smoke Alarms and new UL Testing Standard for Safety and Performance

This education session will give you an overview of the latest safety and performance requirements for new “smart” smoke alarms. You will learn how these changes will incorporate the latest technologies that are expected to be in the market place in 2019 and show how smart smoke alarms will enhance safety in residential occupancies.

UL has been a leader in facilitating the development of standards for performance of smoke alarms for more than four decades. UL collaborated with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop the first Standard on smoke alarms (UL 217) which was first published in 1976. The current (8th) edition of UL 217, published in 2015, has been revised to reflect shifts in fire/smoke characteristics due to changes in home design, building techniques and furnishings and to reduce nuisance alarms that often lead to unintentional disabling of smoke alarms.
Presenter: Bruce Johnson – UL ▲TOP

Building High Performance Organizations, Leadership and Entrepreneurship for Small and Medium Size Businesses

Individuals working in the public sector dominate the code industry. However, more and more small private businesses are stepping up to offer their services as contractors to local government agencies or directly to homebuilders and developers. To be successful in the private sector, small businesses must think like big businesses including how they plan ahead in the short and long term, select and hire employees, market themselves to potential (and existing) clients, and motivate their team for individual and company success. This presentation will share several of the most innovative and successful strategies being implemented today by entrepreneurs across many business sectors to maximize profitability as well as the efficient use of time and resources to create “High Performance” organizations.
Presenter: Daran Wastchak – DRWAZ ▲TOP

Build Winning Code Professional Teams

Building Code professionals seek opportunities to develop their leadership skills and abilities. “Building Winning Code Professional Teams” will discuss the role of supervisors, managers and industry experts in today’s workplace. This session will include managing daily processes, providing staff leadership and successful approaches to coaching individuals and teams, as well as the values of highly effective leaders.
Presenter: Wade Greene – SAFEBUILT ▲TOP

Seismic Design Provisions Updates by Building Seismic Safety Council

Established as a Council of the National Institute of Building Sciences in 1979, the Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) deals with the complex technical, regulatory, social and economic issues involved in developing and promulgating building earthquake risk mitigation provisions that are national in scope. BSSC develops and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) publishes the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) Provisions that provide state-of-knowledge information to improve the current seismic design procedures in the national seismic design standards and model building codes. The 2015 NEHRP Provisions were adopted by ASCE/SEI 7-16, which were then adopted by IBC 2018. BSSC, under the support of FEMA, is in the process of developing 2020 NEHRP Provisions, which intends to be adopted by ASCE/SEI 2022 and IBC 2024.

This presentation will have a brief introduction of the development process of NEHRP Provisions, the related NEHRP Provisions publication, supporting materials, and training sessions, and discussion on the latest topics being investigated by the Provisions Update Committee (PUC) and Project 17 Committee (P17) under the 2020 cycle. A focus will be given on the joint effort by FEMA/BSSC and United States Geologic Survey (USGS) to update the basis for development of next-generation seismic design value map, looking at many fundamental issues such as acceptable risk, stabilizing map values, and redefining seismic design category.
Presenters: Jiqiu Yuan – NIBS
Philip Schneider – BSSC ▲TOP

How to Start and Maintain a High School Technical Training Program and College Technical Training Program

Presentation will define how to introduce the ICC’s technical training program to your local technical high school and college. Discussion will be held outlining the time a code official may have to commit to starting and mentoring a program and the benefits a local and regional code organization can expect . Examples of various programs started by code officials across the country will be highlighted. Participants after attending this presentation well equipped to start their local community outreach program in their technical schools. In many jurisdictions this program will provide an opportunity to grow local students into the next building safety inspector.
Presenter: Jim Ellwood, Career Development Coordinator for the ICC ▲TOP

Building Inspection & Technology: Today’s Solutions, Capturing and Utilizing Data for Tomorrow’s Possibilities

The technology available to Building Inspectors has become increasingly valuable and useful over the last few years. The features and benefits of today’s software solutions bring efficiency. But the data in these systems is becoming a very powerful tool for combat societal ills and solve problems. For instance, predictive analytics can give advance warning of problems that communities can suffer in areas where housing is unattended including domestic violence, drug abuse and more. You’ll learn about communities that combat problems associated with zombie and abandoned housing. We’ll also examine current trends, then, we will look at the future of these technologies. As these tools become more powerful and interact with other resources, will discuss what the Building Inspector of tomorrow will be able to access and accomplish while at an inspection site.
Presenter: Dan Foster – General Code ▲TOP

Hail, Asphalt Shingles & Underlayments

This presentation will focus on current research on hailstone characteristics (field collected information and laboratory research); Collaboration of IBHS Research Center with roofing industry and product manufacturers and overview of roofing underlayment’s (application and standards). Attendees will learn about the most up-to-date research on hailstone activities and characteristics in the U.S.; on-going efforts to collaborate with roofing industry to improve roofing products and assemblies and a general overview of different types of underlayment’s, their role as secondary barrier against water intrusion and significance of their testing standards.
Presenter: Si Farvardin – IBHS ▲TOP

Water-Resistive Barriers, Air Barriers and Vapor Retarders

Water-resistive Barriers, air barriers and vapor retarders are all materials with are critical to the durability and energy efficiency of buildings. However, the functionality of these materials and how they are integrated together in building assemblies are often misunderstood. This presentation will define water-resistive barriers, air barrier and vapor retarders and review common materials used for these functional layers. Code requirements for water-resistive barriers will be reviewed. The presentation will also describe how these materials work together with wall assemblies.
Presenter: William Ranson – DUPONT ▲TOP